Walking in the Beatles Footsteps...Liverpool, England

Today (June 12) we arrived in Liverpool England. We are scheduled on a private tour to walk in the footsteps of the Beatles which has been hosted by Chuck and Janice Maida from All Seasons Travel.  There are 45 of us on the tour.

The first half of the private tour they arranged for our group in Liverpool to have early entry into The Beatles Story which was nice but the real coup came in the afternoon where a segment of the tour was hosted by Roag Best, the brother of Pete Best, the original drummer for the Beatles who was replaced by Ringo.

We walked through the port area of Liverpool. We pass the dock where the Titanic left from.  

We also pass the statute of the early Mormon Pioneers who left Liverpool for New York City.  The statute of the young family commemorates migration from Liverpool to the new world.  It was given to the people of Liverpool by the Mormon Church as a tribute for the many families from all over Europe who embarked on a brave voyage to start a new life in America.  Approximately 9 million people emigrated through this port in Liverpool.

We arrived to The Beatles Story Museum for our early entry at 8:30 a.m. (it opened to the public and DCL at 9 a.m.)  We each received audio headsets so we could move through the museum at our own pace.

Next we went through the streets of Liverpool.  I walked on Penny Lane, I saw Strawberry Fields, I went to John Lennon's and Paul McCartney's childhood homes and visited the Cavern where the Beatles sang and played together.   The boys started as the Quarrymen before changing their name to the Beatles.

Strawberry Fields is now closed and they are trying to decide to do with is.  But is was a Salvation Army Children's Home and John Lennon wrote the song because he used to go to the garden there and play for the children.  In response to writing that song, Paul McCartney wrote Penny Lane which is an actual street in Liverpool because they used to ride the bus and go on Penny Lane on their way to school each day.

Then we went to lunch at the Philharmonic Pub.  A great buffet lunch was had by all. It was built in 1898-1900.

Next, it was off to the Casbah Coffee Club (the "real" birthplace of the Beatles) hosted by Roag Best.  Roag is an animated guy and brother to Pete who was the original drummer for the Beatles.  He had great stories of the Beatles and his mother Mo Best who really helped the Beatles get their start in the music business.  Different stories of why Pete was let go from the band, but nothing has ever been confirmed as to the true story.

Our animated host:  Roag Best...

 The stereo that the Beatles heard their very first song on the radio while in the Casbah:

Then we went to the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.  Ushers were ending a service for Queen Elizabeth’s 90^th birthday.  They were very gracious and gave us programs and answered our questions.  

I met a 90 year old British woman who had received a Medal of Honor for her Service from the Queen.  She was a delight to speak with and her son and grandson were so gracious.  They gave me a program from the Celebration Service.

Thanks Chuck and Janice for setting up this tour for us! It was a wonderful day.

The port is hosting a big party for the Queen’s 90^th birthday and for the Disney Magic’s visit to Liverpool.  There are thousands of people down at port side getting a glimpse of the Disney Magic and waiting for fireworks at 10:15 tonight.

Once onboard we hustled off to see Liverpool Legends.  They sing all Beatles songs.  It was so good we went to the 6:30 and 8:45 show and just rushed off to eat at Cabanas in between tonight.

After the last show we hurry off to deck 10 to wait until the Disney Magic pulls away from the dock and then the fireworks begin synchronized to Disney Music from the port.  They also piped in the music on the ship so we could here it.  The fireworks were shot off a barge between the ship and the dock.  It was fabulous.  I have tons of fireworks pictures, but it would take me forever to download them all, and there are plenty out there on Facebook, so I am just showing a few.

A great day in Liverpool.  The weather was awesome too!  Tomorrow is another big day in Dublin.

So….goodnight from the Disney Magic!