The museum I chose is in Ramsey, about a 1¼ hour train ride
from Douglas. The Electric Railway runs 2-car trains. One car is enclosed, the
other roofed, but open to the sides. When I reached the station, the enclosed
car was already full, but having already decided to go to Ramsey, I naturally
took a seat in the open car, already filling with passengers. The man seated
next to me lost his umbrella when it blew out of the train just as the train started
to move. He’ll probably recover it when he returns to the station.
The ride to Ramsey was pleasant enough, despite the occasional
blast of wind and rain. A light sprinkle was falling when we arrived in Ramsey. I was not to be deterred
by the one-mile walk from the station to the museum.
When I was about 1/3 the way to the museum, the downpour started. By 2/3 of the way, my pants and boots were soaked. I reluctantly concluded
that my touring a museum dripping wet would be no fun for me, and even less fun
for the museum staff. I’ll save the museum for another day.
Walking back to the train station, I passed the bus station, and the idea dawned that I should take a bus tour of
the island. I found a bus whose route meandered back to Douglas,
crisscrossing the island west and then east to achieve south – a great way for me to
see parts of the island I haven’t been to, without walking in the rain. The
plan worked well for about 20 minutes, by which time the bus filled with passengers and all the
windows fogged.
When I arrived in Douglas, the misty weather seemed
relatively clear compared to the foggy bus. So I walked along the promenade
marveling at the full-moon-high-tide waves now breaking against the sea wall. Where the strongest breakers hit the sea wall, the police had closed the
adjacent roadway to traffic. Upon inquiry, a policeman told me that the road
closure was to protect pedestrians: a few years ago, a child escaping a wave breaking
over the wall ran onto the roadway and was struck by a vehicle.
