Day Trip to Tynemouth

Tynemouth is about five miles south of our town of Whitley Bay--just two stops down on the Metro line. The four of us decided to spend the afternoon there today.

We got a late start because we had an appointment at the bank in the morning to open a checking account. And we stopped on our way home from the bank to buy a ukelele for Ollie from Hound Dog Music, his favorite store, and a scooter for Merrit from a nearby bike shop. Both boys are ecstatic with their new toys!

We left for Tynemouth at 2:00, after lunch and an early nap. We walked to the nearest Metro station, which is about three blocks away.

We are waiting at a small cafe at the Monkseaton Metro station for our train.

Handsome guys.

We rode to the Tynemouth Metro station, which is a beautiful Victorian-styled station built in 1882. It has ornate iron work everywhere, all painted pale green, and a glass roof. It's a gorgeous building. 

Every Saturday, there's a flea market-type bazaar at the Tynemouth station; since it was late in the day, the sellers were breaking down their tables and loading up their wares when we got there. And I read a poster that said there's a farmer's market every third Saturday, so we'll have to stop in for that later this month.

After walking down Front Street, seeing the Congregational Church (built in 1868)
and a statue of Queen Victoria (unveiled in 1902), and war monuments built to
honor veterans of the Boer Wars, we stopped in to a pub for a little snack for the
boys, who were feeling a bit peckish.

Mike and I visited the Tynemouth Castle and Priory when we
were here without the kids. While we didn't have time today
to go inside the priory, we did walk up to it and let the boys
scramble around on the steep hills (I think there used to be
a moat here).

Gorgeous spot for a photo op. It looks like we're perched on the edge of the
precipice, but right behind us are levels of walkways and steps all the way
down to the sandy beach faaaaar below. 

I was hoping we could make our way to the North Shields Fish Quay (prounouced "key"), which I hear is the best place to go and buy seafood. Just popped over to Wikipedia and learned that the town of North Shields began in 1225 as a simple village of shielings (huts) built to serve the nearby Tynemouth Castle and Priory. Since we didn't really know exactly where we were going or how far a walk it'd be, we decided to save that for another day. 

We ambled around Front Street a bit more and headed back to the Metro station. We were getting hungry and ready for dinner.

We ate Italian food at a restaurant in Whitley Bay called Amore.

Dinner was phenomenal. We even scored the Early Bird Special. Three courses--a starter, a pizza, pasta, or risotto dish, and an ice cream or coffee--for just 5 pounds. The kids ate for 3 pounds each. 

Mike and I both had the chicken liver pate, which I thought was yummy but Mike said tasted like cat food. How would he know?

For dinner, Ollie had pizza margherita, Mike had mushroom and chicken ravioli with Napoli sauce, I had smoked salmon with peas in a cream sauce over farfelle, and Merrit had lasagna.

We all had vanilla ice cream for dessert.

What I love about most restaurants I've visited here is that the portions aren't huge. You can eat a starter, a dinner, and dessert, and have a glass of wine and be satisfied but not stuffed.

We walked home in the cold night air and all fell into bed early. What a lovely day.