Florida Coalcracker Chronicles: Lulu and I Had A Full Sunday in Cambridge - Car Show - Air Show - Colleges

A 1920s pre-war MG

We rose early Sunday morning. We had our goal and a fresh set of legs. The night before it was Jumping Jack Flash - and the morning after was let's take a cab to the train station to save our legs. We stepped out of our townhouse saw a cab coming up the street and tried to flag him down - he was full but he pointed around the corner - and another cab whisked in and took us to Kings Cross Station. The cabs here are so nice - little black diesels that can turn on a dime. The drivers are so helpful - speak perfect English - do not blast the radio - and are very appreciative of even the smallest tip :-)

At the ticket window we bought express round trip tickets to Cambridge - about 50 miles north of town. The seller said you have one minute to catch the train or we would have to wait 50 minutes. He encouraged us to try - we ran past Platform 9 3/4 - and hopped into the end of our train as the door hit Lulu in the butt.

The train was standing room only - but a nice lady with two small kids - cleared a space for Lulu. For the roughly 40 minute trip she was entertained by two kids about the ages of Kate and Jack. I found a clean spot on the floor and curled up with The NY Times on my iphone. I have this neat app that downloads The NY Times whenever it finds wifi - and then I can read it anywhere - even without wifi.

As we zoomed through Cambridgeshire County - we saw our first fog and cloudy skies. It didn't last long although I was concerned it might stop the air show. By the time we got to the train station - the sky was clear.

Lots of people come to Cambridge on day trips - particularly on the weekend. Add in an air show crowd - and the train station was packed. At about 10:30 our guided bus arrived to take us to Swavesey - town about about 15 miles north of Cambridge. I wondered what a guided bus was.

Our plans were to see 5 things in Cambridge. 1 - The MG Car Show at the national MG car club headquarters. 2 - the Flying Legends Air Show at Duxford Air Base. 3 - Holme Fen - the lowest point in Britain. 5 - The American Cemetery and Museum. 4 - An evening among the 31 colleges in downtown Cambridge. It was a very aggressive schedule for Lulu's first day off.

It was the first time I was on a guided bus. Simply a guided bus looked like a regular bus - it can go on any street. Then when it gets to a special bus way - the tires go in a grooved track - with little wheels on the side so it stayed in the tracks. It reminds me of one of those driveways with two paved strips and grass in between.

The MG Car Show was fantastic. It was mostly older white guys - there were very few kids. They all wanted to show off their pride and joy. I will never see so many MG's in one place.

Back in the 1960s - I owned two MG's - the first one was a blue MGA - the second one was a yellow MGB that I bought new in 1970 when I signed my first teacher contract. It cost $2700. The MG Show was held at the Octagon House - right next to the guided bus station. Simply - a car club is where you pay dues to use the club house and all of its tools. Sometimes the club even buys cars as joint projects. The show was across the street in a big field.

It cost 12 pounds for two people and one car to enter - but no one stopped us as we walked into the grounds. I am not generally a gate crasher but we thought the ticket booth was up ahead. We enjoyed the cars - had lunch with a couple that restored a 1973 MGB - in British Racing Green. They were so nice and just wanted ot talk about America. Generally - the Brits love America. They think of us as their frisky children. We play the game. On the way out - they were sure to put wrist bands on us so we could go to the other areas.

Time was moving fast and we were behind schedule. We caught the 1 PM guided bus back to the Cambridge Station. As we dismounted - the driver instructed us toward the air show bus. As it was pulling out the dispatcher tried to wave the bus down for us - but we were too late. I said that we would catch the next bus - but he said it would be tomorrow. Duxford Airbase was about 15 miles outside town - and I was not paying that cab fee. Teh guy took off his safety vest - picked up the air base bus sign - and offered to take us there in his car. We were excited - and away we went - in a garnet colored Citroen.

At Duxford Air Base we were just in time for the 2 PM event. The show would be 3 hours - the sun was hot on our faces - and hundreds super telephoto lens were pointed skyward. Whenever you wanted to see a plane - you just follow the wave of camera lenses. The Brits were so nice - dressed in wing tip shoes - straw hats - etc - they were prepared with little umbrellas and portable stools. We decided to camp by the main taxi way - and this older couple took care of us like their own. They provided stools - an Emerates Airline hat for Lulu - they insisted on sun lotion for us. They were perfect hosts.

