Lancashire

Lancashire.

We made it in one piece and got settled in our new digs.  Pine Lake resort is situated just outside the town of Carnforth, north of Lancaster.  We have a larger cabin than in Scotland with a view right on the water.  Swans, Canadian geese, ducks and coots swim nearby and came to visit us for breakfast.

Dinner that night was at the resort restaurant.  Very good steaks and Brent experimented in black pudding which we all had a taste.  Black pudding is some sort of patty made with blood and oatmeal - and tasted way better than it sounds.

Again, I am finding England is not America with funny accents.  It took me 10 minutes to figure out the shower system here.  It is not intuitive, and of course no written instructions are posted since EVERYONE already knows how to use a shower.

Yesterday morning over breakfast on the deck with the ducks we reviewed some of the brochures and info books the resort gave us for local sightseeing.  None of which had a decent map of the surrounding country.  So first step of the day was to the resort desk to ask for a map.  It's Sunday which means no one with any actual knowledge will be available to answer questions.  Same situation driving into town for the visitors center - no maps.  Fortunately the truckers gas station down the road had a good selection of maps and we found one that had not only this area, but included Ireland.  So now we had a better idea of where we were in the country and proceeded to Sizergh Castle (pronounced "size - er"  gh is silent)

Lovely castle, bit smaller than Dunrobin in Scotland but every bit as old.  This place was maintained by the National Trust with docents around every corner - all happy to scoot you as quickly as possible to the next room.  If you had a question they pointed you to read the printed material available.  The inside of the castle had impressive carvings on the oak paneling - but the furniture seemed a bit shabby with old saggy 1940's slipcovers on most of the chairs and couches.  Barbara and I noticed a lot of dust and cobwebs, and figured that was typical for a castle from the 14th century.

 
On the other hand - the gardens were amazing, with a very surprising and large variety of Japanese maples.  We enjoyed walking around the grounds and had a cup of tea and carrot and ginger soup to revive.  I felt very virtuous after eating my veggies and promised myself something "bad" for dinner!

Next stop was Levens Hall.  We happened on this location by accident.  No brochures advertising at the resort, but happened to see the sign on the roadway and decided since we were in the neighborhood to stop by.  What a shock.  The hall and gardens were magnificent.  Everything inside this beautiful home sparkled and smelled wonderful. Not a cobweb in sight. It was so obvious the place was taken care of with love and consideration for preserving this treasure for the future.  Levens has been in continual family ownership for 700 years.  The staff were so kind and informed, happy to answer questions with something other than a finger pointed to the reading material.  Not as many people crowded in so we were able to examine all the artifacts in detail.

And the gardens!  Gasp! Wow! Speechless!  Wait...I have to come up with a few words - this is a blog!  Imagine a visit to Alice in Wonderland's world in real life.  Fantastical shapes on the topiary, charming vistas at every turn, quirky willow maze with the white rabbit (well he was bronze actually) waiting at the center - and the roses.  I never REALLY knew what a rose smelt like until I was in the Levens rose garden.  When we planned for the last 2 years to come here I had hoped and dreamed of being in a garden like this.  Dreams do come true.

Steve had the highlight of his trip happen at Levens.  They had an example of a steam engine that had been used to carry the cars for carnival rides to various towns.  Steve chatted up the engineer and before we knew it he was getting a ride around the parking lot!  Good times.

As we were waiting for Steve's ride to finish we were greated by a charming lady wanting to know if we were going for a ride as well!  Happy to be spectators we chatted about our visit and raved about the wonderful condition of the home.  The lady said she was so happy we liked it, and explained she had to give the caretaker a feather duster from her closet to take care of the delicate paintings.  It was then we realized we were speaking to Susan Bagot, the owner!  Her husband Hal joined us shortly after and we had a lovely discussion of the gardens, the gift shop (sigh... if only I had more space in the luggage my wallet would be soooo much lighter!), and Steve's special treat to ride around on the steam engine.  Wonderful people and so happy we were able to meet them in person.  Run, do not walk to: http://www.levenshall.co.uk/.

Brent - While we were in the gift shop, we chatted with the cashier, and she asked if we had found any good restaurants.  We replied that we had only been in the area for a day, so she offered some suggestions, even though giving dining advice was, as she said, a 'dodgey proposition.'  In one of the villages close by, she suggested that we try the Ship's Inn pub, which we found easily, which lay right along side an estuary leading to the Irish Sea.  The tide was out, but it was still a very picturesque setting.  Karrie had the baked chicken, I had shrimp scampi and chips, Barbara had lasagna, and Steve had a different Italian cheese and noodle dish.  Along with a pint of Guinness, a very nice meal in a very nice setting. 

On our way out, we chatted with a couple of the patrons, one of whom turned out to be the owner of the place.  I was wearing a 'Doctor Who' tee shirt, which received high praise from everyone there, Doctor Who fans all.  We then had a long discussion about the Doctor, various actors who've played him recently, and the current episodes.  Since we get episodes in the US quite a bit delayed from when they are shown in the UK, we had to insist "no spoilers, please!!"

Karrie - Back on the road again following dinner, Brent set our car GPS to find the shortest route back to the resort rather than the fastest route.  There is a real difference between the two settings, it turns out.  In no time we found ourselves going from a dual carriage road way to a single lane road, then to a narrow farm road, and finally to an unpaved goat path where the hedges on both sides brushed the sides of the the car!  A half a mile later we decided this shortcut was looking like it ended in a farmer's field, so we backed out until we could find a place to turn around.  England doesn't need any kind of amusement parks - they have country roads!  Very exciting.  Resetting the GPS to find the FASTEST route quickly returned us to civilization.