The 1831 version of the London Bridge was deemed by the City of London to have reached the end of its useful life and in the late 1960’s was auctioned off to the highest bidder, an Arizona real estate developer for $2.46 million. Robert McCullough had the bridge dismantled, shipped through the Panama Canal and into southwestern Arizona, and reconstructed on the edge of Colorado River reservoir. Once reconstruction was complete and a canal dug under the bridge to create an island in Lake Havasu, officials came from London to dedicate the bridge in 1971. We went a few miles out of our way today for the curiosity of seeing a misplaced piece of history set in a tourist park. We walked the bridge, found a fun geocache, got some ice cream, and got into a conversation about our T@B because Steve was wearing a Tearstock t-shirt. We noticed a curiosity. If we had known ahead of time, we would have brought our own and participated in the Love Locks tradition that has recently spread from Paris to Lake Havasu!
Dakar, Senegal: A Wolof Village & The Pink Lake
Queen Mary 2’s arrival in the Port of Dakar, Senegal was heralded in the local press and greeted with ceremony. Our own excursion took us on a coach journey through the streets of the capital city to visit a Wolof village and the shore of Lake Retba, the salty lake famed for an intense pink color.
Greg just sent us a link to a story in Atlas Obscura. Apparently land that we visited adjacent to the bridge actually belongs to the British Crown and pays rent on the property on an annual basis. The web address below leads to an article that is worth the read!
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/london-is-still-paying-rent-to-the-queen-on-a-property-leased-in-1211