The Isle of Wight, 4 October 2014

We were up at 5 a.m., loaded and on the road by 6 a.m.  We turned on the GPS on Dad's phone and away we went.  The sun had not come up yet so we were relying on the directions given to get us to Portsmouth.  Dad had studied the map the night before and was getting concerned as the way it was sending us was not the way he thought we should go.  We pulled over three times for him to check the map and try to feel comfortable with the way we were headed.  Everything seemed as though we would arrive on time, so we pressed forward, and we did arrive in plenty of time for the ferry.

We even had time to get some breakfast and got to the Wightlink Ferry early.  They went ahead and loaded us, being the last car on.  The middle bottom photo is leaving Portsmouth with the Spinnaker tower to the right.  Bottom right photo is docking at Fishbourne.

While on the ferry, it began to rain and continued until mid afternoon.  The wind blew and the temperature was a bit chilly.

Our first stop was Osborne House, the summer home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and their nine children.  The home is in East Cowes and was built between 1845-1851.  We were not allowed to take photos inside.  The home was full of nude artistry.  One room had a family tree written on the wall to show how Queen Victoria was successful in marrying off all her children to royalty.  It was quite the tree to look at and see where each line went.  The family rooms were all upstairs and the lower rooms were for entertaining, guests, and service areas.

Due to the rain, we did not get a photo of the front of the house.  These photos are from the back as I returned from the beach.

Prince Albert built a Swiss Cottage for the children to play in, a playhouse, if you will.  It is quite the playhouse and is still decked out with furniture, toys, dishes, and dress up clothing the children used.  They even had a garden and out back Prince Albert built a play fort fully equipped with toy cannon, bunkers, flag, and such.  I could only think of all of our grandchildren and how they would love to have such a place to play.  Thor and Nate would enjoy the garden.  The play fort is out back where the tall trees are.  The rain kept us from taking a lot of photos.  We took the courtesy bus to the cottage to avoid being so wet.

The house sits about 5/8's of a mile from the beach and there is a very nice path down to where they would take the children to swim and play.  With the weather being as it was, Dad did not want to walk down to it, but I did.  So, with camera and umbrella in hand I took off.  I was amazed at the beautiful forest and trees and pathway.  Some of the trees were turning colors and beautiful to see.  The beach looked like a nice place to play and swim with a dock going down to the water.  On occasion the family entertained guests that arrived at the beach.

When I arrived, I went right in to the cafe and ordered a hot chocolate.  Oh, it was ever so good and warmed me up for the walk back.  I commented on the weather to the clerk and that I was probably the only one they had seen.  She said one other person was there before me and just then about eight people came in.  I couldn't figure out where they came from as I did not see them on the trail.  It turned out there is a courtesy van that will bring you to the beach.  I didn't know that and since I had walked down, I was going to walk up, and I did.  Dad was cozily waiting in the restaurant when I returned.

There were trees of every shape, size, and age on the grounds.

After our time at Osborne House, we headed on to Carisbrook Castle.  We stopped for lunch in a town along the way.

The walk up to the entrance.  

Walking through the gatehouse.

The gatehouse has stairs that lead up and through it.  From inside you can view the buildings of the castle.

The rain stopped and the clouds broke for a spectacular view of the castle from its grounds.  The flag flies atop the keep.  Carisbrooke Castle has been a symbol of political power, a fortress protecting England against invasion, a prison and a home.  People have lived here since before the Norman Conquest.

The castle is noted for its famous working donkey wheel in the well-house (red roofed building).  Donkeys walk to turn a wheel to lower and draw up a bucket from the 149 foot deep well that has supplied the castle with water for centuries.

Jigsaw was the brave donkey for our demonstration.  He was attentive and went right to work.

A walk up the steps to the top of the keep, and then down.  A panorama view of the island was amazing from our vantage point atop the walkway of the keep.  The top right photo below is  Mount Joy Cemetery and the bottom right is the bowling green where soldiers once paraded.

The Chapel of St. Nicholas is inside the castle and is decked out in tribute to all the fallen from England's wars.  The flowers are from Princess Beatrice's garden.  She is the daughter of Queen Victoria of Osborne House and lived at Carisrooke Castle as an adult.  Within her garden stands a statue of the real War Horse, Warrior, with General Jack Seely astride.  His newspaper obituary reads:  "the horse the Germans could not kill."  It is in memory of all the horses that were used in the wars.

The day had been a beautiful outing and we were now ready to find a Bed and Breakfast and stop for the night and to watch/listen to General Conference.  We drove to Yarmouth and secured a room in The George Hotel right on the dock.  The room was very comfortable and the wi-fi worked well and conference came in clear.  We tried to watch it at first but then checked and listening was much better in that it did not stop and start so often.  We were tuned in at 5 p.m. and then at 9 p.m.  Between sessions we took a little walk and found supper.