Tuesday, August 02, 2005
First Day in Whitley Bay
It was a long bus ride into Whitley Bay from Manchester Airport, and on the bus ride the boys had their first taste of English crisps, or potato chips. It’s not uncommon, now, to find salt and vinegar chips in the States, but have you had beef and onion, or smoked ham and pickle, or prawn cocktail? Although hunger is driving some boys to try new things, it’s a bit surprising how picky they are: who wouldn’t like prawn cocktail crisps? Our Seacrest Hotel is up the road a bit and does not front the ocean, but it’s quite nice and a lot of fun. It is basically 3 row houses combined to form a small hotel. On the ground floor one can find a small desk, a lobby and bar and pool room, and then a dining area. A few rooms are on the ground floor, but most are on the 2nd, 3rd, and a few even on the 4th.
The Seacrest is pretty much a family affair and when we wait below at the little tavern for dinner family and locals share a beer with us and chat. The hotel is, of course, a maze of halls and rooms and stairs. They have been really great about feeding us, switching times around based on our schedule, cooking bacon and toast sandwiches for us when we arrived late in the afternoon on the first day. We walked over to the playing fields on the first night and had a “kick around” and walked back for a family-style dinner of soup, baked chicken, and fries: a far more pleasant state of affairs than your typical fastfood chain in the States. To end the night we walked up the street a bit and went to the equivalent of a quick stop store, the boys buying ice cream, candies, and drinks. I bought a Romney’s Kendal Mint Cake, which, according to the packaging, was eaten by Sir Edmund Hillary at the top of Mount Everest: “we nibbled Kendal Mint Cake . . . it was easily the most popular item on our high altitude ration.” Needless to say, I will be bringing back a case of Kendal Mint Cakes and a box of Smoked Ham and Pickle Crisps for all those folks at home who feel deprived.
Best
Robert
The Seacrest is pretty much a family affair and when we wait below at the little tavern for dinner family and locals share a beer with us and chat. The hotel is, of course, a maze of halls and rooms and stairs. They have been really great about feeding us, switching times around based on our schedule, cooking bacon and toast sandwiches for us when we arrived late in the afternoon on the first day. We walked over to the playing fields on the first night and had a “kick around” and walked back for a family-style dinner of soup, baked chicken, and fries: a far more pleasant state of affairs than your typical fastfood chain in the States. To end the night we walked up the street a bit and went to the equivalent of a quick stop store, the boys buying ice cream, candies, and drinks. I bought a Romney’s Kendal Mint Cake, which, according to the packaging, was eaten by Sir Edmund Hillary at the top of Mount Everest: “we nibbled Kendal Mint Cake . . . it was easily the most popular item on our high altitude ration.” Needless to say, I will be bringing back a case of Kendal Mint Cakes and a box of Smoked Ham and Pickle Crisps for all those folks at home who feel deprived.
Best
Robert
