We were not so looking forward to our stop in Holyhead on Holy Island in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. It seemed to us to be tiny and with nothing there. Wow, were we surprised. As we left the dock we saw the largest auto ferry in Europe, an ususual sight, and passed by a pub named Endinburgh Castle, though we were not in Scotland or any where near Edinburgh. We took the bus to the furthest point it went, to the seaside and the Maritime Museum.


The houses and sights of this town are quite adorable from the Museum point There were a collection of buoys outside the museum one of which had our home address on it. We went into the museum entrance and found ourselves in a gift shop and ticket sales for the museum. We decided that we did not want to pay the price of admission because this seemed a very tiny museum with not much in it, but we loved the gift shoppe (that's my spelling) and the "sales" people there. We also loved the Welsh flag, so much so that Melissa bought two mugs with the dragon from the flag on them, one for our granddaughter Paige and one for herself. We had a great time at the museum even though we never even entered it.

Next we picked up the bus and went into the town center. Oh my, what a sweet place, from its welcome sign to the many shops with their adorable names and signage

to the sign on a photography shop that closed due to the proprietors retirement  
and the anchor in the street probably signifies the heritage of this maritime town.  

We passed a florist shop selling bags of potatoes, with different prices for clean and dirty ones. We all got a big kick out of that.  

Melissa's brother Bruce asked her to pick up some electric plugs that can be used in the UK to attach to the Grossan Hydropulse, a product that the family sells. Recently the business was approved to sell on Amazon UK, but the product must be shipped with the proper electric connection. That caused us to engage in a bit of interesting work. I asked a man in a wheelchair if there was a hardware store in town. He directed us to a store that had everything, but first, we needed to get on the internet to get an image that Bruce sent us, so we could show it to the shopkeeper. That took us to the internet cafe where, over Melissa's objection, we paid 1 pound 50 pence to access the internet. I captured an image of a local man giving his approval for this endeavor. This thumbs up that he gave me is what everyone in this town gives to each other as a way of greeting, instead of a wave.

We went back to this store, which is actually indescribable. It had everything and was filthy. It looked as though it had never been cleaned. But it had everything and was doing quite a brisk trade. Melissa found the right plugs but we needed 30 of them. We were sure there would not be enough, but to our surprise Ashe, the owner,  
 
went into the back and came out with boxes of new plugs, the correct ones, in ample supply. And, the cost was less than it would have been if we had ordered them online.

Across the street from Ashe's store was a collection of cute little businesses called the Mini Mall that also contained some very friendly and cute people.  

We had learned there was a church in this town further up the street, so we headed for it. Outside the church entry was a man playing the guitar and singing. His music was lovely. This church is named St. Cybi's and it dates back to the 14th century  

Inside the church, we were greeted by two lovely volunteers, whose names I unfortunately did not get
 

The church interior was beautiful and peaceful with numerous commemorative plaques,  
stained glass, a gorgeous decorated organ, and a private chapel built for the Stanley family who "owned the town."  On the wall was a Tudor Rose that was recently discovered.  

Our visit to the church and the whole of Holyhead was purely delightful.  

We went back to the ship very happy, completely satisfied with our visit, a clear highlight of the ship. To celebrate we got dressed up and went to the Polo Grill, our favorite eating place on the ship, for dinner.