On our way, we stopped for lunch in the Village of Alnmouth. The grey cloud cover that had followed us all the way from Whitley Bay suddenly cleared, making our stopover in this sweet little ocean-front town all the more stunning.
We drove through the town once or twice, looking for a place to eat. There were two coffee shops, two inns/pubs, and a sandwich shop by the golf course. We flipped a coin (not really) between the two pubs and settled on The Sun Inn.
We had a delicious starter of warm bread and just-from-the-oven Camembert cheese. For our meal, the boys shared a 100% Brittish beef hamburger (a bit overcooked) with baked beans (a staple side dish!) and chips (aka French fries). I ordered steamed mussels, which were good, but Mike didn't like his meal so he ate my mussels and I ate his crayfish salad on a baguette. It was okay, but I was eyeing MY mussels the whole time. :-)
This pub served proper English ales, meaning hand pumped and just a bit cooler than room temp.
Merrit is looking so grown up these days with those adult front teeth coming in! The boys have always been pretty good restaurant-goers. It helps that they love food, I guess, but it definitely makes it more enjoyable for us when we know that they'll sit (relatively) still for an hour or so while we have a nice meal out.
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| Sound-front terraced homes in Alnmouth. |
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| The tide going out from the sound back into the North Sea. Dunes. Wildflowers. Gorgeous. |
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| Can you believe these poppies? Are these wild or have they been planted here? So picturesque! |
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| Poppies are blooming everywhere right now. The petals look like paper. |
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| Everywhere we looked along this seafront walkway, we took in beautiful ocean views. |
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| This makes me think of the North Carolina coast and the sea oats. |
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| The sound with boats, and the English countryside beyond. |
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| Don't know the story of this cross on a hill in Alnmouth, but it's very striking. |
We drove a little farther north along the Coastal Route, a scenic network of highways that run along the northeast coastline of England, until we came to the turnoff for The Holy Island of Lindisfarne.
A few people--namely the receptionist at my chiropractor's office--have told us that we should go to Lindisfarne. There's a castle, and a priory, and a village, and a tidal causeway that's only passable at low tide...and is famous for stranding over-confident tourists and locals alike.
When we arrived at the causeway, cars were lined up, waiting to cross. I hopped out of the car to read the posted sign of the tidal schedule and crossing times. Why did I bother? I should know by now that posted rules and regulations mean less than nothing to Mike.
The sign said we could safely cross at 2:40pm. It was 1:50pm. What we thought was an ambulance, but actually turned out to be a refrigerated fresh-seafood-from-Scotland truck, was the first to cross. Then other trucks and SUVs--vehicles with high suspensions--started crossing successfully.
Mike inched our car to the front of the line, front tires resting in the receding water. It was receding fast, too! As we sat there, it must have gone out another 10 feet just 15 minutes, while I bought chocolate-covered vanilla pops from an ice cream truck.
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| It looks cold, but it was actually quite warm, but windy. |
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| Parked at the waterline, Mike considers making a break for it. |
Wow! Lindisfarne. Stunning. There's no other word. This is definitely one of the places we will bring family and friends when they come visit. We parked the car, as it's a pedestrian-only village, and started walking. It was windy, but warm and sunny. What a gorgeous day to be in such a picture-postcard setting.
As we stood on the grassy bank of this U-shaped rocky harbor, I said to Mike the 360-degree view was just surreal. At 11:00, the Lindisfarne Castle (you can see it in the distance); at 12:00, this gently lapping harbor of teal-blue water with fishing boats bobbing about and our boys pitching smooth stones into the water; at 4:00, the ruins of the ancient priory; at 7:00, the quaint village with row houses and shops and roses in bloom; and from 8:00 to 11:00, greener-than-possible fields, herds of sheep, and low rock walls. Everywhere you looked was something impossible.
We walked up to the castle gate, but realized that we didn't have our National Trust Membership Cards with us. (Because we are members, we could get into the castle for free WITH our cards; but without them it would have cost us about £25.00. So, we opted to skip the castle this time, and come back another time.
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| Ollie at the Lindisfarne beach. |
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| The boys found these painted rocks. Not sure who put these here...? |
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| Is there anything more English than a stacked-rock wall and field of sheep? |
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| Mike and Merrit approaching Lindisfarne Castle. We'll come back another day.... |
1 comment:
Mir, the pics of the poppies along the coast are just beautiful...Loved reading about this adventure...thanks for bringing us along for that heart-pounding ride across the water - so much fun!!
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