Sunday, June 01, 2008

Half Term trips - Whitby

After that invigorating trip to the moors, it was onwards to Whitby.

Famous for being a fishing port, having a church / abbey with 199 steps leading up to it, connections with Dracula / Bram Stoker and an association with Goth folks.

Whitby itself is a mix of a town. Part Victorian curiosity, part fishing port, part down at heel Northern town where every second shop is a charity shop. But I like it. It does have one of the nicest little coffee houses I've been in for a long time; Sherlocks. Very independent, unique but somewhat overdone Sherlock Holmes theme.

We had a lovely, relaxed day walking around the town and just taking in the sights and enjoying the weather. To finish the afternoon it was decided by Molly and I that we really needed to head out on a little pleasure boat cruise. This is something we do every so often and had done previously in Whitby. Louise isn't quite as keen on these nautical adventures and to be honest had found the last time a horrible, terrifying experience. She just doesn't like boats and all that rocking it seems. But the combined nagging and cajoling from the two of us, plus enough time to forget how much she truly hated the last trip, was enough to get her back on the boat.
To try and make it a little easier on herself she sat downstairs, with the bags and a large glass of wine. She would have had another halfway through but was too terrified to get up and go to the bar.

Meanwhile Molly and I are out at front. Louise reports that all she could hear from where she was were Molly's screams of delight as we hit each wave head on and crashed down into the water. I don't think Louise will make the mistake again somehow.

After suitable time to calm down we went to meet our friends from Birmingham at Whitby Youth Hostel. This and the YHA at York has completely changed our thinking on holidays now. The Youth Hostel was just beautiful. Absolutely perfect for a family holiday and cheaper than hotels or holiday cottages.

The rest of the evening was finished off with fish and chips on the seafront, a walk along Whitby harbour and a climb back up those 199 steps to Whitby Abbey and the youth hostel.
We left Molly there overnight and she's being returned to us at some point on Sunday, tired but very happy at the end of our holiday.

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