Newquay and Padstow

We woke up Saturday to another dreary weather forecast, but got up and out to explore Newquay before the rains came.

The children again loved playing on the water's edge, exploring caves and getting their feet and legs wet.

Above Cora is a footbridge to an awesome house on the rocky hill over her head. She enjoyed sitting and contemplating the crashing waves.

Newquay is a busy place, a surf town filled with shops, eateries and nightclubs. This area reminded me of the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. If the weather and surf had been better, Stace and Dean might have rented wetsuits and boards.

Pasty shops were everywhere! Cora loves pasties, and had one every time we were out at a meal time.

We then drove around to Padstow, where we met up with Sue and Gord, who came in to spend the day with us. Sadly, the rain was upon us, and we didn't even manage to take one photo of our time together (huddling within raincoats and umbrellas).

Sue, Jen and I stayed in the shops, while the men and children unsuccessfully tried out the crab lines. They succeeded mostly in getting very wet.

Sue and Gord decided to make the long and wet drive back to Somerset, while we and Dean and Jen went back to the hotel. We booked a table at the adjacent restaurant, and finished our Saturday night there. Stace enjoyed a St. Austell beer, naturally.

St. Ives Fun

We woke up Friday in our hotel room to a gloomy weather forecast, but that didn't stop us from making plans to explore this beautiful county. We headed south, and took a quick photo with the tiny island called St. Michael's Mount.

Along the way, we observed lots of abandoned tin and copper mines. We visited one, a National Trust property, called Levant Mine, since Cora worked hard on her miner's project just a couple of months ago.

She's planning to add this photo to her collection, and turn her written project into a book.

The mine here first appeared on a map in the mid 1700s, and the site has the only still-working steam beam engine.

We would have enjoyed our tour of the site more had the weather not deteriorated. We were very wet when we got back to the car!

We then met up with Dean, Jenny and the children at a train station that would take us into St. Ives. It was still most definitely raining.

We entertained ourselves while we waited with thumb wrestling.

The train ride was lovely, and billed to be the most scenic in England. Thankfully, the posted photos let us see what the foggy and rain-splattered windows failed to show us! 

Rain or not, the kids had to play on the beach. They got soaked, naturally.














Being wet through didn't mean they didn't want ice cream, though!

We ended up in a toy store, where Stace bought the kids candy and Dean and Jen very generously bought them new Lego sets. They came in handy in the hotel room that night!

Sea Life in Mevagissey

After St. Austell, we visited Mevagissey on Thursday evening for dinner and a bit of crabbing. The harbor, like all the Cornish harbor towns we visited, was incredibly picturesque.

We explored the town, and found fish and chips for dinner.

So pretty.

This cracked me up. As safety-conscious as Britain is, the parts of the wall facing the harbor are just open, no fencing of any kind. Those painted lines provide all the warning English children need!




















The girls remembered our crabbing adventures in Brixham in 2014, and had been eager to get crablines again. At each town, Violet, especially, asked repeatedly about when we could catch crabs.

Finally, we were set up and dropping the mackerel-filled net bags down the harbor wall.


After a bit, we caught a crab. Success!

While hoping for another crab, we spotted this seal in the water.

We then made our way to our Premier Inn outside Newquay and got settled in. Three nights in the same hotel! What a treat!

Charlestown and St. Austell

Thursday was the start of our long-awaited trip to Cornwall. Stace grew up taking family trips to the gorgeous county on England's southwestern coast, and he was excited to show Cora and Violet.

Stace and the girls and I got on the road around 9:30 in the morning, and we were in Cornwall less than two hours later - Stace was shocked, since it used to be an all-day drive.

We stopped in Bodmin, and then Fowey, where we had our packed lunch on the harbor wall. A crafty seagull enjoyed part of Violet's lunch - he grabbed her sandwich right out of her hand!

We then moved to Charlestown, where these photos are from. See the girls far below me, on the sand?

They walked around to the other side of the stone wall, to explore the rock pools uncovered by the low tide. See them down there?

Stace and I made our way down to join them.

Cornwall's rugged coast is beautiful.

