Luton trip report part 1 - The journey down and afternoon drinks

I loaded my luggage and 12 bottles of water into the car then set off for the first pickup which was Billy at 12am. Billy had phoned me from Heathrow the night before to check that I’d picked up the tickets. He’d had a busy week away in Turkey and had arrived back home late on the Friday night and was a bit under the weather, not from high living but from a bug he’d had since Easter and was having trouble shaking off. We set off for Kelloe and Cousin Billy and Billy Senior were ready and waiting. We hit the motorway at 12:20 and had a leisurely drive down to Leicester, listening to the Man Utd game on the radio. We arrived and checked in to the hotel, dropped our bags off and made our way to the pub next door, just in time to catch the half-times. West Ham 3 Bolton 0!

This is the same pub as Billy and Billy Senior were slavering on to the barman a previous time we were down (the time of the famous chinning incident). Fortunately the pub has changed ownership since then (was it something they said?) and Billy has become friends with the new landlord who’s a Villa supporter but was away at the game. We had a bet on a televised race but none of us could pick the winner (although Billy Senior wondered why he had not picked the winner – Beaver Patrol!) then Billy took me into the casino and got me made a member for the night. We came back into the pub and watched the full times come in. It was great seeing all the Mags trooping out of Sid James before the final whistle with their grumpy faces. The Miller men then came in and we had a bit crack with them and another couple of pints. It was then nearly 6 o’clock and time for our Chinese buffet.

Billy had booked us into a Chinese buffet for 6 o’clock and he promised it was going to be a very good. BTW, what a location the hotel has - pubs, casino and restaurants all within 50 yards! As promised the Chinese buffet was excellent. It cost a bit more than the usual buffet but the selection and quality was fantastic. After about an hour we emerged, stuffed with sushi, prawns, salmon crispy duck etc etc and made our way back to the hotel to get changed for the night out.