LIVERPOOL— I am midway through a 10-day tour of England and Scotland with a group of 26 Americans. All have travelled with me before. For a few of them it’s their seventh trip as my guests. They are a stellar crew and I have become friends with all of them before this current journey started.
Our bond grew stronger on our visit to Liverpool.
Part One:
I am writing this on the jump seat of a bus somewhere in the pastoral English countryside between The Cotswolds and Liverpool. The 26 Americans sitting behind me have entrusted 10 days of their lives in my hands. This tour started in London several days ago and will end in Edinburgh, Scotland several days from now.
I have hosted approximately 47 of these tours with somewhere over 1,100 guests— most over the past six years— with two years off during Covid. All have been great adventures with wonderful people. None have been like this group and this trip.
My travel company— RSJ Yonderlust Tours— formed organically several years ago and now keeps me busy for six weeks in the fall and six weeks in the spring. Even though we are travelling with a couple of dozen people, these trips have never felt like group travel. I always feel as if I have made friends at the end of every trip. This group and I became friends a long time ago and we have shared some amazing experiences throughout Europe.
The very first tour I co-hosted started in London before heading south under the Channel into Belgium, Normandy, and Paris. This time I’m headed north. More importantly I am headed through a sort of personal mecca for me— Liverpool. There are many items on my bucket list, one that is near the top is to visit Liverpool and trace the steps of the greatest band that ever existed, one that fostered my love of music, and one that has kept me passionate about music for over six decades, The Beatles.
My grandmother traveled the world mostly as a member of groups and clubs to which she belonged. My grandfather wasn’t interested in traveling abroad. He took the train to Chicago once a year to see the White Sox play, but worked seven days a week, otherwise, and was content to send her all over the world. As a kid I remember hearing stories of her European travels at the dinner table. I don’t remember ever dreaming of taking a Grand Tour, but I can remember, as a 10-year-old thinking of how great it would be to visit Liverpool one day.
To be honest, for most of my life I never thought that day would come.
We had an early departure from Lower Slaughters in the Cotswolds and the inn opened the dining room 30 minutes early for our group. My love for these guests grew even deeper when I walked into the dining room and all the ladies— and some of the men—were dressed in 1960s Beatles-era costumes! They know my love of The Beatles. I was moved, deeply.
Though I worried that a one-day stop in Liverpool was a too self-indulgent and selfish as it was a bucket list item for me, and probably not many of my guests. I design these tours to cover what is best for my guests. I had never taken such personal preferences before. To my delight, they were all elated.
Part Two:
I write this on a bus just north of Liverpool as we head to the Scottish Highlands. Yesterday will go down as one of the more memorable days of my life. It was an all-Beatles tour, all day long. We visited all the historic spots known for the band: The Casbah Club where they played their very first gigs as teenagers, Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane, their childhood homes, dined in the Cavern Pub and went into the Cavern Club where the honed their skills after a long stretch of marathon nights in Hamburg, Germany. The Beatles played The Cavern 291 times between February 9, 1961 (seven months before I was born) and August 3, 1963. After that, Beatlemania happened and their lives— and the music world— were never the same.
It was an emotional day for me, and my emotions overcame me several times, mainly when I thought of the friends who I wished were with me enjoying all we were experiencing.
My emotions overcame me for the final time at the end of the day, standing in the middle of The Cavern Club listening to a cover band play, “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” (the first record I owned).
I thought back to my childhood bedroom on 22nd Avenue in my hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi when I first heard that song on my toy record player. I thought of my grandmother and was grateful she instilled a love of travel in me at an early age. I thought of my friends who also love The Beatles but weren’t there. I felt gratitude for the friends who were with me in that moment, and then the song was over. And the day was over.
The Beatles loaded up on a bus and toured the English countryside for the movie “Magical Mystery Tour.” It struck me that we are doing the same thing. I am honored that people trust me to travel with them. I am appreciative for the leadership team back home who hold down the fort at New South Restaurant Group. I am thankful for the team that works with me to put these trips together. I am especially grateful for my friend Jesse Marinus who helped me organize this trip and made it possible to have one of the most memorable days of my life.
Onward.
Apple Cobbler
Apple Filling
8 cups Granny Smith Apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup water
2 Tbl unsalted butter, softened
Topping:
1 1/2 cup flour, sifted
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Preheat oven to 375
For the filling:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the apples, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, salt, vanilla extract and water. Using one tablespoon of butter, butter a 9X14 baking dish. Spread the apple mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish. Dot the tops of the apples with the remaining tablespoon of softened butter.
For the topping:
Combine the sifted flour, brown sugar. Baking powder and salt and blend well. Blend in the butter and beaten egg. Drop the batter into 12 portions, over the apples, spacing the batter out evenly. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the apples are tender and the crust is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow the cobbler to rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Serve with cinnamon ice cream.
Cinnamon Ice Cream
5 cups heavy cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
Pinch salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 cinnamon stick
12 large egg yolks
To make the cinnamon ice cream ice cream: Combine the cream, milk, salt, 3/4 cup of the sugar and cinnamon stick in a large pot. Split the vanilla bean down the middle lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a paring knife; add them to the pot and toss in the pods for added flavor. Place the cream mixture over medium heat, and bring up to a simmer; stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Cook for about 15 minutes, being careful that the mixture does not boil, simmer or scald. Shut off the heat, cover the pot, and allow the cream mixture to steep for 15 minutes to further infuse the cinnamon and vanilla flavor.
In the meantime, combine the egg yolks in a large mixing bowl and blend them lightly with a wire whisk. Gradually add the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar and continue to whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved and the eggs are thick and pale yellow; about 6 minutes.
Using a large ladle or measuring cup, temper the eggs by gradually whisking in about 2 cups of the hot cream mixture. Return this back to the rest of the cream in the saucepan and turn the heat to medium-low. Stir constantly until the custard thickens and leaves a path on the back of a spoon when you run your finger across it, about 10 to 12 minutes (do not let boil.)
Strain through a fine strainer into a mixing bowl and place it over an ice bath and chill completely. Stir the mixture while it is cooling. For best flavor results, store the ice cream base covered over night in the refrigerator. Following the manufacturer’s instructions of your ice cream maker, freeze the ice cream. Transfer to airtight containers and freeze until needed.
Yield: 1/2 gallon
(Robert St. John is a chef, restaurateur and published cookbook author who lives in Hattiesburg, Miss.)
