If day one was about finding our bearings, day two was about stepping back into deep time. Today, we watched the morning mist clear off the Wiltshire plains, walked among the world’s most famous monoliths, and ended up having a pint inside a building that is older than the United States itself.
Here is how our second day unfolded, along with some incredible history, spooky legends, and the fascinating cultural ties that bind these ancient British spaces directly to American shores.

Decoding the Stones: The Stonehenge Byway & The Drone

We started our morning by skipping the tourist center crowds and heading straight for the public right-of-way—a historic dirt track known as Byway 12. Walking up this ancient path felt like a pilgrimage. Because it runs right alongside the monument, we got an incredible, unobstructed view of the massive sarsen stones cutting into the skyline.
Naturally, we had to pop the drone up! Launching responsibly from the public byway gave us a stunning aerial perspective of how these alignment stones frame the landscape.
Looking down at that perfect, ancient geometry from the air made us realize just how deeply the fascination with Stonehenge traveled across the Atlantic. Did you know the USA has its very own cultural obsession with recreating it?

• The American Clones: America loves Stonehenge so much it has built dozens of replicas. The most famous is “Carhenge” in Alliance, Nebraska, where 39 vintage American cars are buried trunk-down to mimic the exact proportions of the ruins. There is also “Foamhenge” in Virginia (made entirely of styrofoam) and a full-scale concrete replica in Maryhill, Washington, built as a WWI memorial.
• The Blueprint of Time: The engineering we marveled at from the drone footage actually inspired early American astronomers. In the 1960s, British-American astronomer Gerald Hawkins used early digital computers in the US to prove that Stonehenge was an ancient astronomical calculator, cementing its status in modern global pop culture.

A Pint in a Stone Circle: The Red Lion at Avebury

After Stonehenge, we drove thirty minutes north to Avebury Henge. If you’ve never heard of it, Avebury is actually much larger than Stonehenge—it’s the largest megalithic stone circle in the world, and an entire, picture-perfect English village sits right inside it.
After walking directly up to the massive stones (which you can actually touch!), we ducked into the Red Lion, a thatched 17th-century pub that holds the unique title of being the only pub in the world completely encircled by a prehistoric monument.
As we walked in, we found ourselves standing over a piece of history that felt straight out of a movie: a 17th-century well right in the middle of the bar floor, now covered with a glass top so you can look down into it while holding your drink.

The Ghosts of the Red Lion & The Revolutionary War Tie

Of course, a pub this old has to be haunted. The Red Lion is widely considered one of the most haunted pubs in the UK, and its main resident ghost, Florrie, has a tragic backstory with a direct connection to a pivotal era in American history.
During the English Civil War in the 1640s, Florrie’s husband went off to fight. Believing him gone, she took a lover. Her husband returned unannounced, caught them, shot the lover, and stabbed Florrie—throwing her body down that very well inside the bar. To this day, patrons swear they see her spectral figure emerging from the glass-topped table.
The US Connection: The English Civil War that created Florrie’s ghost was the literal ideological incubator for the United States. The political friction between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians forced a massive wave of Puritans and free-thinkers to flee England and settle in New England and Virginia. The ideas of liberty, governance, and rebellion debated in places like Wiltshire in the 1600s became the exact foundation for the American Revolution a century later.

Golden Hour Reflection

Sitting in a pub built in the 1600s, surrounded by stones erected in 3000 BC, you realize how young American history really is—and yet, how deeply connected our stories are. From the settlers who left these rolling hills to found our alma mater’s hometown to the shared obsession with mapping the stars, today felt like a giant historical loop coming together.
Tomorrow, we are trading prehistoric mysteries for the dramatic cliffs and salty air of the Jurassic Coast. Cameras and drone batteries are already charging!