UK August-October 2013- Lake Windermere and New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel

There were a few places during our UK trip, in which we did not allot enough time to visit. One of my biggest regrets is that we did not plan more time in the Lake District. Lake Windermere was beautiful and the small town adjacent to the lake was absolutely picturesque. It reminded me of an upscale version of the fictional town of Cabot Cove from Murder She Wrote.

Unfortunately, we didn't even have the time to stop in the town for a quick browse. We drove through it and instead of worrying about snapping pictures, I just enjoyed the view. I will be back!

We did park for about fifteen minutes at Lake Windermere. We caught a few competitors crossing the finish line of a 10.5 mile open water swim across the lake. They looked cold and exhausted!

The drive to our hotel took us into a lush valley. We saw tons of sheep!

The cutest picture of the drive.

Deep in the valley, surrounded by nothing but farmland and mountains, we finally found our home for the night, the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel.

We were given a room on second floor in a quiet corner overlooking the side garden. A great view.

This hotel room was one of my favorites of the trip. It had a long hall with a big bathroom on one level. The bedroom was located a few steps down into a lower level, making it a separate space. It was very spacious and filled with natural light.

The bed was incredibly comfortable with a giant, fluffy blanket. I love when hotels provide a throw blanket. I always use an extra blanket at home and it's something that I often miss in hotel rooms.

The bathroom had a heated towel rack and heated floors. Even though the weather was fairly nice during our visit, the New Dungeon Ghyll is the type of hotel that would be perfect on a cold, snowy day. Every aspect of the hotel was warm and cozy.

As we were in the middle of nowhere, our dining options were pretty much limited to the offerings at the hotel. We had two choices for dinner, we could eat in the pub or in a proper dining room. We decided to have the Sunday Roast dinner in the pub.

This brings us to one of the funniest moments of the entire trip. When I was filling out the written survey for the hotel, I mentioned that the "Sunday roast beef was fatty". Dan got a good laugh out of it, because we had eaten lamb. It was covered by so much gravy, that I didn't even know what I was eating. That being said, I don't like "Fatty Beef".

Overall, our meal was really delicious. I especially enjoyed the warm raspberry tart with custard for dessert.

In the evening, we went into the lounge to access the hotel's free-wifi. The lounge was filled with great reading spots and even had a bookcase of loaner books, although it was mostly filled with cheesy romance novels.

The next morning, we woke up early and walked around the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel property before breakfast. The landscape was such a vibrant green that none of these pictures quite capture it. It reminded me of Hawaii.

Breakfast was included in our stay and served in the main dining room. We had eggs on toast, yummy English-style bacon and delicious locally made yogurt.

Our stay at the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel was one of the highlights of our vacation. I highly recommend visiting the Lake District and spending a few nights at this hotel located off-the-beaten-path. Visit their official website for current rates and more information.

New Dungeon Ghyll Official Site

UK August- October 2013- Lancaster Castle

UK Road Trip 101 - If you see a sign for a castle, pull off of the road.

On our drive from Blackpool to the Lake District, we saw a sign for a castle in Lancashire and decided to chance it. Pulling off the road to see Lancaster Castle was the best decision we made on the entire trip.

We visited the castle on a quite Sunday morning, arriving just as the neighboring parish was beginning Sunday services. We were even greeted by the vicar as we walked around the church grounds.

When we approached the gates of Lancaster Castle, we noticed prison signs. Admittedly, this had us worried. We knew that the castle gave proper tours, but there was nothing to let us know that the castle was a former, rather than active, prison. We soon learned that the castle had first been used as a prison in 1196 and had been used for that purpose off and on, until 1955, when it was formally turned into a modern prison for Class C ( minimum security) prisoners. In 2011 the prison was closed and shortly after, tours began on the grounds.

In addition to being a prison, Lancaster Castle is home to the oldest court in England. During our tour, we were able to walk into courtrooms and even check out a branding iron used on inmates. One of the most famous trials to take place in the castle was the 1612 trial of the Lancashire (Pendle) Witches. Ten people were found guilty of witchcraft and hung to death in the gallows on a nearby hill.

The courts are still in use and we were not allowed to take pictures inside for security reasons. In addition to seeing the courtrooms, we saw the jury chambers, which included "The Drop Room", a door off the side of the jury chambers that led directly to a drop off point for public hangings. The tour was completely fascinating and filled with grim details. We saw several examples of torture devices, including a lunatic chair in which guards strapped in hysterical prisoners.

If I believed in ghosts, I would definitely say that Lancaster Castle is haunted. It's a creepy place, filled with narrow passages and dark corners. Even the more modernized parts of the castle have an eerie and unsettling tone. I'm glad to have not been imprisoned here!

We had a great tour guide named Melvin, who was a wealth of knowledge, as well as highly entertaining. Melvin was sarcastic and dark humored.

The final part of the tour was inside of the newer part of the prison, which is of panopticon design, a semi-circle with each cell having a window. The structure has five levels and the panopticon design allows for the guards to have a clear view of all of the cells from a central location. It was built in 1821 and until the prison was decomissioned, it was the only panopticon prison still in use. We were allowed to take pictures and climb inside of the cells, a very disturbing experience. My main take-away was how cold and damp the cells felt.

