Fall road trip, Part 1 : To Salem

Salem Common Bandstand

Well, now, I’ve been absent from my blog for a few weeks, haven’t I? In past trips, I blogged while I traveled but by the end of the day, by the time I’d sorted out my photos and typed up the day’s events, I was too worn out to keep organizing blogs. Thus, I’ve not written a summary of our road trip down through New England until now.

The first part of the trip starts on Monday Morning, Labour Day. We drove from Halifax to Woodstock, New Brunswick on the Trans Canada Highway, crossed over and down Interstate 95. We decided we’d break the trip into two days rather than put in a 10 – 12 hour day driving and stopped over in a Howard Johnson motel in Woodstock. It’s right off the highway, does a basic continental breakfast, gives you free wifi and a bed to lay your head. The room was a good size and the dated décor and furniture has seen better days but it suits the purpose.

While we were there, we drove up the road a bit to see the longest wooden covered bridge in the world at Hartland, New Brunswick and we had a meal in a pub in Woodstock. There’s also a potato chip factory nearby called the Covered Bridge Chip Factory and you can visit that as well, see how they make kettle cooked chips and try samples. They have lots of neat flavours, too. Graham stuck with near-standard flavours like BBQ but I tried Lobster and it was really nice! You wouldn’t expect that to be a tasty potato chip flavour but it was good.

We had a bit of a delay at the border but it didn’t hold us up for long. There’s many miles of not much else but trees through Maine but past Bangor, things got a bit busier. We did run into a thunderstorm of Biblical proportions just as we came into New Hampshire on the Interstate. That was scary. The rain was coming down heavier than I’ve ever experienced inside a car. We really couldn’t see much of anything aside from the red taillights of the car ahead of us. We managed to find an exit and came off the Interstate and ended up on the shoulder of the road because we couldn’t see if there were any businesses or parking lots we could pull into. We waited it out, about 10 minutes or so, with four way flashers on and wipers going. It finally passed off, and we got back on the highway but a little while later, once we were off the Interstate, we drove into it again though we found a parking lot to turn into and this time, it was only a short wait for it to pass. It stopped altogether shortly after and we made our way the rest of the way to Salem, about an hour after we had planned to arrive.

The B&B in Salem, the Amelia Payson House, was easy to find. It is fully air conditioned which was great because it’s turned out really warm and humid. We found it and got registered and had a lovely chat with the owner, Donald. We got our bags up to our room and had a brew to relax for a bit.

Salem Witch Museum at night

The Inn has all the amenities you would expect including free Wifi, a must these days. Right outside our room is the sitting room with a Keurig coffee maker. Donald brought me some teabags and milk which was much appreciated. We had our drinks and headed out for a walk to find somewhere to eat. Donald had recommended a place which turned out to be not far away. I think a lot of the attractions in Salem are going to be close together. We went to the Salem Beer Works where we had some very interesting beers and Graham had an epic double burger. I had a Cajun dish that had just the right amount of heat. Yum!

We have one full day in Salem and we’re going to make the most of it, at least until we come apart at the seams. Breakfast was fresh waffles and fresh fruit, lovely! We got trolley tour tickets from Ada and headed out. The inn is only around the corner from the Salem Witch Museum so we went there first. This place isn’t a museum as such, rather, it has two presentations, one describing the witch trials and hysteria from 1692 and the other with someone talking about witches, Wiccan, and witchcraft and its general history. The first presentation had scenes with mannequins set up all around the room, one scene at a time with lights enhancing the descriptive narration. Quite well done. The trolley tour guide later told us they had consulted Disney in this so it makes sense they’d have done it right.

Around another block, we waited by the visitor centre where the Salem Trolley Tour picks up punters. We had about a 10 minute wait for it and away we went. The weather, by the way, is excellent today. It’s sunny and hot for sure but there’s very little humidity and there’s a bit of a breeze just when you need it.

The trolley takes you around the centre of the City in a general figure 8 route, heading down past the harbour first and out around by a big park and newer areas before heading into the city centre again to go through the older neighbourhoods where some historic houses are and some really beautiful old mansions are on Chestnut Street. The guide was quite good and talked about all kinds of things, from the witches, to Nathaniel Hawthorne to city rivalries. I do like when tours are narrated by live human beings rather than pre-recorded information.

