Stourbridge, England (July 18, 2025)
What’s near Birmingham? The town of Stourbridge. How do you know you’re in the town of Stourbridge? Because you see a giant cone that used to be the towering symbol of glass making and the pride of England for many, many years. This included high-end crystal made for royalty.
Stourbridge Glass Museum — Really amazing tour rich in history of the town.
Glass is magical. Really. Is it a sold? Kind of, but not really. When you heat it up high enough, it becomes a liquid and you can shape it into all sorts of things. Anyone who has worked with glass knows what I’m talking about. Put on the end of a hollow pipe, you can blow into it and it becomes like lava-hot chewing gum and a glass bubble is formed. It can be spun into cups, bowls, jars, or flattened into windows. Imagine when all this was first discovered. Wizardry.
Glass floors made it fun to walk over and see what’s below the old factory.
Glass can also give the optical illusion that you’re walking across a beam …
Moon, Adrien and I had fun exploring the Stourbridge Glass museum. They made it entertaining and educational — as I believe all museums should be. Two parts FUN and one part educational. Teach us stuff as we play our way through the facility.
Take the tools and pretend that your stoking the fire and preparing the glass.
Wait a moment, is that really where the term “in the doghouse comes from?” Yes, I’m actually learning something. The tax man was assigned a specific space in the factory floor to record all the finished product so that it could be taxed. The job of the workers was to sneak a few products past the tax man to increase profits while the tax man was the “watch dog” to ensure that didn’t happen. Therefore, the box he sat in was the “dog house.” Educated. Check!
Yes, I totally broke the rules by sitting where I don’t belong. I own that one.
I also removed this sign so that I could take this funny picture. Sorry, not sorry.
Fun times walking through the glass shop. As expected, the museum exited through the gift shop where local artists had AMAZING glass work on display. I mean if you love beautiful colours of glass in various shapes and sizes, this is the place to shoppe (see what I did there with my British spelling — I can learn).
Stunning body of water with old building in background. CHECK!
Ducks and geese nearby available for feeding should you have bread. CHECK!
Beautiful hiking trail with trees jetting out. CHECK (Bonus: Alongside Water).
Here again, Stourbridge has the essential English countryside requirements as pictured above. Stunning old iconic buildings, access to (swimmable) water, hiking trails, and an abundance of trees and nature. It’s easy to see why people love living here.
Finally, we had one last meal together before departing. One our way, we say some incredible street art.
Painted “Cock and Bull” Pub art. Artist rendition of the famous nearby Pub
What I love is that Moon and Adrien took me to what they consider a “dive bar.” Now, in the US, this would be consider “rough” and a bit unsavory. They warned me about it as we walked toward it and I was prepared. I’m a 5th degree black belt afterall, so I felt I could handle myself.
Wetherspoon is known for the “low-end” of the Pubs in England.
One story in particular that I quite like is that apparently, there’s a Wetherspoon’s app where you can order food and drinks at any table in any Wetherspoon’s pub. Here’s where it gets interesting. Anyone can order anything for anyone. So, for example, you might post that you’re a weary traveler seeking a drink and someone might send you one … or they might send you something really strange like, oh I don’t know, a side of peas. That’s it. Just a side of peas.
Let the mayhem ensue. The point is, Wetherspoon is very reasonably priced. The food and the drinks are BY FAR the most reasonably priced food and drinks I’ve seen in England. Therefore, it attracts everyone from those seeking a good deal to those seeking to get, well, really hammered. The pub was NOT, in my experience, either rough or unsavory. See for yourself. It was perfectly fine and downright respectable.
Clean. Friendly. Well maintained. I have no idea what all the fuss was about.
After each of us ordered a non-alcoholic drink (I had a Guinness Zero), we went home to make dumplings. Yes, that’s right, we made dinner together in Stourbridge. How cool is that! Moon prepped the ingredients and then all three of us made the dumplings together and Moon air fried them using her airfryer and they were delicious. Adrien made the sauce and, in my opinion, that’s the key ingredient. Get that right and the meal is a lock. Great job, Adrien!
Home cooked meals taste better because we make it together!
Missing Moon in this shot, but it was either capture the food or selfie.
The next morning, we had a healthy breakfast before I hit the train to head to my next stop. What an absolute pleasure to check out Stourbridge and spend quality time with Moon and Adrien. So nice to see parts of the world where your friends exist — especially when you’ve only ever seen them on zoom previously.
Farewell healthy protein breakfast salad as I make my way south to Ealing.
