Sidetracked! Sherwood Forest
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side·track (sīd´trăk): n. 1. A diversion from the main course. 2. A detour taken with children that you would never, ever take without them.
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Who:
The Pearson family. Two adults, and two kids (ages 2 and 4).
What and Where:
Sherwood Forest. The fictional stomping grounds of the fictional outlaw hero Robin Hood and his fictional band of Merry Men. Nottingham, England (that part, at least, is real).
Why:
Ever heard of the M25? It’s a legendarily gridlocked motorway that encircles metropolitan London, and it’s almost unavoidable. We’d been on it for something like 3 hours with 2 toddlers on our journey to York, and were desperate to get out of the car. The soundtrack? Raffi.
The Low Point:
A three-way tie between dropping $40 on feathered caps in the gift shop, being scolded by a teenage employee for allowing the children to climb on a fiberglass statue of Little John, and missing the archery demonstration by 5 minutes.
The Kids’ Take:
Thumbs up to ice cream, feathered caps, and getting out of the car. Thumbs down to the forced march to the Major Oak, England’s most famous tree and Robin Hood’s principal (fictional) hideout.
Big thumbs down to parents who were too cheap to buy foam swords to go with feathered caps.
The Bottom Line:
Stop here if the weather is nice, or if you have been listening to Raffi for 3 hours. Do not plan to have lunch here unless you are craving jacket potatoes topped with tuna and canned corn. The souvenirs here are first rate, if a little costly. The woods are truly lovely, albeit historically insignificant.
September 29th, 2008 | by Jamie Pearson 5 comments
1. Jane on September 29th, 2008
Absolutely GREAT blog, Jamie. I LOVE the baked potato comment. What is it with the British that they churn out those tinned tuna baked pots? Also, were all your greens in the wash – maybe the fact you were all wearing red made it less exciting for you.? Just a thought.
2. Jennie C. on September 30th, 2008
I have no idea what jacket potatoes are, but I enjoyed the post.
3. Jane on September 30th, 2008
Jacket potatoes are Baked Potatoes. As in, you leave the potato’s jacket (skin) on when you cook it. You know, I have never realized, after 15 years of living stateside, that we don’t say “jacket potatoes” in the States. Anyway Jennie, jacket potatoes are big business in England and come with all sorts of toppings.
4. Sandra Foyt on October 1st, 2008
Yay! Learned a new word, but now must go get my “ya yas” out.
5. Jennifer Margulis on February 14th, 2009
I tried to use that word in an article once and my editor deleted it. She said in her family “yaya” is their word for vagina! It must be a West Coast expression.
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