My Favorite Summer Vacation: Bath, England in 1996

In 1995, I had several pen friends that, like me, were big Peter Gabriel fans. I was the only American of our quartet. By mid-1995, four of us came up with an audacious idea -- meet at Peter Gabriel's studio, Real World, in Box, England. The week to meet was left entirely up to my English pen friend, Judith.

She picked the week when she met Peter Gabriel in 1995 -- the last full week of July. Back then, none of us had the internet. Everything had to be arranged by phone or through snail mail. Because of the time involved to plan a trip for July 1996, I had to start planning in October, 1995.

It was my first time to Europe and to England. Judith picked the bed and breakfast, the lovely Belmont (still in existence) which had a grey cat named after Winston Churchill's brother. Judith managed to guide jet-lagged me around the twists and turns of the English public bus system and shopping at Waitrose.

Box is a jaw-droppingly lovely village a few miles outside of Bath's city centre. Real World Studios is a converted mill straddling the Avon River. In late July, ducklings dotted the river and the amount of greenery nearly blinded me. Judith and I met our Portuguese and French pen pals and we proceeded to have eight-hour long picnics on the grass across the street from the studio.

Several Box natives were curious about us -- including Peter Gabriel. He very kindly walked over from parking his car, carrying his Sainsbury's shopping bag full of notes and bric-a-brac, talked to us for about ten or fifteen minutes and posed for a few photos. It was and still is the highlight of my life.