Salem Waterfront

We did the whole tour route and got off back at the visitor centre. We decided to walk down to the waterfront which was quite nice. There has been a lot of new development there and some nice restaurants looking over the inner harbour area. We looked at some menus and decided on a restaurant called Capt’s where I had a New England specialty, the lobster roll. This one was really good, with lots of lobster in it. It was piled high on the bun and a bit messy to eat, guaranteeing you’ve got your money’s worth! We even had dessert which we don’t always have room for.

We walked around the pier where the large old tall ship, the FriendShip was but it was closed so we couldn’t go on board. We walked back and just missed the trolley. We were going to take it back to the Witch Dungeon attraction but it’s just as well we missed it as we would have missed out on two other things that we decided were very cool.

The first of these was a little printing shop that also carried all kinds of unusual works from local artists, it’s all gothic and new age and that kind of thing which we both like. It’s called the Scarlet Letter Press and Gallery. The owners were very interesting and I think the man that does the printing had a fair bit in common with Graham, at least with the kinds of films they both like!

Onward. We walked back towards the tourist centre, passing lots of shops geared towards the witch tourist trade, some looking pretty hokey and some that were much less the type that would attract the bog standard tourist, shops that someone that actually practices Wicca or other new age practices would frequent. There are shops that advertise Tarot readings, one that said it was a school of witchcraft and wizardry, shops where you can buy any manner of fantasy themed or creepy ornaments, artwork, books, posters and jewelry.

The next thing we found that we’d have missed if we’d have caught the trolley was a movie monster museum called Count Orlok’s Nightmare Gallery. It was very dark inside but lit enough so that you could see the monsters and read the cards. It showed a lot of the old movie monsters from the 1920s on through the 80s and 90s including Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Werewolves, Pumpkinhead, Freddie Kreuger, and many more. Graham knew them all! I knew the old ones but am not as familiar with many of the modern horror movies other than obvious ones like The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs and some of the series of films like Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street.

There were lots of old movie posters and a lot of signed photographs of an awful lot of movie actors from both the old and new eras. The accompanying music reminded me of the kind of scary music they’d play with the old silent or very early talking horror movies. Wonderful stuff!

Near the Old Burying Point

We stopped at a Dunkin Donuts for a cold drink. That’s the American equivalent of Tim Horton’s. Apparently it was started in Massachusetts. More trudging as we’re starting to get footsore by now. We came back up behind the Peabody Essex Museum which is supposed to be really good but it’s very large so would take a few hours to get through. They have a house that was transported from China which we could see from the outside. It’s also across from an old burying ground with some graves of some very early settlers.

We stopped in a few shops along the way and finally got to our destination by foot rather than trolley, the Witch Dungeon museum. Again, it’s not really a museum as such, more of a presentation with some exhibits. They have a live performance which we expected to be much longer than it did. There’s a brief explanation of how the witch trials crisis started and then it depicted a pre-trial hearing where one of the young girls that was embroiled in the accusations against many of the men and women in the village was confronting an older woman. It probably wasn’t more than 5 or 10 minutes then we were ushered downstairs to a representation of the jail (gaol) and dungeon where the accused were kept with some more narration. Except we were told the real jail would have had a dirt floor. This didn’t. And the real jail didn’t have cells. This did. And the real jail was actually in a different location. What was the point, really?

Oh well, live and learn. We had to think about what to do for our evening meal. We are both tired and sore and thought that since we’d had a large meal at lunch, we would just buy some sandwiches and have them in the room tonight. We often do that after a long day walking around. Getting old!

Since we’d found ourselves back at the visitor centre we decided to go in and they told us about a deli inside the little mall next door. We found it, got some sandwiches and drinks there and we finally made it back to the B&B about 5 p.m., totally worn out. The Air Conditioning sure felt good as did a cold drink to rehydrate. Boston tomorrow will be another long day so we should plan that.

Impressions of Salem:

Beautiful old mansions and houses, brick and wooden, brightly painted and well preserved. Centre of the city is easy to navigate and all the main things are close at hand. Seems to be some really good restaurants and lots of unique shops. Somewhat tatty and exploitive of the witch connection when it’s really quite a historic place but it’s claim to fame ended up being the Witch Trials and that sealed it’s reputation. That’s what brings the tourists in. It’s mayhem at Halloween! Some of the attractions related are very good and very well put together and some are just hokey. Same goes for the shops. The trolley tour is very good, I’d recommend that. There are parks and squares and the waterfront is quite nice, too. It’s a good place to base yourself if you’re visiting the area, both Boston and some of the nice towns in the area. We would like to go again and stay longer and explore more of the area.

