Keith and I set off at 8.30am this morning and we were doing really well until Leeds when we got stuck in a traffic jam where the M1 joins the A1/M. This held us up for about 45 minutes and we arrived at Keith's brother's Val's house at just past midday.
He looked far better than we'd expected, which was a nice surprise as he has been really quite ill, and he offered to make us a cup of coffee and said he had some chocolate cake. Now, I am never one to turn down chocolate cake, especially a Thornton's one so I said I'd love to have a slice. However, I think he bought the cake last Easter as it was as hard as a rock! I nibbled a few bites but I had to give up in the end and Keith very tactfully removed it to the kitchen and put it in the bin!
We had a good chat about the family tree and then he gave Keith his medals and a box of old coins for Mike. We were also given Desmond, his old stuffed toy dog (not a real one!) and a painting of his collie Robbie. Quite what we are going to do with them, I don't know!
We stayed for nearly two hours and Keith suggested we go to the coast for a walk before we checked into our hotel. On the way, Keith thought it would be a good idea to let me drive around one of the roughest areas of this part of the North-East as the layout of the roads had changed and he couldn't find the right way to go! I'm glad to say we survived!
Going to Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, turned out to be a big mistake. The weather forecast for the Easter weekend was for wind and rain from Saturday onwards so obviously the whole of the North-East of England decided to head for the seaside. We queued for ages to get into the town and eventually turned down a narrow side road where I miraculously found a tight parking space.
We walked along the broad promenade and gazed out to sea at an army of wind turbines situated just off the coast. Further along the headland was Seal Sands, which sounds idyllic but is actually an area of industry with what looked like an oil refinery, so not the best view I've ever seen!
By now I was dying for a cup of tea and a sandwich as we hadn't eaten since breakfast (not including the rock hard cake). We turned inland and went in search of a nice little cafe but there had obviously been a warning that all the fish and chip restaurants were on the point of running out of food as the pavements were crowded, and I mean crowded, with people queuing up for the meal of Good Friday, namely fish!
I have never seen so many people queuing up at the two restaurants in my life and walking back to the promenade it seemed that everyone was eating fish and chips out of the paper. I was not the happiest of people so I suggested we go back to the car, return to our hotel and have a cup of tea there.
We drove back to the A19 where our Premier Inn was situated and I wondered why on earth we had chosen this particular hotel. It was on a large service area shared with a KFC, a McDonalds and a filling station. Next door was a Toby Carvery and from our room we had a view over the car-park...
However, as with all Premier Inns, the staff were really friendly, the room was spotless, the bed was extremely comfortable and we had breakfast to look forward to in the morning! We nipped over to the filling station and bought a couple of sandwiches and some fresh milk for our tea and unpacked.
In the evening we drove to Durham, about ten miles away, and parked on the street outside The Victoria pub where we'd had a drink the last time we came here. The bar area was bustling with people but we retreated to a small snug where two groups of students were talking earnestly about assignments and exams.
We had a couple of drinks there and then walked the short distance to The Court Inn where we reserved a table for later in the evening. The pub was pleasantly busy and everyone seemed to be eating fish again! I know that it's tradition to eat fish on Good Friday but it seems to be taken to the extreme here in the north of the country. At least they weren't eating a whole roast squirrel which was also on the menu!
We had a very enjoyable evening having a couple of drinks and a lovely meal. We started with very hot chicken wings to share followed by fish and chips, of course! The fish was beautifully cooked and was served with home-made chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce. I loved everything except the chips which tasted a bit strange. We even had room for dessert and I enjoyed a strawberry pavlova while Keith chose the Durham cheese and biscuits which he found disappointing.
As we came out of the pub the gates of the police station opposite opened and two police cars came screaming out which certainly woke us up! We drove back to the hotel and had a nightcap in the Toby before eventually falling into the supremely comfortable bed, which apparently you can now buy!
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