The Last 2 Weeks

26 July 2014


  We just returned from our Southwest England holiday.  Our goal was to get to the bottom tip of Cornwall and see the coastline there, but we didn't quite make it. I sound like a broken record when I say traveling in England is not like the states. It takes twice as long as you think it is going to take to get to your final destination, especially when you drive down roads like these....

We were holding our breath the whole time, hoping no one was coming from the other direction! Seriously, horses barely fit on this road. 

 Luckily not all of the roads were this narrow and we were able to see the coastline in North Devon. Needless to say, we were not disappointed!

 

Ilfracombe Harbor

Verity Statue in the harbor-click

 The weather was gorgeous and we actually found a sandy beach nearby to make us feel like we were in the states again, however Bradyn did not want any part of the beach.  It took us a few tries to convince him flinging sand and getting wet wasn't so bad. The top to pictures are in Ilfracombe the first day and then the Woolacombe Beach the second day. Bradyn willingly got in the water at Woolacombe after about 30 minutes of whining and then he didn't want to leave!

  We stayed four days in Ilfracombe in a caravan Darren found using Groupon for half price. We felt like we were retirees living in Florida and decided that life wasn't so bad. 

  Our next stop was Cornwall and our hobbit house in the trees. Since it is prime time for summer travel, this place was pretty much the cheapest place to stay in this county.  We thought it was a great place for Bradyn to experience country life with sheep, cows, chickens and horses just wandering around freely.

  We stayed near the city of Plymouth, so of course it became part of Darren's "must see" places during our trip. We drove about 20 miles south and entered a new county, Dorset. We hung out for the day and took many pictures of things that said, Plymouth. These are a couple of the pictures we captured.

 

 Since Darren had booked every hotel since our trip began, it was my turn to decide where to go next. I spent the afternoon while in Plymouth finding a last minute deal for a hotel. I came up with the Britannia in Bournemouth.  It was nothing fancy, we just needed a place to crash.  Before arriving in Bournemouth we took a small detour to Weymouth. I had hear great things about this city, but was a little disappointed. Darren decided this was the place he was going to take a "dip", but other than that, nothing special happened here. :)




  So on to Bournemouth and to our surprise we had a hotel 2 minutes walk from the beach! What a deal. We were in awe of the sandy beaches and view. We didn't think it even existed in England and we were pleasantly surprised by what we experienced.

 After many attempts of getting Bradyn to like the beach, we didn't have to do too much persuading here. He jumped in the water, but I had to hold him.

I can't believe after all of the pictures we took, this was the only really good one of the three of us. Next time we bring a better camera!