All of us, except for Sara, opted to take the train back to Wrexham this morning. We wanted to visit the Wrexham Football Club store to get our Wrexham merch because it was not open yesterday. The train was so packed we stood on the train until we got to Wrexham. As we walked to the store so many places looked familiar because we are all fans of “Welcome to Wrexham”. I wanted to buy a women’s Wrexham team shirt. Their sizes began at 3xs and then jumped to 3XL. Obviously, a few fans had beat us to the store. We looked through every size and found a few shirts, scarfs and hats we wanted.
Then we went and sat on the bleachers….well…the photo opportunity bleachers outside the stadium.
We still had almost an hour to kill so we headed back to the Turf pub to see if we could have a quick drink. It wasn’t open but the food listed on their menu is cooked in a little trailer in their parking lot and was open. At one point the owner of the pub, who is featured often on “Welcome to Wrexham” came out to give the cook inside the trailer a smoke break. We got a snapshot of him as he ran back inside.
We got drinks from the Turf’s food trailer and sat down at their tables.
The parking lot had a mural of the coach, who on the show drops the F-bomb at least three times in every sentence when he is frustrated with his players. He only drops it once a sentence when he is proud of them.
We arrived back in Chirk a little after noon. Sara had gone on a walk, checked out the grocery that will be delivering our food to the marina and visited the pigeon and pet food store. We had passed this store on our multiple walks back and forth to the Chirk train station. We were curious if they were feeding pigeons for food or as carrier pigeons or if they sold the metal spikes you put on your roof to keep them from roosting there. Sara, who doesn’t know a stranger, stopped in to find out and had a very interesting conversation. It turns out that they sell pigeon food but not to fatten them up to eat but for racing. Races are on Fridays. Some of the races begin in France and cross the channel. There is betting involved, of course. The man at the feed store said that the pigeons return because they want more of the good feed he sells.
Once back at our hotel we had about a half hour before Marcel, the taxi driver who we had scheduled to take us and our bags to the marina, was to arrive. We went out in different directions to find some food we could grab quickly. Then we grabbed our multitude of bags and stood out in the front of the hotel to wait. Eventually we got a text that “maybe” he would be a half hour late. Then we got a text that it would be longer than that because he was taking another fare to the marina. About an hour late Marcel arrived to get is to the marina in two loads.
We passed the gate to the Chirk Castle on the way to the marina.
We are renting our boat from Black Prince. Johnny, who works for Black Prince, did the boat instructions.
Narrow boat means narrow. Unpacking is something we had to take turns doing.
When Johnny was done with his instructions he rode with us for a brief time as we got the hang of things. We went down to the first winding hole (which is just a wide spot in the canal you use to turn around). Shelly was driving and she was a rockstar.
When Johnny felt like we were going to be okay he jumped onto the roof of the boat and took our photo.
When we got back to the canal entrance to the marina he leaped off and waved goodbye and we set out on our own. Linda brought two walkie talkies along. It allows us to have someone on the front of the 70 foot boat giving intel to the pilot on the back of the boat concerning oncoming boats, sharp turns, narrowing areas, boats moored along the way, tunnels, bridges, etc. The canal is gorgeous.
Tom took a turn driving.
We came to our first tunnel — Whitehouse Tunnel. It wasn’t so long that we couldn’t see light ahead.
But it was long enough to give us the full experience.
Some people live on the canal. They pay to stay moored in one spot for up to 6 months. You can tell these long termers because they usually have a clothesline up.
We came to our first lift bridge. Linda and Tom jumped off the boat and ran ahead. They used a windlass to crank the bridge up so the boat could pass.
I think they were pretty proud of their work.
It wasn’t long before we arrived at the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a canal in the sky! We were higher than the birds. It was exhilarating.
You travel over the River Dee.
It is only wide enough for one boat at a time. But thanks to Marcel we got a late start and so we really didn’t hit much traffic. There is a towpath alongside the canal and our 70 foot boat was quite an attraction for all the pedestrians. Shelly got us across the aqueduct like she navigates it daily.
Around every corner there is another beautiful thing to see.
We made it the Llangollen marina about 6 miles from where we began. Shelly got us into a slip, even with the “help” of five other people.
Johnny of Black Prince recommended we eat dinner at The Corn Mill and even made us a reservation. Getting to Llangollen took longer than the optimistic Johnny predicted. So we locked up the boat and headed out quickly for the short walk to the restaurant. Our table had a great view of the River Dee. The food was delicious. We talked about our first day out, toasted Shelly for her good piloting and talked about what we might want to do tomorrow while we are here in Llangollen.
For this trip we all got scout vests in different colors. Kara and I got merit badges that people can be awarded and then sewn onto their vests. We talked about awarding the first day of badges last night when we returned to the boat after dinner. But four of us got into our pjs and crawled in bed. Shelly and Sara dutifully waited at the table until they realized everyone was tucked in for the night.
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