It seems hard to imagine that it’s actually May, but the bank holiday certainly bank holidayed the heck out of itself, weatherwise. We’ve been busy with home stuff lately – sorting and tidying and culling and as the stirrings of cabin fever began to be felt, my spouse was insistent on a day out, where family fun would abound. He had no time for the weather forecast and confidently asserted that it. would. be. fine.

After dismissing the idea of Formby Beach (though we would have beaten the crowds for once, I imagine), we decided on a jaunt to Liverpool. As someone born into a family of lifelong MUFC supporters, my fondness for the city of Liverpool is a matter of some controversy, but I am unswerving in my views.

The weather was dreadful. DREADFUL. It could have been November – who knew I’d be dithering in a fur coat in May? I looked like a wet dog within 40 seconds of leaving the car but I was glad of the layers.

As we hoped (in vain) for the weather to improve, we had a peruse round a few shops and after four months of prevarication I finally spent my Christmas vouchers on a new camera. I’m terribly excited, and fully confident that my photos will now be completely marvellous.

Liverpool is a pleasant city for  shopping in, I think – my companions weren’t really my first choice for a shopping excursion, if I’m honest, but where did I want to look apart from in Smiggle and the Lego shop anyway?

After a whizz around the Maritime Museum, to mixed review, we had lunch at Revolution on the Albert Docks, chosen because it was the closest place for escape from the driving rain, but the food was tasty, the service was great and it cost under £30 for four of us.

The sun came out as we dined and we were able to spend the rest of the day merely bitterly cold, rather than rain-lashed, which was pleasant relief. It was too cold for strolling round the Docks, so we marched purposefully onto our next destination.

This was the first time we’d been to the new Museum of Liverpool and it really was pretty great. There’s stuff from all different periods of time, showing how the city and its communities developed,  and lots of nice hands-on opportunities; plenty of things to mess with and voices to listen to and hats to try on and a train to sit in. I thought it was really well conceived and very family friendly.

I’d definitely go back, as we only saw a fraction of it. If you have tots there are ‘Little Liverpool’ sessions in a dedicated area which looked like they’d be good fun for the under 6 market.

The top floor is devoted to an exhibition about John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It was interesting and interactive, with tons of original memorabilia, including their wedding clothes, as well as a karaoke booth and somewhere to sit and listen to the hits. There was a wall where people could add post its with their thoughts about love. My absolute favourite, bar none, was ‘Kaci Leggett Add me on Facebook’, though I’m not sure this was what the creators had in mind. 

My smallest travelling companion looked increasingly ticked off as we perused the third floor – it turns out she doesn’t like John or Yoko and was incensed to find them cropping up again and again. I explained that it was an exhibition about the pair of them, but it cut no ice with her. It was a long afternoon in some respects…

Hope your Bank Holiday was a happy one and that the four day week is a joy.