The girls are on the right side of the photo. Cora was absolutely in her element, climbing mountains and exploring caves.

Charlestown's 18th century harbor is basically untouched from how it looked in the 1800s, and it was used in filming the recent Poldark adaptation.

After Charlestown, we drove to St. Austell, to visit the brewery that made my favorite ale back on my 2001 trip. St. Austell's Cornish Cream was dark and smooth and creamy, and for several years after 2001, Stace and I made a point to look for it.

We found out (sadly) that the brewery stopped making it at least 10 years ago, but our time at the bar and visitors' center was still well worth it. We learned about the brewing process, the history of the brewery (which was founded in 1851), and enjoyed a half of St. Austell's new dark beer.

England Tidbits

 Cora has been on a cooking kick while we've been at Nan and Pop's house. She's made cupcakes a couple of times, the second time with help from Euan. She also has made banana bread and banana cake.

 It's hard to beat fish and chips for dinner...

 ...with homemade, kid-decorated cupcakes for dessert.

Cora burned off the calories with a bit of fencing with Uncle Dean.

 Another evening, we took a walk around Kingsbury, pausing to admire the village church. The 100-foot high tower dates from 1515, and was built from local hamstone. The church nave was built in the 14th century.

 We ended up at Kingsbury's park, where the girls had fun on the zip line.

 On Wednesday, a church group hosted a monthly luncheon, and Dean and Livi joined Stace and me. Our girls stayed back with Sue, Gord and Euan. The funds raised will go toward renovations.

Stace and I went to the grocery store Wednesday night to stock up for our trip to Cornwall. He ran into two old friends - Scott, and then Grinder. They had fun reconnecting over a cart full of food.

Catching Up

Andy and Jenny invited us for lunch Saturday, and Marisa, Lola and Jason joined us, too. The girls had a good time playing games that Lola brought. It was a lovely afternoon of catching up.

We got caught up with Wes on Monday, meeting him and his mum at Perry's Cider for lunch. We love this place - the cider is wonderful, their food is delicious and the setting is gorgeous. The museum is a great place to spend time, too.

 After lunch - a ploughman's (with cider) for me and Stace, and a cream tea for the girls - we all went out to watch the girls playing in the stream.

 Apple trees are everywhere, like the one on the right side here.

 This is part of the museum, which has displays of old photos and farming and cider-making equipment. We also enjoyed watching a nest of hungry baby swallows up in the rafters.

 On Tuesday night, we went over to Auntie Doreen and Uncle Pete's to catch up. Stace and I loved checking out Pete's new game room, which features a beautiful snooker table. They enjoyed a game over a pint of cider.

After picking some of Doreen's tomatoes and saying hello to the chickens, Cora got in on a game, too.
It was another lovely evening. We love catching up with everyone when we're in town.

Day at the Seaside

After several rainy days, we were all very appreciative of the sun making a glorious appearance Tuesday.

We took advantage of the weather by taking a family trip to Lyme Regis and Charmouth.

We met up on a grassy area above the Lyme Bay, where we enjoyed a picnic.

We then went down to the beach, where the tide was very far out. A big tide pool area was unveiled, which we all had fun exploring.

Splash!

We were lucky enough to be on hand for a performance by the Red Devils, the British Army's parachute team. They were in Lyme Regis for Lifeboat week, which promotes the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), a charity that saves lives at sea.

Our attention then turned back to the sand.

Any good day out at the English seaside has to include ice cream cones, with a Cadbury flake!

I love this photo of the cousins! Best one we've snagged in years!

We then went down the coast a few miles to Charmouth, the rocky beach where Jurassic fossils sometimes hid inside and amongst the rocks. We brought hammers, which the kids had fun with.

After a lot of crushing, Stace uncovered this fossil.

And, lightning struck twice! Two nice photos of the four cousins, in the same day!

Cora had a great time, though she was a bit sad to not find a fossil of her own. A few years ago, we found an ammonite!

We moved over the the beach and had fish and chips, and in the big boulder we spotted these amazing fossils.

This sign made me laugh!

Tuesday was an amazing family day out, one we'll all remember.