This was a giant crowd - in America it would be all liquored up whopping and shouting - high fives and all that. Over here - for the entire 3 hours - the announcer spoke in calm perfect English with a French accent. He talked about the pilots - the planes - the war - the speed. He never broke into shouting or jiving - let's get ready to rumble - stuff. If there was a fence - no one passed it - no one sat on it - no one bent it. No kids were chasing each to her around and beating on each other. It is just more civilized.

Behind us there were 5 giant hangars full of aircraft - and war stuff - like bomb shelters - jeeps. I visited Duxford last summer on a weekday - the only thing accompanying me was the wind and my thoughts. The most beautiful building was one full of American planes. They worship American's here and what we did for them in WWII. They love the P-51 - the most-est of everything American fighter plane. This is the plane that Ace Chuck Yeager flew - shooting down 20 Nazi aircraft with his eagle eye vision. You may remember him from the movie The Right Stuff.

During the air show - there were over 50 WWII aircraft in the air. For the finale about 30 did a fly by. Spitfires - Hurricanes - Messerschmidts - P-40s - P51s - DC-3 - B-17 - Fokker - it went on and on. A lady from Germany did some amazing acrobatics in a bi-plane that was older than 70 years - the pilot and the plane. In some of her loops she was pulling 4 G's - the little thing she was - that made her about 400 pounds for a few seconds. After the flight she took a few seconds to pose with me. She was so tiny.

After the show - the bus took us back into Cambridge for free. The secret of being a Daytripper is to save your legs. We got a cab into downtown Cambridge. We toured the town and campuses.

Cambridge is a town that holds the University of Cambridge. The University is made up of 31 different colleges. Each one has it own foundation and funding. They are unique little businesses that shape their faculty and student body as they see fit. Combined they have endowments of 3.4 billion pounds - about $5 billion. Some colleges were formed in the 1200s - the last one was formed in the 1900s. There even was a Bull College in 1944 and 1945 for the USA GI's. At one time the colleges were all male. Now they are all co-ed except for 3 - that are all women.

With all the old buildings - it is sort of a time warp. The streets are cobble stone - each college has a lush green that is off limits to visitors. They are very protective because I tried to do the Chariots of Fire run around the quad and was thrown out by a burly security guard. He didn't care how far I came - those damn Yanks.

It was getting dark - after supper in an Italian place - we caught a cab back to the station - and waited with a large day crowd for our train to depart. We had good seats - the express train easily exceeded 100 MPH - pastures blurred by. In no time at all - we went from pastures and country houses to the big city. One last cab for one last mile home from the station.

I am writing this on Monday at noon. Lulu is with her class. Ours guests are having guests - JP and Wanda - are picking up her sister. Rysa and Mike are doing the Victoria and Albert Museum.

My big news is that I scored some great show tickets for tonight. At 10 AM - I went to the box office of the Savoy Theatre on The Strand. I was able to land 4 tickets in the front row to see Let It Be - it is a show by a Beatles replica band. For only 25 pounds each we will be completing the British Rock Trifecta - The Who - The Rolling Stones - The Beatles*. * A replica band but heck - only two real Beatles are alive.

1950s MG-TD

A 1970s MG-B - like my yellow one.

1950's MG-TD

A 1960's MGA

1600 MGA engine

I had a 1961 MGA like this with the famous Twin Cam engine.

This garnet MGB had lots of British decoration that attracted Lulu.

My favorite was the 1940s MG-TC. It only had 48HP - but it was so much fun to drive that many GI's brought them to America and started the second British Invasion.

The MG Octagon Club had plenty of spare parts.

In 1968 - I had a Twin Cam engine in my MGA.

These never came to American. This MGB had a factory V8 engine.

It took a big shoe horn to get a V8 in the MG-B.

Lulu and I still agree this Mini is still the coolest car.

You can look up the MG Owners CLub on line.

This Corsair had strange bent wings.

These Yak 50's from Russia did Aerobatics.

This Fokker Tri-Motor was made with corrugated metal like on a chicken coop roof.

This German lady performed a splendid show.

Lule received this Emirate Airlines hat from a really nice family that took us in.

The group of 5 USA P-51 Mustangs were easily the crowds favorite. They were loudest - fastest - and busiest.

This lady flew the biplane in the picture above.

The was the WWII operation room for the 8th Bomber Wing of the US Army Air Force.

Lunch was a toasty of cheese - tomato - onions.

The Spitfire is always a favorite over here.

A panorama as all of these planes flew at once.

Harry had a spot on the rail - and a sun burned face to prove it.

This build in Cambridge caught my eye. At first I though it was the 4 windows - 1 door - 4 windows configuration - like our new home plans. Then I realized that it was the only building in Cambridge that looked clean. The rest of them could use a good pressure washing.