Because of some health issues I was not able to attend the YPKO event in Blackpool last year so my wife and I were really looking forward to attending the meeting in March. As usual we flew into London and stayed at a rather nice hotel for one night before taking a two-hour bus ride to Southampton where we met up with our good friends Tom and Tina Welch.

We spent the night with Tom and Tina. (Note: click on any of the photos shown here to see a larger version.) The next morning all of us got in his car and began our road trip to Skegness – about a 6-hour drive. The YPKO group moved the event from Blackpool to Skegness this year so we were anxious to see the hotel and the city.

Our drive to Skegness was an adventure for sure. Our good friend Tom – well let’s just say Tom drives with the heart of an 18 year old. You have not lived until you are sitting on the left side of the car, traveling on the left side of the highway, moving 95 miles per hour, and can’t see the bumper of the car in front of you! But, we made it to Skegness safely and all the fun was just about to start.

The meeting was held at the County Hotel, which turned out to be very comfortable. The hotel manger’s name is Russ and he did a very good job at tending to the needs of the group. Our room was larger than we expected and we had a very nice view of the oceanfront.

Skegness is another city in the UK where families go for vacations. There are many things to see and do in the city. The shopping is great and there are food places all over the place. Fortunately, because March is the off-season, the best spots were not crowded.

We arrived in Skegness on Thursday around 3 PM. Enough time to get checked in to the hotel and get our room settled. I was on the program for Thursday evening so I had to get my music things ready and locate the meeting room.

The new facilities worked out really well. There is a nice sized dance floor and room for several keyboards to be setup. At times we had four Tyros 4 keyboards ready to go – the sound system was a Yamaha Stage pass system.

All in all, it was a great success. We renewed our friendship with our friends from Blackpool and met others for the first time like Silvia and Kevin who are from Germany. They are called AstralPlane and have released several albums in Germany. There website is www.astralplanemusic.com.

In the afternoons we had an opportunity to sit with various players and exchange ideas about the keyboard and the music they played. I am always impressed with how much there is to learn from these people. They are much more interested in the technical aspects of their keyboards then are the Americans. So, if you need to know how something is accomplished on a specific Yamaha keyboard they usually know the answer. Some of the wives who do not play did arts and crafts during the afternoons. They made some really nice looking cards.

I was on the program again Saturday evening and that was a lot of fun. The members are very appreciative of the evening’s performers and recorders and video cameras are everywhere. I have a video and stills that are part of this report.

On Monday morning we finished our breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and began our “exciting” ride back to Southampton. The trip was uneventful and on arrival at Tom’s house we were led to our room and we settled in.

I have to tell the story of our stay with Tom and Tina. Never in my life have I been treated with such respect, dignity, and friendship! My wife and I are truly grateful for having such friends in our lives. My wife and Tina hit it off like old school friends. The four of us spent a day exploring Southampton and Portsmouth. All I can say is it was worth the trip just to spend time with these two wonderful people.

Well, every good thing must come to an end and the next day we took a bus from Southampton directly to Heathrow airport where we boarded our flight and returned to Dallas.

Once again friends were made, memories born, and good times were had. Our British friends will be in our minds and hearts and we are already looking forward to our next trip.