365 Sporting Days

Those who know me well will notice a change in my standard accommodation pick, it’s hard to find twin rooms in the chains I usually frequent, our first night in a ‘hotel’ was actually a B & B in Lincoln, The Gables came highly recommended.  We had a good nights sleep in a comfortable bedroom, followed by a very tasty home cooked breakfast, one extra benefit of a B & B over a hotel are the personal touches, including a cat with 3 legs and a dog in this instance!  A very pleasant stay overall.

We decided to trade map book stylie again and avoid the A1 at all costs, that meant we again saw places we would otherwise have passed by, a far more pleasant drive.  We bypassed York as both of us had been there before and headed straight to Harrogate only using the Satnav for the final couple of miles.

We did partake of the Spotify Playlist I’d put together for the trip, with many ooh’s and aah’s as a blast from the past came on for us to sing-along to.  Music is one of the best pleasures in life for me, such joy!

We found the White Hart Hotel, our bed for the night, and parked in their car park, we were too early to check in so set off for Betty’s Tea Rooms instead.  I wonder if there’s any other tea room in the country that has queues to get in, our wait wasn’t too long and we were seated in the main tea room.

We were going to go for a cake lunch again but the offer of Pimms was too difficult to resist and we ordered a savoury lunch (before the cake) Monica went with Asparagus Soup and I had a Yorkshire Rarebit, which was all a tad too cheesy for me.  Cake was of course a requirement however, with Macaroons for Monica and a Fat Rascal for me with gallons of tea for us both. The service was delightful, with friendly attentive people, all very lovely!

We’d had a drama early in the morning when Monica’s IPhone died, disaster!  But, there was an Apple Store in Harrogate, what chance!  £20 and a re-set and normal service was resumed.  We went dress shopping while we waited, with visits to 3 shops, 1 above my standard threshold, the only thing acquired was the absolute knowledge that a diet is needed……………………….next week!

Harrogate really is a lovely place, we sat and people watched for a while before making our way back to the hotel to check in. The hotel is very impressive and the bedroom, clearly re-furbished is very swish!  A couple of small niggles, the pipes in the room meant that overnight it was very warm, not really needed with the additional radiator I seem to carry at all times and  the curtains are a window dressing rather than a way to keep light out other than that things are all rather nice.

We repeated the face mask thing, and added a hair treatment before going down for dinner in the Fat Badger restaurant – There’s a theme coming on for the day – in the Fat thing!

We went for the Chateaubraind, a new experience for Monica, it really was sublime and it was rude not to have a bottle of pink bubbles to have with it, I know it should’ve been a hearty red wine, but, urgh!  After a rest we went for Lemon Tart, well it was one of our 5 a day, again it was delicious.  The service was again wonderful, and the meal one of the best I’ve had for a long time.  Overall I’d really recommend the hotel.

Today we set off for Seahouses with a stop off at Alnwick on the way, this road trip is to say the least going very well, with many happy memories being made>