Missing our favorite sport, but gaining admiration for another

Today is Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, and it’s weird to think that neither Ryan nor I will be watching the game for the first time in at least 15 years.  Especially considering that the Reds have four legitimate All-Stars and the Orioles have  Matt “Flew Out to the Opposite Field” Wieters on the AL roster.

Instead, we’ll post on the major “sport” here in Dover – swimming the English Channel. Tonight we ate at the White Horse, a bar that has both its walls and ceiling filled with the signatures and times of those who have successfully swum from England to France (or vice versa) and celebrated here afterward. The first signatures date to July 28, 2002.

The sign at the White Horse. Literally 25 feet from our hotel.

Some of our favorite inscriptions:

• Pete Harper and Gavin Floyd, city of Liverpool, E>F, 2-man relay team, 17 (hours), 17 (minutes). Best memory:  ‘Feeling our fingers touch the sea bed as we approached the French shore.’ July 20, 2006.
• Ben G. 14hours, 25 minutes. ‘6 months after breaking his hips in a heli crash. ‘ (July 14, 2009). E>F
• James Scott, 50/50 of Scotland and Kenya. 14 (hours), 52 (minutes). ‘Cold? My willy has never been so small!’

Here’s a small segment of the ceiling. Notice the ‘Go Blue!’ shadowed in the far-right corner. Ryan assumed it was for the University of Kentucky, but I corrected him that it was undoubtedly the far superior University of Michigan.

A portion of the ceiling at the White Horse.