Part 2 of the trip coming soon.

The longer version with more detail, should you prefer it, is here on my main website.
There are more photos here.

Road Trip Advice from Wendy Perrin

Bridge to Anglsey, North Wales

Saw this blog post by Wendy Perrin who writes for one of the travel mags, Conde Nast Traveler, I think. Clearly she’s writing for Trip Advisor, too and in this post she’s writing about how to make a road trip a great experience.  With our upcoming road trip getting closer, I read it with interest.

Excellent advice here including:

Get off the highway/motorway/interstate and hit the country roads (Yep, I’ll go with that one. We use the main roads sometimes but like the smaller and slower routes to actually see the area. You never see much of interest from the highways)

Follow the signs to places you have never heard of or didn’t know were there. (We’ve done that and found some interesting museums or just views along the way)

Ask locals for recommendations, forget the guide books and apps. (Well, ok, I’d still use guidebooks because even they have little known attractions and sites but asking locals where to shop or eat is going to steer you in the right direction, for sure)

Find the kitsch, the unusual, the lesser known. (I like to buy tea towels for souvenirs, and can remember the places I’ve been when i use them. I also pin one up in the kitchen for a bit of artwork, and change it from time to time)

The blog post talks about the American Road Trip, but obviously, it doesn’t matter where you’re doing it. Read the full post through the link below.

How to Make Your Great American Road Trip Even Greater

The Next Road Trip – Maine

Our next trip is going to be a road trip. We decided to head down into New England, with the end destination being Salem, Massachussets where there be witches! We really enjoyed the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle, in Cornwall (UK) and wanted to see the American version. The museums around here will focus on the Witch trials, no doubt and be just as interesting. We’re also going to take the train or the ferry into Boston for a day as well. I’ve been to Boston but he’s not been there and it’s quite a nice city.

We’ll probably do the hop on hop off tour and then wander around. Boston has a good Fine Arts museum, that’s a possibility or we could just soak in the atmosphere of the city.

I had thought we’d take the more southern route, crossing at st. Stephen/Calais, Maine and taking an older road, called the “Airline” (route 9), maybe staying over in Bangor but according to Google, it takes just as much time to go north further into New Brunswick on the Trans Canada highway, past Fredricton and cross over at Woodstock/Houlton and take the I95 down to Salem. I suppose, it’s all highway so it would be faster. I think we might do that and break the journey overnight at Woodstock, as it’s quite a long day to drive all the way through, even just to Bangor which is 3/4 of the way by the time you get that far.

Coming home, we do plan to travel along Route 1 along the Maine coast, exploring. Seaside towns, lighthouses and gorgeous scenery. Might even go to Campobello Island and come back into Canada that way, by ferry from there to Deer Island to the mainland. We can decide when and where to stop on the road and pick a little motel along the way, or two and take our time coming back. We will also plan to make a stop or two at the famed outlet shopping areas of Kittery and Freeport if time allows.

And Time Will allow for at least one shopping stop, if I have my way :)

We’ve got a B&B booked for Salem, Amelia Payson House which looks lovely. The lady I spoke to was very nice, too so I think we’ll be happy there. We’ll book a hotel in Woodstock but the other nights we will be on the road, we probably won’t book ahead of time. Could be interesting!

The Lake District – Coniston Water

Rather than “Lake Coniston” or “Coniston Lake”, it’s called Coniston Water. Other lakes in the district are sometimes refered to that way, though not all.

I haven’t had the chance to get back to this and blog the rest of my travels. It’s been a hectic second week away and getting back home, there’s been a lot to sort out. Getting back to work takes up the rest of the time! Here’s another installment, the first half of another nice day out.

We love the Lake District with its spectacular scenery. It’s not a long way from our base in Manchester so we have driven up through this gorgeous area a few times over the years when I’ve visited England. We decided to do another trip and, luckily, the weather cooperated. This time we chose an area we’ve not been before, Coniston, which is less touristy than Windemere and the towns along that famed lake. That was the anticipation, at least.

Away from the motorway, traversing the country roads

We started up the motorway and turned off, heading west towards the southern lakes. We found ourselves on some pretty country roads, narrow and twisty but no lakes in sight. Yet. We soon came to the lower part of Lake Windemere and the GPS sent us down a narrow road to a queue of cars waiting to board a ferry across the lake! The signs indicated it could be a 30 or 40 minute wait. That didn’t appeal (the GPS was set to send us the “fastest” route. a 40 minute wait kind of contradicts that). We decided to head further north alongside Lake Windemere and in doing so, we had to navigate the narrow streets of the town of Windemere itself, made worse by the crowds of  Easter holiday tourists.