I highly recommend making a trip to Lancaster Castle and asking for Melvin to be your tour guide. Here is a link to their official site for ticket information.

Lancaster Castle Official Site

After our tour, we walked down the cobblestone streets and found The Robert Gillow pub for lunch.

We were on a winning streak, because The Robert Gillow was a great find. We shared a giant meat and cheese platter and washed it down with Scrumpy-Jack Cider. The manager of The Robert Gillow came over to our table to welcome us and was really nice. The pub had a cozy vibe and was definitely a place that would be our local spot, if we were locals! In particular, I liked seeing the off-duty waitress sitting at the bar, knitting! You just don't see stuff like that in Los Angeles.

The best part was listening to a senior citizen Dixieland Jazz Band perform while we enjoyed our lattes and sticky toffee pudding. The band was really good and it looked like they were enjoying themselves. Their joy was infectious. The Robert Gillow hosts all types of live entertainment and if we didn't have to hurry to our next destination, we could have easily spent the rest of the day here. It was one of my favorite pubs of the trip!

UK August -October 2013- Blackpool

Blackpool is referred to as " The Vegas of the UK". It might not be a bad comparison, if you're thinking of the scummiest parts of Vegas and then try to make it somewhat family friendly with attractions like fun-fairs and water parks. When we told people that we had been to Blackpool the response was nearly universally a look of pity and disdain.

Blackpool's heyday occurred sometime during the turn of the century. There are many beautiful Victorian buildings that are sandwiched between tacky modern tourist traps. Instead of bringing the area back to it's previous splendor, it seems that the gorgeous buildings are let to fall into disrepair or covered up with modern signage. I've never visited Atlantic City or Coney Island, but I imagine them to be a lot like Blackpool.

We walked from our hotel to a tram station, located next to a minuature golf course.

The tram runs the length of the main street in Blackpool and has sixteen stops! We took it one way, to The Blackpool Tower and walked back, exploring along the way.

The Blackpool Tower is the primary landmark in the city. Inspired by The Eiffel Tower, The Blackpool Tower opened in 1894 and is 158.12 meters tall. The tower has four observation decks, including one with a glass floor, called the "Eye".

The base of the tower is housed in a huge building with multiple attractions, including a very grand historic ballroom. The building also houses a circus, a kids play area and a horror dungeon. The posters didn't entice us to buy the multi-attraction ticket. We paid just under thirteen pounds a ticket for the tower.

Our admission included a 4-D experience made by the same company that did the film for The London Eye. Both "Experiences" had the same footage of the seagull to book end the story. It was awful and completely unnecessary to have as an add on to the attraction.

We were packed in like sardines for the elevator ride to the observation decks, which was mercifully short. If you have any problems with claustrophobia or heights, this would definitely be an attraction to skip. If not, The Blackpool Tower offers some amazing views. Blackpool actually looks nice from a distance, especially the shoreline.

From the observation deck, we could see the band Madness performing as part of a summer concert series.

As with most tourist traps, there are tons of gift shops with Blackpool merchandise.

We walked along the main street, looking at the stores, casinos and people. Blackpool gave me the best people watching of my life. It made me wonder if there is a "People of Blackpool" website, like the Walmart one. If not, there should be! I even saw a baby gambling in a casino.

We ate pure junk food in Blackpool. For dinner, I had fish n' chips and Dan had sausage with his chips at the greasiest fast food place in the UK, Captain's Table. It was located inside of a casino. We sat on plastic chairs and we were serenaded by the jingle of slot machines. Very romantic.

We didn't get enough grease with our deep-fried dinner and ate donuts for dessert.

The wording on this hotel sign cracked me up.

We stopped by the cafe in Sandcastle Waterpark, the largest indoor waterpark in the UK, for a latte. It looked like a great place for kids. Maybe the only genuinely nice place for families in Blackpool? They made a good latte.

My favorite thing about our visit to Blackpool was walking along the path near the ocean.

The coolest thing along the beach was a giant, rotating disco ball. We caught it right at sunset and the reflecting light created a party!

Blackpool is famous for the Illuminations. Lights are strung all along the main street, including giant objects made out of lights. It's Christmas year round in Blackpool.

We had finished sightseeing before it was dark enough for the Illuminations to be turned on, so we waited it out in our hotel and tried to drive down the main street to see the display after dark.

Big mistake.

We had completely underestimated the popularity of the Illuminations and how many people would also try to view them by driving. The streets were jammed and traffic officers were trying to get cars to drive one-way. We spent about fifteen minutes in the mess and didn't feel very impressed by anything that we saw, so we headed back to the hotel. The Illuminations would have been nice to see, if it had not been so crowded. If you're planning on trying to view them, I highly recommend walking the street, rather than trying to drive it.

Blackpool is one of those places that you need to visit to believe and then never visit again. It's like Hollywood Blvd. There are so many wonderful and beautiful places to visit in England, that Blackpool doesn't even rate on the must-do list. It's a tourist trap through and through.