Bright Lights Small City

Monday 4 September 2017

Another leisurely start to the day as the weather was overcast and drizzling rain.  Whilst yesterday evening our host could point out Hawkhead to us from our bedroom window, this morning there was nothing but cloud.   At breakfast we listened to a couple of English girls prattle on about who is a good hairdresser and so on, big noting themselves about paying $800 for haircuts and so on and the bloke with him constantly putting his hoodie up and down. Same gherkins that arrived in a tiny Fiat. $800 haircuts my a^&^, bloody twats, Larry had great difficulty in keeping his mouth shut so he kept it full of food. Pancakes this morning, which was a welcome change from eggs in various permutations.

We couldn’t really see much of the lakes district scenery but we ventured to Coniston Water where we couldn’t really see much of the lake or the surrounding hills, seems there is a recurring theme, but at least the ducks were having a wow of a time.

 Headed back past Hawkshead and onto Hill Top to check out Beatrix Potter’s house. It was very dark inside but it made it feel as it would have been in her time, complete with a real wood fire burning in the grate.  The house full of wonderful illustrations and anecdotes from the great B’s life. Went into Peter Rabbit’s garden and whilst no carrots, there was the largest zucchini we have ever seen growing. It would have fed half of Perth easily as it would take so long to find anybody that would willingly eat zucchini (although ironically there was zucchini fries on the menu tonight).

Constant drizzly rain saw us arrive at Lake Windermere for another ferry crossing. Not as grand as the last crossing as it was only half a dozen cars and we only crossed a deep puddle so we were soon tootling along to the next old digs which was Sizergh Castle, home of the Strickland family. The castle was closed for a spot of carpet cleaning so we walked around the gardens which was very pleasant, especially for Jenny as she was accompanied by Larry.  By this time it had stopped raining and was just overcast so we could wander at leisure.

Back into the trusty Insignia and on the motorway again until Larry had a brain wave and we called into Burger King for lunch at one of the service centres. Yep, enough said, on the motorway again and eventually into Blackpool. Found our way to a little hotel called Kings Hotel. It was in a long line of old fashioned hotels straight out of the 1950’s but it had good Trip Advisor comments and whilst small and unusual it was a very comfortable room with a friendly host.  You just had to get over the fact that he looked like a dodgy used car salesman.  He has a sister that lives in Secret Harbour but will never visit her as he can’t face the long flight.  He’s not the first person to tell us that either.  

We wanted to check out the sights of Blackpool so went for a walk along the boardwalk. As it was overcast and light rain showers were intermittently arriving we resisted the temptation to go for a swim even though we spotted the necessary red and yellow flags. 

Due to the threat of rain and occasional droplets we crossed onto the shops side of the promenade to continue our stroll and it was like walking through a never ending Perth Royal Show side show alley. We kept checking the date to make sure we had not teleported back into the 70’s. I thought caberet shows with impersonators had died a natural death years ago and were restricted to the odd appearance at Las Vegas but no, in Blackpool every second advertising board has them displayed and on every night.  There’s also lots of clairvoyants, palm readers, Blackpool Rock shops, penny arcades, casinos, shops, cafes and fairy floss/icecream/donut parlours galore.  Basically a never ending array of places willing to take your money off you.

After what seemed like an eternity and growing increasingly tired and sore footed we decided enough was enough and caught the tram back to a stop opposite our hotel to rest up for a couple of hours.  As the weather was rubbish we decided to eat at the closest bistro we could find and had a nice dinner of sirloin steak and beef strogonoff followed by deserts of a berry crème brulee and a raspberry bakewell tart.

Feeling rather full and sleepy we only went for a relatively short stroll to look at the illuminations and then back to the Kings and bed.  

Yep, Blackpool done and dusted for another 100 years but certainly worth a visit if only to experience the seaside holiday of yesteryear