Our second day in Liverpool was all about meandering and enjoying the vibe, especially as the heat and sun kept us from going too far. For us that meant going back to the docks.

There’s lots of museums and sights on the waterfront, including the Beatles Story museum; as much as I love The Beatles, I didn’t really want to spend the money on that museum, so a friend and I wandered the waterfront.

I particularly wanted to see the Beatles statue, and take a picture with the Fab Four. I got in a few interesting poses before we moved on, taking in public art, and scouting out places to grab a bite for lunch.

We ended up choosing a food truck parked on a walkway near the Merseyside Maritime Museum, and I ordered a crispy fish sandwich that fit the feel of the day.

When we met up with our other friends, a group of us decided to check out the Maritime Museum, which was free, and the rest went off in another direction. We spent a lot of time looking through the exhibit on the sinking of the Lusitania; I was glad they had an exhibit on it because it’s such a sad and interesting part of history, made sadder by how often it’s overshadowed by the tragedy of the Titanic.

There were artifacts—things like letters and personal knick-knacks and treasures, and the walls were covered with photos of the ship and the people who boarded it, crew and passengers, with descriptions of the event, and personal stories. The most touching were of people who lost someone aboard, and of survivors.

The Lusitania exhibit flowed into one on ships, and though there were only five of us, we all (Photo Credit: Wikimedia)

ended up wandering on our own for a little while.

Eventually we all met up again, and headed out. We were going to meet up with the others by The Beatles statue, but we took our time, pausing to look at the jelly fish that crowd into what I think was the Canal Link.

We also popped into the Museum of Liverpool right near closing just to check out its gift shop, and this was where one of our friends got a stuffed superlambanana, one that would come with us on all our adventures for the remainder of the trip. She named him Frank.

We met up at the Beatles statue, taking more pictures and getting a group shot, then deciding to go back to the hotel to hang out. Me and a couple of the other girls decided to find the superlambanana; when we did we took the opportunity for a lion-king-like photo op with Frank.

After that there wasn’t anything left we wanted to do but hang out. We gathered around a table in the little breakfast/restaurant area of the lobby, ordering drinks (explaining The Drink to the bartender) and dinner from the bar—I decided on a simple fish and chips meal, and it really hit the spot.

We just talked and laughed and listened to music late into the evening, reminiscing about our time so far and talking of our excitement about Ireland. We had less than a week left together, but we wouldn’t think of that yet. Now was the time for camaraderie—the kind that only travel is capable of creating.

Soon, however, it was time to get some sleep; we had to be up pretty early to catch a ferry.