This is Dan, and his daughter Julie. He’s a semi-retired insurance company owner from Cincinnati, Ohio, with 5 children, many more grandchildren and even some great grandchildren. She works in sales and has a large family of her own, also in Cincinnati.

Dan is an ardent Anglophile with a fondness for Downton Abbey, and a dedicated subscriber to “The London Times” as he calls it. He and Julie share a love of good beer, especially stouts. 

Anyway, a few months ago, Dan and Julie decided to plan a father-daughter trip to England this September. Neither of them had ever visited before. They booked their flights and set about finding a place to base themselves. 

“There was a wonderful article in The Times about townspeople banding together to rescue and reincarnate The Lion. I love the story and the photos, and we would like to visit for a few days to enjoy The Lion and its surroundings,” Dan wrote.

After a few more weeks of occasional correspondence with Peter Scott, one of the owners of Lion, a couple of hotel recommendations and some local tips later, we were thrilled to welcome Dan and Julie last week to the pub. 

It’s fair to say they were as pleased to be there as we were to host them. We’d especially recommended our Wednesday Pie Night, which they attended after a visit to the Eisenhower Memorial in Bushy Park. Dan’s feedback is wonderful, and also proves that the US and UK are two cultures divided by a common language!

“Got there, thinking we were going for apple pie, peach pie, or whatever. Have never heard of these meat pies. Shared two, one steak and a venison. Both were scrumptious” he said.

“Washed them down with the chocolatey Trochulus [delicious stout from Jawbone Brewing, now on the bar]!! I don’t know when, but I do want to get back for another Wednesday Pie Night!”

We said goodbye to Dan and Julie as they left for Dublin on Sunday before returning to the States, but we’re going to keep in touch as they spread the word in Ohio. Dan is already planning his next visit with another of his daughters!