Passing the Time
Our ship isn’t quite ready, and we wanted to keep our costs down, so we decided to head back toward Liverpool. We will be taking the ferry back to Belfast once we get the go ahead to embark the ship, so it seemed like the logical place to wait. Since we spent 10 days in Liverpool already, we opted to settle nearby in Southport, a quaint seaside town just up the coast. It has an old-school resort town feel with tons of shops and restaurants. We spent a quiet 12 days exploring the area on foot and we chose to leave the camera behind several of the days. Below is a collection of photos from our stay, we hope you enjoy.
The beach is very shallow, and the tide is a bit ridiculous. At about 2 hours from low tide it took us 25 minutes to reach the water from the break water/promenade. The difference between high and low tide was epic.
Southport Pier is the second-longest pier in Great Britain and the oldest iron pier in the country. It opened in 1860 and is 1108 meters long. It was closed in December of 2022 after a period of extreme weather; structural engineers recommended it be closed until repairs could be completed.
Due to the disappointing beach, they built a large lake just in from the coast where they have boat rentals and beautiful walking trails all around. There is also an amusement park, a water park, and several mini golf courses to choose from.
We walked through a beautiful park and over to the Botanical Garden which also has an Aviary.
The sand dunes at the Ainsdale and Birkdale Sandhills Nature Reserve weren’t what we expected, but they were still beautiful just very green.
Southport is home to the British Lawnmower Museum which was more interesting than I expected.
We hiked out to the RSPB Marshside to check out the local wildlife.
We stayed in a great apartment just off the main street, but the seagulls were next level. They were constantly making a ruckus on the roofs across the alley from us. Sound on for your enjoyment...
And of course, I found a cat to pet!
The ship should be ready any day, so we are headed to Liverpool to be closer to the ferry for an early morning sailing. See you onboard!
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