Everyone Knows It's Windy

Although it's been mostly clear and cool here, this freaking wind will not stop! I haven't been able to go up in the Blackpool Tower because it's been closed the last couple of days. Apparently they close it anytime the wind tops 40 mph. When my weather app said the wind was gusting up to 35 mph yesterday afternoon, I walked over there thinking I might get lucky -- but no, the tower was still closed. I'll try again today.

Having said that, it's been really good weather for walking around town and I've done a lot of exploring.

Apparently my hotel is in something of a "gayborhood" -- there are lots of bars and hotels around me, all flying Pride flags. This one has the added bonus of having pictures of drag queens all over the ground floor, including one named "Bernie de Bra." Points for creativity.

Blackpool, like Brighton in the South, seems to have a pretty healthy gay following.

This Beatles-themed bar unfortunately seems permanently closed, but you gotta love all the Beatles references, from "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" on the underside of the overhanging roof to the "Sgt. Pepper's" costumed mannequins in the glass case. The mannequins are all wearing Beatles-themed Covid face masks, so maybe that's a hint at how long this place has been closed (and why). I believe the building is for sale.

I walked quite a bit around town, in the commercial neighborhoods away from the beach, in order to photograph intriguing shopfronts and buildings. As expected, the town gets a bit more "lived-in" outside the tourist areas.

There's an annual event, quite well-known, called Blackpool Illuminations, which as far as I can tell mainly means all the sparkly lights on the waterfront are turned on after dark. This would be fun to see, but I'm too early for it. The Illuminations don't start until the end of August. (I guess it's too light too late to have them on in the summer...?)

Here's a peculiar construction on one downtown street. It's quite impressive, but it's filthy. Someone needs to give it a scrub-down.

I had lunch at a cafe on this street -- avocado, poached egg and bacon on dark toast -- and dinner (a hamburger) at a waterfront pub next to the tower called "Albert and the Lion." Apparently this name comes from a humorous poem about a family of swells with a mischievous son named Albert, who visit the Blackpool zoo with tragicomic consequences.

I also saw the "Send Them Home" guy (see yesterday's post) several more times, walking around town with his flag. He's very persistent, I'll say that much.

On my walk back to the hotel at sunset, the seafront was looking positively Hitchcockian. (I added music to this video too, but also kept some of the ambient sound so you could appreciate the wind, water and birds.)

Back to London today!