We forged onward to Ambleside, suffering another bottleneck of traffic. This isn’t boding well but at least we could see some of the lake. I knew we could get to Coniston by driving through part of Ambleside and over the top of Windemere and that’s what we did, finally arriving in Coniston about noon. We had intended on going down to the lake, having lunch in the Bluebird Café and maybe taking a boat ride but we couldn’t find a parking spot at all! Even in the village itself, parking spots were scarce and there were a lot of people wandering around. So much for this being less touristy although it was less so than Windemere.

Country pubs don’t mind if you bring your dogs

We finally found a place to park behind a pub that dates back to the 16^th century when it was a coaching Inn. It’s called the Black Bull and we went in there for our lunch since the sign at the parking lot warned us it was for patrons only. Lunch was excellent and we each had a pint of Bluebird Ale, brewed just behind the pub in Coniston Brewery. My piece of battered haddock was so large we joked it was a piece of whale! G. had a wild boar burger and was very happy with that, too.

From there, we walked along the main street past the shops, picking up some Kendal Mint Cake in one, basically that’s a block of minty sugar, some of it coated in chocolate or a brown sugar crust. We found the John Ruskin Museum which tells some of the story of Coniston. It was founded by W.G. Collinwood who was secretary to artist John Ruskin who died in 1900 (the museum opened in 1901 as a memorial to him as well as depicting the surrounding area of Coniston). There are interactive displays and lots of information signs.

Items that belonged to or were painted by artist John Ruskin

The museum has some nice displays of linen and lace, geology and social history, mining and farming and a section honouring World War veterans including a local man who was awarded the Victoria Cross in WWI. His motorbike is there on display. There’s a miniature stone version of the village out behind the building. There’s a larger gallery that focuses on John Ruskin himself, including artifacts, books, letters, photographs and many of his paintings and drawings. He was an important man in the art world in the 1800s, being a strong defender of J.M.W.Turner and a strong influence to the artists of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Most of his paintings are water colours and are nature-related or architectural features. Ruskin’s house, Brantwood, is on the opposite side of the lake and can also be visited.

A piece of wreckage from the Bluebird K7 crash

Another newer gallery that was there told the story of Donald Campbell. I had never heard of him but he and his father both endeavored to break speed records on land and on water with various types of vehicles and boats. Donald Campbell died in 1967 while attempting to break his own speed record on water in his Bluebird K7 speed boat on Lake Coniston. The boat flipped and crashed on the water and his body was not found until 2001. They had photos and models of his boats and his father’s cars and they had pieces of the wreckage including a boiler suit that his remains were found in. Kind of creepy! Graham remembers when the crash happened, it was big news here in the U.K. It might have been in Canada too but I was only 8 at the time. I don’t think I’ve ever heard about it.

St. Andrews paris church, Coniston

We walked through the village and stopped into St. Andrew’s church. It’s a pretty little church but there isn’t anything unusual or overly interesting in it. There’s a nice font in one nook at the back and the graveyard is nice. The grave of the soldier who won the Victoria Cross is here but Donald Campbell was buried elsewhere in the village.

We decided to drive on and see if we could actually see a bit of the lake itself. A short way out of the village we found a stopping point where we could look over the lake and take a few photos. We drove on and though the scenery was still nice, we really didn’t see much more of that or any other lake. The drive long Ullswater that we’d taken a few years ago was much prettier as far as water views go.

We drove along the rest of the road, intending on picking up the motorway near Kendal but ended up taking an unexpected stop. More on that later.

Chatsworth House

Following on my previous post as we head deeper into the Peak District National Park, we arrived at Chatsworth House, nestled against the River Derwent, about noon. They’re about 10 minutes or so from the town of Bakewell. Chatsworth is the seat of the Cavendish family, the Dukes of Devonshire. The current Duke is the 12^th in the line. There’s quite a lot of history about the family and the house, both on Wikipedia and on the website for Chatsworth itself so I won’t go into it a whole lot.

The estate as a whole covers over 100 acres and there is actually quite a lot to visit if you were to spend the whole day here. You can walk around the extensive gardens and trails where you will see various out buildings, statues and fountains. You can visit their working farm and see some animals, mainly geared towards children. The old stables buildings have a restaurant and shops in them and there’s a little shuttle that will take you up the little hill to it if you want but it’s not far and not steep.

