October | 2014 | wandering werres

This post is a few weeks late, but I think it is still worth writing about. Growing up as a young boy, I was subjected to countless hours of listening to The Beatles by my British boy-band loving mother. And that’s not a bad thing, because many people, including myself, believe that The Beatles are the GOAT, aka the Greatest Of All Time. I remember fondly singing along, imagining that I was a walrus on a yellow submarine surrounded by strawberry fields with diamonds in the sky.

Mine and Alissa’s trip made a deliberate stop in Liverpool solely for Beatles history (sorry, soccer, there wasn’t a match scheduled until the day after we left). First, we hit up the The Beatles Story. This Beatlemania museum explored how the band members grew up and met each other, how they formed the band, how they met their manager, all the way up to the last show that they played together on the rooftop of Apple Records in London. The exhibit also had a separate spotlight section on Elvis – I had no idea how profound an influence he was on The Beatles, and how closely the two rock and roll sensations were related.

At the beginning of the story!

Alissa and her duplicates love making faces!

We all live in a yellow submarine!

Since we had a rental car, we mapped out a few more destinations to visit in Liverpool. We stopped by Strawberry Fields, drove down Penny Lane to the bus stop that Paul and John waited at every day, and swung by the Quarry Bank High School where John went to school. Our favorite stop, however, was The Cavern. The Cavern is the tiny basement venue where The Beatles played 292 shows. The bar didn’t have quite the same smell as described in the museum (sweat, disinfectant, and hot dogs), but the ambience and atmosphere were intoxicating. To be in the same place that was such a major part in The Beatles history and to listen to live Beatles covers was just pure awesome. We enjoyed several pints and listened to hours of live music into the early morning hours, and felt like we were transported to the early 60’s when it all began.

Strawberry Fields, forever.

One of the few actual street signs.

The rear gate to the old Quarry Bank High School.

At The Cavern, ready for some live music!

The main act takes the stage, and it’s rockin’!

About a week after Liverpool, we made it to London. We took a rock and roll walking tour of the city which led us by the old Apple Records building. We could almost hear the last live performance of The Beatles as we stood on the street gazing upon the facade.

The site of the last live Beatles concert.

The last Beatles stop on our Beatlemania trip was Abbey Road Studios, the recording studio on the north side of London. Out front of the building is the iconic intersection on the Abbey Road album cover.