Breakfast at Sanibel

I haven't managed to get to my blog for any serious updates and getting very frustrated about it. So I am going to start from now in the hope that I can back track and fill in the last 3 days later.

We are on a lovely island called Sanibel on the west coast of Florida, very near Fort Myers Beach. Its a lot more sleepy and relaxed then Miami and for the first time in all my USA travels, I feel this is a place I could spend a lot of time and (perhaps!) never tire of the scenery, the weather, the beaches, the people etc.

Tonight we went to a restaurant/bar called The Mucky Duck and sat outside on the sand having a drink, listening to a local man sing his local ditties while the sun slowly slipped below the horizon. Too beautiful!

Earlier today we decided we wanted to eat pancakes for breakfast so off we went to the wonderfully named Island Cow having read that they do a good breakfast. Firstly, the coffee arrived ( more like a cup of acid then coffee) but no milk for Teresa. Then the orange juice and a milkshake, then the notification that breakfasts were now finished and lunch menu only as it was after 11am.

And true it was after 11am, but it certainly wasn't when we put our initial coffee order in...

We left feeling a little disgruntled and decided to head for the Lighthouse Cafe which advertises it's breakfasts as the 'best on the island'. I had eggs/seafood benedict - something I would never have thought as being a good combination, but in fact was divine! The service was fantastic and we left there feeling very happy and of course full!

Next door to the cafe was an intriguing shop full of 'things'. Jewellery, ornaments, etc. I managed to fill a very large bag with alligator paraphernalia while emptying the credit card a little.

Then off to the lighthouse to walk around the point and dip our incredibley hot toes in the sea. It was much too hot by this time and I could not wait to get into the car and get the air con going full blast!

We stopped off at the local antiques shop which turned out to be a real treasure trove of collectables - something for everyone.

And lots of somethings for the crocodile/alligator obsessives too. Another gasp from the credit card...

I've worked out that so long as I don't buy too many more crocodylians then I can probably fit it all in my suitcase if I throw out all my clothes and anything else that isn't a croc/gator related item.

I am feeling very tired and will be getting up very early to go on a gator hunt so must get off to bed.

PS - photos coming soon (I hope)

The definitive guide to castle ruins in England and Wales

Well OK, maybe not definitive, but I can tell you about the ones we saw today.

First things first though, the name of the village we stayed in last night was Weston-on-Bury. We we a bit surprised to say the least when neither of us could remember where we were.

We left after a hearty breakfast of baked beans, eggs, toast and coffee and headed into the Forest of Dean. We were very impressed to find that it was, in fact, a forest. Quite different from the balding patches of scrub and earth usually called a 'woods'. This was lush and green with narrow winding roads - just like at home!

Our first stop - via a rather round-about string of little lanes - was Goodrich. A 12th century fortified castle ruin. An absolutely stunning ruin made better by the gorgeous sunshine. We climbed the spiral stairs up to the top of one of the corner towers and the view incredible. It was extremely windy so didn't manage to stay up there long to really observe, but enjoyed it none-the-less.

Next stop was Skenfrith, and again we didn't manage a direct route. But we did get there to find it was an impressive ruin. Perhaps not quite as spectacular as Goodrich.

Just along the road a bit further was a 12th century church. It had a very unusual top - being built from wood. It was in a lovely quiet little village at the end of a road so peaceful and calm.

A 'Cope' hung under a curtain that was made in the mid 1400's. It never ceases to amaze me that something of this age can survive.

'A cope is a garment like a cape and is still worn by Bishops and senior clergy in some churches. In the medieval period it was used in processions and special occasions. A cope has a semi-circular shape with a remnant of the hood still visible in the design.' (excerpt from www.skenfrith.org)

Getting too tired now so will try to update more later... yawn...

Blenheim Palace et al

Today we went to Blenheim Palace, a place we've both been intending to see since we have been in the UK.

Upon arrival we're faced with a massive, imposing, yellow stone building with the most incredible, ornate gates.

Inside the Palace and it went down hill a bit as we were herded through a 35 minute 'production' of make believe goings ons in order to educate us of the Palace's history. Obviously set up to baby sit those without enough get-up-and-go to enjoy a wander through a building alone.

The next part was the State rooms which were also very disappointing -especially after seeing Basildon yesterday. The room in which Winston Churchill was born was very drab, the whole place was in a completely different league to the likes of Basildon. A smaller more personal property tends to feel warmer and more 'loved'. Blenheim felt like it was simply out to make money at the expense of personality.

