Michelle & DJ Shelton: Bath with Stephen and Whipple parents

On July 31st we were excited to welcome Michelle's parents, who came to visit us in London for the next three weeks. It was so much fun to have family with us, first with Stephen and then with my parents. We had a busy several weeks exploring and seeing as much as we could fit in.

DJ went to the airport to greet Michelle's parents off the plane. Here he is waiting at the arrivals gate, ready to escort them back to our apartment.

The first weekend with my parents we visited Bath. Stephen and my parents took the train out Friday afternoon, explored the ancient ruins of the Roman Baths, and stayed the night. Early that morning they took a tour bus to see Stonehenge and Lacock, a small nearby village where scenes from Harry Potter and several Jane Austin movies were filmed. We joined them later that day to explore Bath. Jane Austin lived in Bath for a period of time and there is now a museum there on her life and writings. Jane's family moved to Bath after her father retired from the ministry. While in Bath, her Father passed away and Jane and her mother and sisters found themselves without income (her Father's pension ended with his death, leaving the women to fend for themselves). Her time in Bath was apparently a very difficult time in her life and Jane wrote very little while she lived there.

This represents some of the Georgian architecture of Bath. This building, called the crescent, sits at the top of the hill of the city, and is where the wealthy and affluent would have lived. Through Jane's time in Bath she moved several times, starting in a home near the above buildings, and with each move getting further and further down the hill, closer to the river, symbolic of her financial hardship and decline as her time in the city continued. After a period of time she left Bath and moved back to the countryside to live in a cottage owned by her wealthier brother.