Stratford-upon-Avon

  I got to pick our outing for my birthday, and being the literary nerd that I am, I chose Stratford-upon-Avon, home of William Shakespeare.  We picked up a map at the Visitor Information building and we were off!

We started at Shakespeare's birthplace- why not start at the beginning? It was neat to see where and how little William lived as a child.  The window that used to be in the room where he was born has since been removed and put on display in another room because it's been etched with the names of famous visitors to the house.  Outside in the gardens there were performers doing scenes from Shakespeare's plays.

Then we had a lovely pub lunch at The Windmill.

Next we went over to Shakespeare's New Place, which is the home William lived in as an adult (and where he died).  But the home itself is no longer there.  It was passed down to his daughter, then granddaughter, before it was replaced with a new house, which was also eventually demolished.  But the site and the gardens have been cared for and and an exhibit in the building which adjoins the property. There were some neat interactive exhibits here, including some that were especially great for the kids.

Our next stop was Hall's Croft, which was the home of Shakespeare's daughter and her husband until she inherited New Place and they moved back there.  It was a really interesting old house, but definitely more of a loose Shakespeare connection.

Our last stop before a leisurely river walk back to the car was, of course, the church where Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway are buried.  It's a beautiful old church and has quite a bit of information about the Shakespeare family hear the graves inside the chapel.

We saw lots of swans as we walked back along the river.  We also passed the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre and saw a boat going through a lock.  All in all a very successful day out!