Road Trip in UK (Weston-super-Mare to Skegness)
#discoverTheWorld ?
#rituals of #theBeautifulJourney 
I’ve always wanted to write about holidays – the places, the people, the experiences. That way I might remember them better, might even actually sort through the millions of pictures and select a decent set to keep, plus, someone else might benefit from the story as well.
So, here it goes. The first summary of a holiday is about one week road trip around UK, Weston-super-Mare to Skegness:
- Millet’s Farm
- Weston-super-Mare
- Restaurant: Il Michelangelo
- Bath
- Accommodation: University Campus
- Restaurant: Absurd Bird
- Experiences
- Stonehenge
- The Chilterns
- Accommodation: Treehouse “Squirrel Run”
- Pub: The Cricketers
- Experiences
- The Chess Valley Walk (70% of it)
- Skegness
- Accommodation: The HomeStar
- Experiences
- Prison Breakout (Escape Room)
- Fish & Chips at The Blue Fin
- Skegness Natureland Seal Sanctuary
- Crazy Golf at Arnold Palmer Putting Green (near Skegness Natureland)
- Ballroom dancing night with buffet at Grosvenor Imperial Ballroom
- Helicopter Flight – The Thrill-seekers’ option with sharp turns, drops, plus chocolates and bubbly (from the basic leisure flight we initially had)
- Gunby Estate, Hall and Gardens
And now a few more words about different aspects of the holiday.
Looking forward to more trips around UK, as we are now National Trust members! That also means more books. (e.g. The Valkyries – by Paulo Coelho)
The weather was good throughout. By that I actually mean no rain, just drizzle occasionally and bearable wind. And drizzle is something I enjoy, I find it romantic.
Family and birthday lunch at Il Michelangelo in Weston-super-Mare was a treat. Great food, service and ambience. Quite a humorous lunch, as the waiters kept teasing me in a very lovely way.
The Bath University campus is quite beautiful, the rooms offer good value for the money, the staff were helpful and the breakfast was as generous as you wanted it to be (English breakfast and usual continental).
There is no heating in the rooms (as that kicks in only in October), but it wasn’t that much of a problem. I feared I might be cold and asked for an extra duvet, which I’ve received without hesitation, very lovely staff.
We chose Absurd Bird for its fun name and Tuesdays offer, as we happened to walk past it during our wander around town. I liked the look of the place.
We did not do the entire Skyline walk, but we’ve done a really good part of it and had some great views. I’d actually like to go back to Bath for the walk and to explore the town more. Still need to go up the Abbey Tower.
At the Assembly Rooms we only went to see the Blue Room where, of course, we started dancing a Waltz.
For the Roman Baths we waited for a late entry hour (4pm), so that we get to see the lit torches and fewer people around. It was nice to see reenactment videos projected on the walls of the various baths showing acceptable levels of nakedness.
One evening in Bath we went to see live music at The Bell Inn pub. That night the Organelles were playing – a “rare opportunity to see one of the southwest’s most legendary beat combos. Mr Judge & the Bradley Brothers are joined by the elusive Danny Marcus for determinedly unique musical treats.” Here is Paul Bradley‘s website that can take you to more tunes and info. It was a very pleasant evening and atmosphere.
At Stonehenge we spent the time at the main site and within 10min walking distance from it. The Stonehenge day was a travelling day and could not spend too much time there.
The Treehouse was a highlight of the trip. Then we found something to do in the area.
Squirrels Run tree house, North Hill Farm
I loved the place, I wanted to stay in a treehouse for a long time. It is quirky, the shower is outside on the balcony and although it was mid September, that morning was sunny and nice and the outdoor shower was quite fun! Except this, you have all the usual services of a B&B – little fridge, TV, DVDs, cookies, teas, towels and bathrobes. And the room would warm up very quickly. Absolutely cosy and beautiful.
The room would start moving every time someone would be walking up to it, so there is no way to sneak up on someone there. That’s how we knew when breakfast was coming. ? Breakfast was delivered at our door in a basket and it had warm croissants and pain au chocolat, milk and the usual continental breakfast selection.
There are a few short walks to do around the farm. We enjoyed the fresh air and discovered a clearing full of wood sculptures.
The longer walk around there is the Chess Valley walk that we’ve done only partially. The owner of the farm was kind to drive us close to Chesham so we could then walk back to the farm, get the car and continue our journey. The weather that day was incredibly beautiful. Such a nice walk!
Chess Valley walk
Then… on the road again, this time to Skegness. I liked Skegness, nice beach, nice gardens around the city, pretty lights at night and not many tourists.
I’ve enjoyed the escape room, it was the first time I’ve tried it. We were a brilliant team and escaped with seven minutes to spare.
The helicopter flight was the first time as well. As we got the thrill-seekers’ option, it felt a little bit like a mild roller coaster, I imagine, though I don’t really know because I never been on a roller coaster before, as they look scary.
We had a go at Crazy Golf on Arnold Palmer Putting Green, really looked like the best in town, nice, tidy and a bit more quiet.
We also went to the Natureland and Seal Sanctuary. James Thomas (@qahiccupps) recommended us to go there and offered us entry tickets (that supporters of the Seal Sanctuary get). Although not a big place, we spent about 3 hours there. It’s just really beautiful, cute seals, penguins, lots of tropical butterflies and other animals. Plus the Seal Hospital where we could see the recovering baby seals.
One evening, while searching for things to do, we found the Sequence & Ballroom event at Imperial Ballroom and decided to go. The evening was absolutely lovely – although we don’t know sequences, we had our own area to dance the respective dance as we’ve learned it. The evening started with Quickstep. We did well and then continued with Tango, Waltz, Rumba, Cha Cha Cha and an awesome super quick Jive. The people there were all dressed up, while we weren’t really ballroom ready. The best I could do was my Fred Perry Pleated Pique Tennis Dress, as I didn’t think I’ll be dancing ballroom at a proper dancing event this holiday. Various people have come to talk to us, make us feel welcome and congratulate us for having a passion for dancing. We also won a prize in a raffle. It was number on my pink tickets leaf and I chose a photo album where I could prepare more of this type of stories.
The Gunby estate was surprisingly pretty, although not a big place.
The staff there made the experience more enjoyable with the details and stories about the house and the Massingberd family. The highlight was Emily Massingberd and her radical political views back in her days, campaigning for women’s rights and having founded The Pioneer Club in London in 1892, a socially levelling institution for women.
Diana Massingberg was the other highlight personality on our visit, as we happened to find a churchwarden playing the organ in St. Peter’s church and telling us about Diana learning to play the organ in her 80s and then continuing to play there on Sundays.
I’ll stop here, got enough pointers of how the holiday was. Maybe this is not a common blogging practice, but if I remember something that I’d really like to add, I’ll get back here and edit this.