It's Mother's Day and the time to show appreciation for the women that have given us so much for so long. The sacrifices they make and the love they give, and despite the mistakes we make or the mistakes they make they're still there for you.
Easily the worst part of any trip to my favourite place is leaving. Most know my love for that place, I go on about it a lot, but the heartache I feel when I leave is difficult to describe.
Scarborough is approximately 2 hours drive away so an early start was called for. Having a teenage daughter means that early starts aren't always achieved. Not a problem getting her out of bed (like her older sister), it was a getting the right outfit and makeup right. We were 45 minutes late setting off.
Before we set off we checked the weather with this guy...
He said it was going to be overcast and warm in the afternoon (with some showers in the morning). This is Owain Wyn Evans, the camp Welshman who presents Yorkshire weather on the BBC.
The drive northeast was uneventful and we arrived at Scarborough Fair without incident.
Scarborough Fair is a collection of vintage (mostly steam driven) fairground rides and Victorian attractions and well as a number of vintage vehicles. They are all housed in 2 large hanger style buildings located between Scarborough and Filey.
The price is a little expensive but we had a discount coupon (£3 off) and the proceeds go towards preserving the collection, the staff there are all volunteers. The great thing about the collection is that a number of the rides are available to ride on (for the price of a £1 token). We rode the Merry-go-round, Caterpillar, a Ghost Train and I had 2 goes on the Dodgems (they let you bump unlike the 'health and safety' obsessed Dodgems I've experienced recently).
We were there a few hours before heading into Scarborough. We walked along the front when the heavens opened. Hoping for a passing shower we ducked into an amusement arcade to wait it out.
It didn't stop. Well done Mr Evans, you were way off on this one.
We decided to get some tea at one of the fish and chip restaurants that we (Morticia and me) visited last year.
The rain continued and as the visitors started to leave the shops began to close early. We waited for the traffic to subside before heading home ourselves.
At midnight on Sunday we waved goodbye to our youngest, Rags, as she set off by coach on a 3 day school trip to Paris.
The following morning Morticia and I were driving north east towards Scarborough. This was our first trip together since our honeymoon.
We'd planned this trip some months earlier when Morticia received an email offering a deal on stays in the Grand in Scarborough. Morticia had aways wanted to stay there since she first saw the magnificent building that dominates the bay as a child. We booked and the time came 'round.
We arrived without incident and even managed to park fairly hassle free. After that it started to go wrong. Now I'm not daft, I know the Grand isn't as grand as it once was. I was under no illusion. We entered the reception area and we were immediately impressed with the beautiful architectural features and the impressive staircase which dominated the centre of the large hall. We then noticed how small the reception desk was in the corner, and how large the queue was for it.
The queuing is when we first got an incling that there might be something wrong. The queue was made up of people checking in and people complaining. We got to the front and got our booking sorted out by a woman who looked like she was having a bad day and was passing on the vibe. We were directed to our room which was down what looked like a service corridor to a lift and down 1 level. We got to the room; it was shabby, smelly and it had NO WINDOW! I wish I'd taken a photo just to show how bad it was.
We returned to reception, this wasn't acceptable (I'm normally the kind of person that can put up with most things but everyone has a limit). I joined the back of the queue (again) and waited. The same woman listened to me with a "don't give a toss" look then started the hotel was full and we'd have to put up with it. We were absolutely NOT going to put up with it! We demanded a refund deciding that we'd rather go home than stay in a smelly dump. We emerged back into daylight with the refund back on our credit card.
Upset and angry we were going to spend a short time in Scarborough before heading back but I thought I'd try to find an alternative hotel on the internet. The first one we tried was full. It was a long shot, the place was busier than I'd imagined for the time of year. The second one was a bit further out, just above the spa.
The Ambassador Spa Hotel was on a street filled with hotels. I'd put in a booking on the aptly named booking.com website but this was ultra last minute. I went to reception and asked. The friendly receptionist had a look and with a smile announced that there was one room left. Result!
Relief lead to excitement as we unpacked. The room was clean, a nice size and tastefully decorated. We lost most of our afternoon faffing about getting a room so we were keen not to waste the evening. We were both tired and hungry so a trip into the town rather than the sea front seemed to best course of action. We found a pub called The Courtyard which did food. A couple of beers and a nice meal were consumed before we returned to the hotel for a drink in the bar and an early night.
Breakfast was a buffet which I always like. We went down to the front via one of the cliff trams which Morticia had never ridden on. We strolled on the sea front stopping regularly (a necessity because of Morticia's condition) at cafes and pubs. We had lunch in the chip shop cafe where we ate before with our children. It was so different to not have any responsibilities.
After checkout we went onto the front again, unlike yesterday it was pissing it down. That still didn't dampen our spirits. We stuck around until lunch (at Winking Willy's) then went to take a look at the statue of the chap sat on the bench. Then it was time to head home.
We stopped off at a pub on the way home, the Coach & Horses in Rillington. It has to be one of the worst pubs I've ever been in. We didn't stay to long...
Late night Rags pick up.
Rags was due back about midnight. In fact they were running early. We tracked her phone up the M1 to Chesterfield before her battery died. She did manage to call us with an ETA. We sat in the car outside school, as did every other parent, waiting. The coach came and a very tired Rags was delivered back to us.
She had had the experience of a lifetime and we had recaptured something from a long time ago and a glimpse into our future.
This year we wanted to do something special to mark Mothers Day. It's the first time in recent years that we've all been together and it needed to be special. The last time we were all together we took a trip to Whitby so we decided to do the same again.
It was an early start (I was up at 6am) so that we could beat any potential crowds. I know it's out of season but it can still get busy.
We had a great day, truly wonderful. Morticia struggled getting around a little but we didnt rush her around. It got quite busy in the middle of the day with queues forming outside all of the cafes, restaurants and take-aways. We waited a while before enjoying a meal in Robertson's fish and chip restaurant.
A good time, no a great time was had but now it's time to pay the price. Morticia, I'm betting will be bed ridden for the next few days. Was it worth it? She says so and who am I to argue?
Today being a bank holiday and being English, we decided to go to the seaside despite the weather (which was overcast when we set off). Since we're staying at Morticia's mother's the nearest seaside is a place called HUNSTANTON. It's a place I'd never heard of before.
It wasn't long into the journey before it started raining, it didn't stop all day.
Hunstanton is billed as a Victorian seaside town, my first impressions didn't hold up this claim. It looked like a town that was left behind in the seventies. Ok, to give it it's due I didn't get to explore all the town, just a small part because of the miserable weather. I got the feeling that the town was missing a few tricks that the rest of the east coast has. One of the big deals about the seaside for me is 'fish & chips', something that is not well represented in the town. There is potential to be a 'nice' seaside resort, focused on family visitors but as it is now it's not worth the trip unless it's just a passing visit.
Back to our day, we arrived at lunch time. Had some trouble getting parked, not because it was busy (it wasn't) but because all the car parks had height bars and I couldn't get the roof box under. Luckily I found a car park with a slightly higher bar and paid a fiver for the day.
We went for lunch in one of the cafes overlooking the green and was disappointed.
My damp family
We looked around the shops for a while then hit the arcades (after all there was little else to do) and every parent knows....
Seaside + Bad Weather = Arcades <> Skint
We stayed until about 7pm and after a bag of chips we headed back.
