Richard Turen
I had not expected to share with you my port stop in Falmouth on the River Fal in Cornwall. Why would I, with Dublin and Edinburgh just ahead and my completed notes from London days earlier?
But this small seaport town is home to the deepest harbor in Western Europe and not very far from some stunning landscapes. Not to mention the villages of Port Isaac, Mousehole and Mullion.
I suppose I was intrigued by the bus driver taking a few hearty souls from our ship, Regent's Seven Seas Grandeur, to town and its central street. It was sort of the only street -- but that was part of its charm.
My interest in sharing my time in this Cornwall "burg" was stoked by the response from our talkative driver when I asked him what he supposed might be the highlight of my few hours in the town of his birth.
"Oh, that would have to be the transfer back to your ship," was the reply. We talked for a bit, and I asked my go-to question whenever I'm a stranger in town.
"So what has been the big story everyone locally is talking about?"
The reply was swift and to the point: "That would have to be Jack's plan to get married in a few weeks. He's only 24, and many of us think he should wait a few months -- or years."
I met Jack, a big, strapping, bearded transportation agent on the pier. We had a brief discussion about marriage before I wandered to the town center just a few precious steps away.
I asked three locals if they thought Jack should be getting married, and each one knew him and had an opinion.
I stopped at the tiny Forty-Five coffee shop, where Richard, the owner, created a pumpkin spice latte that might cause Starbucks to discontinue the model. When he saw my appreciation, he reached down and removed pails of beans he grinds at 5 o'clock each morning. "It's all about hard work and the best beans" he said. Not a bad summary of life, I thought.
A couple said hello in the doorway, and we spoke for several minutes. She was from Long Island, and he was a local. She was in tech and could live "anywhere with good internet." They had tried living in the States, but they finally decided to move to Falmouth to "sail on the water and sail through an easier life." When I probed a bit, they revealed that their annual fee for medical coverage is currently 180 pounds per year; that's less than $250 to you and me.
I had the best fish and chips of my life at Harbor Lights overlooking the harbor and its fishing fleet. The french fries were uniquely exquisite, and I had to learn the secret. It turns out there is a small company in the countryside that decided that the harbor communities needed to serve a new, better kind of chip to match the flavor of their fresh-caught cod. They make them by hand in small batches.
I have come across worse reasons for visiting some worldwide destinations of note. But trust me, the french fries at Harbor Lights are worth the Virgin Atlantic fare.
Let me end by pointing out that Brits do not like to place their dogs in kennels when they vacation; they bring them along. That is why the Cornish coast is the only place I have ever seen pubs that feature dog rooms, dog snacks and even, in one case, a kind of "dog pint" that is said to be a tad healthy.