The house, of course, is the jewel in the crown. There are various prices for entry, depending on what you are going to see. The house alone without the farm or charity gift donation is 18 pounds for an adult which is not that expensive compared to other similar attractions. It’s 12 pounds to just visit the gardens and 6 to just visit the farmyard. They also let you take photos for your own use.

The Painted Hall, Chatsworth

We arrived at midday, as I said, and the parking lot was very full so we had to park quite a bit away from the house. Never mind, we walked over to the house, passed through a pretty courtyard and entered to the ticket area. That done, we went up a few steps and turned into the Painted Hall, the very impressive entry area. It really is impressive, with every inch of the ceilings and much of the walls covered in murals and paintings. The floor is black and white checked tiles and the hall is ringed with antique furniture, sculpture and artifacts. You could probably spend a half hour just looking at everything there.

There’s a route you follow through the public rooms, about 25 or 30 out of a couple hundred, most of which are the private rooms for the family.

Another highlight on the ground floor is the elaborate chapel with a high white carved altar piece. The ceiling in here is painted as well. We come back around  to the Painted Hall then go up the big staircase to a landing, also with painted ceilings and also some more lovely statues and artwork. There are also come cases with old swords and pistols here. It’s a good vantage point for photos into the Painted Hall as well. Up some more stairs to the upper floor of the house.

The beautiful music room, Chatsworth

Here you have the state rooms, including an elaborate Baroque music room and a state bedroom with a tall canopied bed and walls lined with paintings. The music room is filled with silver and gold pieces and very fancy marble tables. At the very back, behind a slightly opened door, is another well known sight. It looks as if there’s a violin hanging on the wall behind the door, but in fact, it’s fake. It’s a tromp d’oeil painting. There are portraits of various members of the generations of Cavendishes scattered around the rooms and hallways and there’s another smaller room lined with Old Masters paintings and sketches including a large portrait painted by Rembrandt.

The house is filled with art and sculpture and antiques. There’s a model of the house in a glass case in the Oak Room, next to (I think) the chapel, so called because it’s lined in oak panelling and carving. Also in here, bracing the fireplace, are two long narwhal tusks which is one of the more unusual finds in the house. In one room there was a portrait of Henry VIII, which we didn’t expect! There’s so much to look at and the guides or curators in most of the rooms are really good. They know their stuff, about the family and the house and volunteer information if they see you curious about something and very willingly answer any questions you have. There are little information cards in most of the rooms but the guides are even better and filling in details.

Even the corridors are lined with things to look at or have good views out over the gardens and courtyards. There are some rooms you can’t go right into and can only look from the end or they are partly roped off, such as the bedrooms and the library which looks like it would be a fascinating place to delve into if you could get in there. I would imagine the priceless rare books make that impossible. The light in the library is also kept low but there are lamps lit on the tables. There’s an ante-library as well because one of the dukes, the 6^th I believe, was such a book collector that he overflowed his library. There are apparently over 17,000 books. Just past the library and ante-library is the state dining room with it’s long table set with china, and lots and lots of silver!

The last room you go through on the route is the sculpture gallery and that leads to the inevitable gift shop, housed in what was the orangery. There used to be a huge glass conservatory in the gardens but that was torn down in the early 20^th century as it was too difficult and costly to maintain. Another interesting fact was that the house was used as a girls’ school during World War II and there were several displays about that on as well.

The cascade was built around 1700 as a series of steps where the water from fountains at the top would flow. The house was built in 1703.

We took well over an hour to walk through the house looking at everything and taking photos. After, we got a drink at an outdoor take out stand and sat in the sun for a rest. We didn’t feel up to traipsing around too much of the garden but walked down past the end of the house and up near the Cascade fountain to have a look. We decided not to go up to the Stables since we’d already had a cuppa and thought, as we were getting hungry, we might as well head off. We had a country pub to go to and a beautiful big late lunch to enjoy.

The Royal Oak is an award winning pub between Buxton and Bakewell and not too far from Chatsworth. They have some rooms and camping facilities and though are a little off the beaten track, it is well worth making the drive. The atmosphere is very friendly. There are several small rooms, with open fires and copper artifacts on the stone walls. They have a very good beer selection including a really tasty Bakewell best Bitter and a cloudy cider on tap called Rosie the Pig!

