I wrote this post about the long weekend at the end of May 2018. For some reason I never quite finished or published it. Despite it’s age, it’s a nice memory and one I’d like to record, so I’m publishing it anyway.
Every couple of months we try to get down to see my parents in Cornwall. Somewhat by accident we planned this visit to coincide with the long weekend, so we were able to spend an extra day with them and the Cornish countryside. Sometimes we just enjoy the break from routine, but this time we managed to cram so much in. I just wanted to share an overview of a lovely weekend.
Our weekends in Cornwall always start with a lunchtime drive. The traffic at home can be awful at the end of the day, and much worse on a Friday; you can expect to double that for a long weekend or half-term, never mind the combination. It’s one of the benefits to working for myself from home, I can take time out of the middle of the day and make it up later. Once we arrive, Isaac and Willow set to playing with Nanny, Grandad and Roo (the deaf cocker spaniel); meanwhile I get back to work.
After tea, before I finished up my work in the evening, we took a trip to Par beach. We’ve been here lots of times before, it’s a great beach to bring the dogs, but I’ve never seen the tide out so far and it just kept going out the whole time we were there!
We managed to explore so much of the beach, including waterfalls and rock pools which had only just been exposed. I’ve not been much good at taking pictures recently, but I managed to grab a couple including the one at the top of this post.
Saturday we went to Trerice House and Gardens. As we’re all National Trust members this was a fairly cheap day out (although we did visit the cafe and I can highly recommend the Lemon Meringue, even if it is bit pricey). We had actually forgotten visiting before, but quite a few things had changed. I don’t think much of the house was open previously, so it was nice to take a look around some more of that too.
Whilst in the “great hall” we saw a film of some men playing skittles on the path. Isaac was really excited to find the exact skittles on display and was also excited to have a go with some replicas in the garden. That was good fun! The gardens were lovely to walk around too. We were very blessed with the weather as it turned out much nicer than the forecast.
Another highlight was trying on some tudor costumes. Isaac is never one to pass up the opportunity to dress up, and Lucy was happy that some adult costumes had also been provided!
By the time we got back to my parents we were pretty tired and it looked as though it was about to rain. That’s when we realised we had lost Isaac’s jumper somewhere at Trerice! In my rush to go back and get it I left my jumper and coat. It rained whilst I drove there, but it stopped whilst I wandered around and found the jumper (a very helpful volunteer also checked the lost property for me). As soon as I got back into the car it started raining again. Lucky escape?
On Sunday we went to Cardinham Woods to meet with some old friends from down west. One of the children is just a few weeks younger than Isaac, which is how Lucy had come to know them. We had a great time, walking around, splashing in the river, playing in the park and of course eating lovely food from the Woods Cafe!
Later we went with my parents to one of the churches they look after to have a go at indoor bowls. It’s something they do once a month, but none of the three of us had ever tried it. We didn’t do very well, but we got better as the afternoon wore on. Isaac was the best, and I’m sure it had nothing to do with the extra tuition he was being offered, not that I’m jealous or anything.
Sunday evening finished with a trip to Mevagissey. It’s obligatory when visiting my parents, but that doesn’t make it any less special. We had a lovely evening for it, too!
Monday was our day to go home; Pirate FM’s traffic prediction suggested that we were better to drive either early or after 4, so we decided to go out for the morning. It was looking a lovely day, so we did a quick search of nearish beaches that allowed dogs and decided on Holywell Bay. We had been there before, but it would be a new experience for my parents. It’s a National Trust carpark, so another cheap day out.
Willow and Isaac enjoyed playing in the river, although with it being so busy we had to keep Willow on a lead. Our other visits to Holywell have been out of season, so there were usually only other dogwalkers or surfers about. The tide was quite far out but the majority of people were up the top end of the beach, so we were able to keep walking down and find a bit of room so that the dogs could have a bit more of a run.
It was so warm that even Lucy went paddling in the sea, which is fairly rare!
After a little while sitting on the beach and playing in the waves, we decided to go and get something to eat. We didn’t fancy the pub as it looked a bit busy, and we just wanted something light and quick, so we found a couple of shops both of which had completely sold out of anything lunch-like! No sandwiches, sausage rolls, pasties or anything. So back to the pub it was; they had an hour wait for food. No thanks.
We asked around and were told about a nice pub just in the next village, so off we went to find it. When we got there it had just stopped serving food. But right next door was a little bakery/cafe/takeaway called The Baker’s Dozen. They could take dogs in the seating area outside so it was perfect. The food was really great, the self-service was a little confusing as it wasn’t obvious what to do if you weren’t taking away, but we got there in the end. I’d definitely recommend popping in if you’re ever passing through Cubert.
After that it was time to pack up and head home. The journey went well, so I think hanging on a little later paid off.
It took me a while, but I finally got around to writing this all down. Now I just need to remember to take more pictures, so I have something to break up these long posts!