Thursday 20th July 2023
I woke up early, excited for the day. But first I had to move rooms so I packed up stuff and left my bags down in the reception area. I walked along the promenade with a big grin on my face. The seagulls squawking overhead singing their seaside holiday tune. All the amusement arcades were still closed and street cleaners were doing the impossible in keeping things tidy.
I'd booked a ticket to go up the Blackpool Tower for the second slot of the day. When I passed, I saw the queue and was glad I'd waited for 15 minutes later. Right in front of the tower was a massive 'comedy carpet' full of jokes. I wasn't sure what it was but after an online search it made sense. It pays tribute to over 1000 comedians on the 10 slabs and I had a chuckle at some of the 'dad jokes' on what is called the horizontal Angel of the North. Artist Gordon Young and design company Why Not Associates completed the £2,6m project in 2011.
I walked to the tower, pleased to see that the queue had dissolved and proceeded up to the 3D video experience. It had water, smoke, movements and was thoroughly enjoyable and primed me for the lift up to the top. I got chatting to the lift 'doorman' and he explained a bit of history. The mayor, Sir John Bickerstaffe had had the vision 20 years before the plans materialised into reality. He had plans drawn, which disappeared years earlier and then Eiffel Tower was built. The mayor pushed on driving the project after a trip to Paris as he realised the business potential of the tower. On opening day, ticket prices were extremely inflated and 3000 visitors got to the top. Much necessary coffers were raised to fund the visionary project and 130 years later it's still serving the holiday town so well.
I loved the lift ride, struggled to stand on the glass floor, admired the metalwork and gazed at the views. I loved it all. The wind was worse on the one side and the windmill farm out at sea made sense. I had a coffee at the Costa on the third floor landing before taking photos of the staircase and the landing next to the Ballroom where 'Strictly Come Dancing' is filmed.
The weather was sunny so I walked around the town centre taking photos of the old buildings, buskers and food markets. My friend was collecting me in the afternoon, so I jumped on a tram down to my hotel in time to move my bags into my smaller but still clean room. Julie took me over to her stunning home where I had a coffee and a catch up with one of my 'surrogate mums'.
The benefit of having lived in an expat community in a small town in South Africa, is the friendships that span 40 years. The common shared history gives me an extended family which feels amazing and I love seeing how they have thrived since returning to the homeland.
I was exhausted when I got back to my hotel and just woke up from a very long snooze. Of course, now my day geography had been extremely confused and I was convinced it was Sunday, haha. Keeping this daily blog helps me find my day, and fills my heart.
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