UK August -October 2013- Tea Time and a Defunct Theme Park

Our journey from Hay-on-Wye to Blackpool took us through the beautiful English countryside. We didn't have any specific stops planned along the way, which left us open to discovery. This was one of the best drives during our road trip.

Instead of a full lunch, we pulled off in Northwich and had afternoon tea at Davenports Tea Room.

Davenports Tea Room was an amazing find. The tea room is broken up into three sections and it is themed after the works of local author, Lewis Carroll.

We arrived without reservations and we were lucky get a table. Davenports is very popular! We were seated on a love seat tucked into a corner in the front room. The spot offered a great vantage point for people and food watching. We sat right next to the case of cakes and desserts. This was a tease, as everything looked so scrumptious. Instead of a traditional table, our food was served on a rolling cart.

Dan ordered a Victoria Sponge Cake and I had a scone with our House Blend Tea.

As an American, Davenports Tea Room is exactly how I pictured a proper English tea experience. I didn't spend my UK trip trying different afternoon teas to make a comparison, so I'm not sure where Davenports actually falls on the spectrum. In any case, it was a fabulous experience that I highly recommend.

On the way out, we noticed a pretty garden and classic cars in a garage. Davenports Tea Room has character.

Sometimes, there are road signs that compel you to take a detour. We saw a sign that read "Camelot" and without hesitation, we drove about thirty miles off the highway to check it out.

Until we spotted what looked like a roller coaster peeking through the thick forrest, we hoped, but didn't know, that Camelot was a theme park.

Sadly, Camelot was our Walley World moment.

It wasn't just closed for the season, it had been closed for a long time.

We walked around the parking lot and tried to catch glimpses of the park through the gates.

The hotel associated with Camelot is still open and was hosting a big wedding reception.

They even have a Medieval Times type of show.

The best thing at Camelot = DUCKS!!!

Near Camelot, we found Heskin Hall, a farmers market and craft center.

Heskin Hall is a great place for craft and antique lovers. They have several large rooms with stalls of local vendors selling handmade goods. We picked up locally produced potato chips and lemonade for a snack. The rose lemonade was delicious.

Heskin Hall wins points for having cows that greeted us on the drive way.

UK August- October 2013- The Swan at Hay Hotel in Hay-On-Wye

We arrived for a night stop in the picturesque town of Hay-On-Wye in Wales without securing a hotel reservation. Luckily, after a quick Expedia search, we found accommodations at The Swan at Hay Hotel. We really were lucky, because it turns out that this small town is tourist hot-spot. We very easily could have been out of luck with finding a room and it would have been a shame to have missed out on such a lovely town.

The Swan at Hay Hotel is located just a short walk from the town center, which is filled with pubs, shops and more bookstores than you can imagine.

The Swan at Hay Hotel was our first encounter with an old country inn on our trip. The two story hotel has a small amount of rooms and staff. In fact, the person working at the reception desk often had to pull double duty by making drinks at the bar or running housekeeping linens. It's fairly small and intimate operation. As such, we often had very personal service, but everything took a little bit longer. I felt that it was a fair trade-off.

We were escorted to our room at the very end of the hall on the second floor and given an old-fashioned key. I love hotels that still use real keys. It's a novelty!

Our room was roomy with a very comfortable bed and a giant Narnia wardrobe!

My favorite part of the room was the beautiful view of the back garden. We tried to go out into the garden, but we only lasted about five minutes, as the place over-run with wasps enjoying the flowers. Wasps were out in force during our entire UK trip.

The first floor had several lounge areas with wi-fi access, a restaurant, a bar and a big, sunny room where the morning breakfast was held. I spent several hours reading in the lounge adjacent to the garden, while Dan napped. I really enjoyed the quiet reading spots and both of us found the time spent at the hotel to be a relaxing break after so much travel.

I experienced my first pear cider at the hotel bar and it was love at first sip! Dessert in a glass!

Our stay set us back, 120 pounds, which included a cooked breakfast. In addition to the made-to-order menu, our breakfast included a table with chilled dairy, cereals, fruit and breads. We each ordered scrambled eggs on toast and nibbled on buffet items. We got a kick out of the foreign packaging on a single-serve box of Rice Krispies.

A special mention must be made of the best yogurt that I've ever eaten...Ann Forshaws Farmhouse Yogurt. We tried two flavors, Damson & Plum and Clemons Oranges & Lemons. If you're in the UK and like yogurt, you must seek out this brand. It was so creamy and delicious.

Ann Forshaw Farmhouse Yogurt = Eat This!!!!

If you're looking for a place to stay in Hay-On-Wye, I highly recommend considering The Swan at Hay Hotel. Check out their official website for current availability and pricing.

The Swan at Hay Hotel Official Site

UK August-September 2013 - Gluttony in Wales

Our time in Wales was short, but it included a dive cafe, a fun pub and the best meal of the entire trip!

The first stop in our gluttony tour of Wales, was in Kidderminster, on our way to Hay-on-Wye. We needed a little snack and a cup of tea before a big lunch and found ourselves at Smithy's Cafe.

Smithy's Cafe is such a small-town local dive, that I felt like we were the first tourist to ever set foot in the place. Although they were friendly, it was like that typical scene in a western where the hero enters a saloon in a new town and everyone is instantly quiet and staring. Yep.

Smithy's Cafe was a cheap, no-frills place, where we ate yummy tea cakes and shared a pot of tea. The people sitting next to us were speaking in Welsh, which was beautiful to listen to and added to the foreign feeling of the experience.

Behind Smithy's, we discovered a lovely stream, lush foliage and railroad tracks.

My favorite meal of entire trip was lunch at The Three Cocks, located a few miles outside of the town center in Hay-on-Wye.

Not only was the restaurant at The Three Cocks Inn, super cute and cozy, but the food was outstanding. Dan ordered the delicious Cottage Pie.

I ordered the "Pie of the Day", which was chicken and leek. The carrots had a sweet glaze that made them taste like a decadent dessert. I ate my veggies first and stole some of Dan's carrots!

Chicken and Leek Pie with the dessert carrots!

Obviously, we didn't enjoy our meal.

We even saved room to share an Apple Crumble for dessert. This was the first time that I tried custard, rather than ice cream with a crumble. It was good and different, but I definitely prefer the ice cream, which is a lot less sweet. The custard overwhelmed the taste of the crumble.

Apple Crumble with Custard at The Three Cocks.

Still stuffed from our fabulous lunch, we opted for a light dinner at the Blue Boar in Hay-On-Wye.

The Blue Boar was fairly typical of my pub experiences in the UK. It was super busy on a Friday night, but we managed to grab a table by the bar. As with most pubs, we ordered our food directly from the bar and it was a leisurely meal. Dan had a salad and I ordered a bowl of tomato soup with crusty bread. I enjoyed my meal. but in the grand scheme of our vacation dining, it was fairly forgettable.

Hungry yet? Check back as we continue to eat our way through the UK!