Sutton Hoo and Blythburgh

We drove over to Sutton Hoo the other Saturday, which is near Ipswich in Suffolk. This is a world famous archeological site where in 1939 a number of 'Dark Ages' relics were discovered in burial mounds. The most amazing find was a preserved Anglo-Saxon longship in which weapons, armour and gold had been buried with its owner, thought to King Raedwald, who died in 625 AD. There were a number of other finds around the same area, some of the burials possibly the victims of execution. It must have been an amazing time for those archeologists to find such a hoard - the richest burial site in England! A detailed description is here.

The site is contained in a large and attractive estate: nice countryside on three sides, and lots of trees on the slopes down to the river Debden on the other, with the town of Woodbridge in the distance. The burial mounds (or barrows) are all located in one large field (one mound has been restored to its original size, and it is very big) and there are pleasant woodland walks to the west. The visitor centre comprises of a large museum that elaborates on the burial grounds and the era they were created, and it contains some wonderful displays and artefacts. What a shame the famous original mask of Raedwald wasn't there on show. This is in the British Museum in London. The visitors centre at Sutton Hoo has a replica, which is still wonderful to behold. In another building there is the usual gift shop/restaurant combo - excellent facilities. We bought a few bits and pieces from the shop, including some stunning postcards of the site in winter. (And some yummy cakes and flapjacks).

<----Carla sitting in a boat-throne!








After this, we headed up the A12 to Blythburgh to visit the famous church, that is rumoured to hold the "pawprints" of the devil's dog on the North door. You can certainly see burn marks on the door that could look vaguely like animal scratches, but that is debatable! Anyway, the village is quite pretty in an English countryside way, and the church, known as the "cathedral of the marshes" is a very impressive building and in a nice location looking over the river Blyth (which nearby meets the North Sea at Southwold.)

The day was beautiful - sunny with a blue sky, with a light breeze that kept us cool. It was nice to have our little packed lunch by the church in the pretty and quiet spot. We noticed a BBC Radio van packed by the church, and inside the building there were lights and recording equipment around a piano, so I guess a recital was on that evening.

It was just a short trip up the road to my parents' where we stayed for the weekend. It was fun to have a couple of walks at the seafront, and finally Carla saw Gorleston-on-Sea beach busy with tourists!

A trip to Arkansas

Over the last two weeks of May, we went on a little break to Arkansas, USA. It was a family trip to see Carla's relatives, specifically timed to tie-in with her son Ethan's graduation from high school. Apart from that, we had a lot of chores to sort out as well as enjoying ourselves. In between running around doing paperwork, visiting the necessary places and such, we managed to fit in a few fun things. This included a day in Memphis to visit the famous STAX Records museum ("Mr big-stuff, tell me, just who do you think you are?") and the zoo (cute meerkats!) We also took a little trip up to Mammoth Spring near the Missouri border, which is the 10th biggest natural spring in the world. Lovely spot that (see picture of me in front of the falls) with an impressive gift shop. Interesting to see the old railroad station there as well.

On the way up there (about 1 1/2 hours drive from where we were staying in Trumann) we stopped off at the Hardy water wheel, situated on a small creek that flows into the Spring River. There is a long established flea market there, as well being within the site of the "Martin Creek and Morgan's Mill" American civil war battle. On the way back, we visited the tourist town of Hardy, a small town comprising of antique and nick-nack shops. Another day we had a wondeful walk around Craighead Forest Park (see picture) on the outskirts of Jonesboro, which was lovely - the woods around the huge lake were quite beautiful. We spotted a snake swimming in the water, as well as the biggest geese we have ever seen! Generally great weather throughout the two weeks: hot and sunny for the most part, and humid at times so thank goodness for air conditioning! Saw some cracking thunderstorms and very heavy rain after coming out of a supermarket one afternoon - Jonesboro looked like it was sinking under the sea! We spent a lot of time in Jonesboro, the biggest town near to where we were staying, and the town where Carla grew up. There is an impressive new shopping centre there called The Mall at Turtle Creek. Also, for some reason, we ended up spending a lot of time in Wal*Mart! You can't get away from that in the US!

As far as cinema visits went, we ended up seeing "Star Trek" (for the 2nd time for me), "Terminator Salvation", "Angels and Demons", and "Night at the Museum 2". All very entertaining and great to watch, especially as the cinema we went to see all of these in, the Hollywood Malco 16 in Jonesboro, had digital projection equipment in most screens and wonderful seating. I love that cinema! Also I managed to catch up on all the "Harry Potter" films (to date) on the plane journeys. Caught a few flicks on US TV, including "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" and "Wild Hogs", both very funny!

Carla and I continued to do our exercises while staying at her mother's house: we managed to find the "Fit TV" channel on the satellite, and on there worked out to Gilad in the morning, an Israli who now lives and works out in Hawaii! He was good, I enjoyed those workouts even if they looked a bit 1990s 'dated'.

Also while there, I managed to complete my US State Quarters collection! Very happy about that! :)

I think the highlight of the trip for me was spotting Isacc Hayes' 1972 cadillac on show at the STAX Records museum. It was amazing, so 70's cool. :)








Anyhoo, some assorted images of Jonesboro and rural Arkansas....


Fast food and scripture...yep,we're in the Bible Belt!












Some cheap dirt for sale!












Liberty Bank in Jonesboro.....that played stirring military style music in the car park.