Goin 'down to Old Maui (via Gloucester Docks)

I'm never too old to dress up, it seems. Friend J had primed me to meet at the Farmers Market cafe, for coffee, then the plan was to meet a third person, L, and spirit him off by bus to the Tall Ships Festival in Gloucester Docks. This would be a surprise for him. In the end, it was even more surprising, because J didn't turn up, but I did, with a toy green woodpecker on my shoulder, and told him I was taking him on an adventure.

We got to the Docks without incident, and L was in heaven right away because (a) he'd just come back from sailing a schooner off Falmouth, and (b) he loves sea shanties. And sea shanties there were a-plenty! In between shanty sessions we watched a pirate acrobat playing the fiddle on a slack rope; lifeboat demonstrations by SARA, our local lifeboat organisation; people boarding the visiting ships (about seven were visiting) and browsed the stalls. L went on board the ships, but I decided not to, because I wanted to be independent and go home when I wanted, and I suspected he might end up getting a very late, slow bus home because of getting into microdetails about ships).

My favourite part of the day was seeing High and Dry, the second shanty group, perform Mingulay, and watching two little girls dressed in floral all in one rainsuits, dancing as only toddlers can dance, in front of the stage. Link to High and Dry' s Facebook page here. https://m.facebook.com/HighandDryshanty/?ref=page_internal

I left early, about 4.30, because I didn't like the Cotswold Male Voice Shanty Choir (how do I begin? they weren't singing shanties, for starters) walked back a long way to the no. 63 bus stop, and caught two buses home.Upon arrival, I went straight to bed and fell asleep for a couple of hours. I'm still feeling incredibly tired. But I've had fun.