It was a different story once out in the grounds. They were beautiful. We walked beside the lake to the 'Cascade' - a man made waterfall. I think it was made by Capability Brown - what
didn't that man do?

We walked back along the lake and saw herons flying, fishermen fishing and lots of bird life that I'm not clever enough to know.

Unfortunately we have just missed out on the colour of autumn this trip. In some spots the trees are just beginning to show a tinge of colour. Another few weeks and the area will be in full autumnal colour.

The formal gardens complete with fountain and ponds were lovely and not too many people about because of the cold winds.

We left Blenheim Palace and headed west until a sign came into view announcing an Historic Wool Church. Curious... It turns out this area (Northleach in Gloucestershire) was known for it's wool production so all very sensible. There were some very old 'brasses' of some of the locals from the 15th and 16th centuries. And a very pretty churchyard and village.

We've stopped somewhere tonight in a quaint old pub, the real issue being is we have no idea exactly where we are. We know we were on the road heading towards Chepstow...

On the road again!

Mum and I decided to hire a car today and take off for a bit of a look around. We have no idea where we intend to end up except that tomorrow we will go to Blenheim Palace.

Mum is awaiting news on a job that will possibly mean she has to go to work, but if that doesn't happen we will return to London on Sunday.

Today we headed out of London about 1pm and drove to Reading where we stopped at the worlds most boring cafe for some lunch. We then did our favourite trick of taking back roads and seeing where we ended up. But we did want to go to Basildon Park on the way so after some lovely country lanes and a bit of back tracking, we made it there before closing.

It was a pretty house set in big wooded fields and a nice garden in progress in the grounds. The room stewards were all so passionate about their allocated room it became a battle of time to get around the place before it closed. A balance of listening and being interested while also trying to get out of the room before being bored to death by the details of the carpet of this particular room.

Back into the car and some more country lanes until we went over a series of bridges that took us over the Thames. The light was stunning with the sun not far off setting so we stopped and took a few photos.

Some more rural roads and we made it to Oxford where accommodation, it seemed, was at a premium. We eventually got ourselves a room and had some dinner in a local pub and are now settled in for the evening with a box of chocolates, a computer each and too many photos to sort!

Pearlies

Today was the annual Pearlie King and Queen harvest parade.

Mum and I went to see what it was all about and were very pleasantly surprised by the afternoon of sunshine, dancing, humour and more 'pearls' then you could poke a stick at.

There were dozens of Pearlie Kings and Queens along with a few Princes and Princesses. One of whom was only 5 weeks old! Very cute in her pearl (in this case actually buttons) dress and hat! Another little girl was only 2 and dressed beautifully along with her mum.

Also several Mayors of various locations - London, Essex and Sussex - all in their robes and Mayoral chains. Some Morris dancers, a few marching bands (of differing levels of enthusiasm...) and some little may pole dancers who were joined at one point by the Mayors and Pearlies. A lively and amusing moment!There were donkeys with carts carrying harvest goods and big dogs towing little carts with harvest goods amongst other things - a puppy was being carried in one cart.

Obsession

I have installed page counters on 2 of my blogs - would be all three if blog.com would allow them (stinkers!).

And as a result I have become completely obessed with the statistics! I love stats and this is an absolute dream to me!! I check them as often as possible and once even remembered after closing down the computer that I didn't actually blog anything. But the stats were interesting so who cares...

It even has a geolocation option so I can see where the readers are from. UK, USA, NZ, Singapore, Canada, Lebanon (?!!) and Australia so far. Must find out why my sister in Armenia doesn't show up!

So read on and keep me happy!

Brunch

Yesterday was Teresa's real birthday so we went out to brunch at her usual haunt.

All was good until one of the group found a piece of plastic in her hash browns. The manager eventually arrived and with a voice of complete mistrust asked some very pointed questions about where it was found, etc. And then went on to say the chef didn't recognise it as something that would be found in the kitchen. So without actually saying it she was accusing the woman of placing it in her hashbrown...

For the sake of £7 I don't think it would be worth that much effort.

We were then thinking of having some dessert and the manager then came over again and said we had to leave as the table was booked for 15 minutes time. Unbeknownst to us they had given us a 2 hour timeslot to have brunch.

By that point I was dead keen to leave.

We found a lovely cafe that did the most incredible cakes and had coffee and cake instead. Utterly divine and no bolshy wait staff at all!!

Slightly different to the dining experience of the night before.