Their menu has lots to pick from and includes traditional pub grub and excellent up to day items as well. The special we were offered was guinea fowl with savoy cabbage and leek mashed potatoes with red wine gravy. Too tempting to pass up for me though G. decided on a mixed grill which came on a large platter filled with various types of meat and lovely homemade chips.  The food was hot and absolutely mouth watering. Well deserved for the awards they’ve won and I told them, too!

Full and satisfied, we finally headed back to Salford after a long and very enjoyable day.

Down with York, Up with Rievaulx

Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire

The beautiful and historic city of York is one of our favourites so we thought we might enjoy a day trip. We headed out from Salford under iffy skies, it could clear up, it could rain. But that’s typical of  Greater Manchester weather. We often liken it to Mordor, the grim and depressing location from Lord of the Rings. Weather-wise it’s not often really nice when I’m here but otherwise, the comparison isn’t really fair. Manchester is a nice place. Really! (The cities of Salford and Manchester are right next to each other, only separated at the city centre by a narrow strip of the River Irwell.)

It’s a little over an hour across to York. We parked in a Park and Ride lot and took the bus into the city center stop closest to the mighty York Minster. That is one awesome cathedral in the literal sense of the word. It is the seat of the Archbishop of York who is the most important church leader next to the Archbishop of Canterbury.  The Minster is very large and very old with beautiful stained glass windows, soaring high and dramtacially into the vaulted ceilings.

Sadly, the Minster was closed to the public today because it was being used for university graduation. Bummer! We had a look in St. Michael le Belfry, the parish church next to the Minster. It was charming, with some interesting points. It was also the church where Guy Fawkes was christened. He’s the guy that was the scapegoat of the Gunpowder Plot and his death and the triumph over the anarchists is celebrated with fireworks and bonfires every year in Britain on November 5.

We walked through the narrow streets and found a nice pub for lunch. That’s a great thing about York, there are lots of historic old pubs and all of the ones I’ve been in are atmospheric and all have served very good food and ales and beers. This one was called the Golden Lion.

I wanted to go to the Yorvik Viking Centre as i’d never been there and had heard good things about it in the past. They have a lot of exhibits, some gruesome and some rather smelly (depicting the actual smells of a medieval Viking village). The north and northeast were prime targets for raiding Vikings in the 9th and 10th centuries and lots of the names in this area have Viking origins. Anyway, we paid nearly 10 pounds each as an entry fee. There’s a bit of an exhibit and a glass floor over a model of the area of York where a lot of Viking artifacts and remnants of a village were discovered. The museum is near that site now. There’s a little cart that you sit in and ride around a recreated village with an audio track describing what everyday life was like in the villages. No gruesome. No smells. But with animatronic figures that speak in ancient languages while the audio track translates. It’s all a bit simple and sanitized and “Disneyfied” and we weren’t very impressed. There’s also a few rooms of exhibits of artifacts found and that’s it. Overpriced and underimpressive.

We walked around a bit more but decided we’d had enough disappointment for one day. Oh yes, and my camera, only a few months old, packed it in! Not happy over that either.

East transept of Rievaulx Abbey

Our overnight trip to Sunderland in the northeast was far more successful. We drove up and across the Yorkshire Dales National Park through some lovely scenic areas. High hills and bare bleak moors dotted with farms and lots of sheep. We stopped in a market town called Hawes for lunch. We didn’t have the time to properly explore the town because we still had a ways to go but it would definitely be worth visiting again. It’s in the heart of the area that produces Wensleydale cheese and they have a creamery where you can watch them make the cheese. There is also a ropeworks and a country museum and the town has a lot of nice little shops and a few very nice pubs.

We stayed with friends in Sunderland which is on the coast just south of Newcastle. We dined out and spent an enjoyable evening with them. The next day we decided to visit the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey in the North York Moors National Park. It was really good! In addition, the sun was shining! We used a provided audio guide and wandered around the grounds. Rievaulx is a Cistercian Abbey and was founded in 1138 and was an important Abbey in the north until the Dissolution of the Monasteries closed it down in 1538. The audio guide was very interesting and they also had a little exhibit on the life styles of the monks and how the abbey was run. We tramped around there for well over an hour listening to the information and taking photos. We also had lunch in the cafe and that was excellent as well.

All in all a very good road trip! Much more enjoyable than our visit to York yesterday. York will still be there, though and we’ll go back again.

We arrived back home just as it got dark, about 5:30. Tomorrow’s my last day here! It always comes too soon!