Friday – Arrival in Whitby
I am posting this from an internet café on Sunday morning as there is no wi-fi at Galatea Cottage. To save time for me, there are no links to sites, but you can always use Google to look up something. Also to save time, there are no captions on the pictures as I cannot add them until after they are uploaded. I wrote the post in advance using Word and grouped the pictures for uploading as fast as possible. Next update in a couple of days.
The drive from Craster through the Tyne Tunnel at Newcastle-upon-Tyne to Whitby was uneventful despite occasional rain showers. As we entered Whitby, it seemed quite ordinary, but that opinion would quickly change. We had almost four hours to kill before we could check in at our new lighthouse cottage, Galatea, so we drove immediately to visit Whitby’s most famous site, Whitby Abbey. As we parked, it was immediately apparent that it is a magnificent and scenic place to visit. There was some blue sky peeking through the clouds. We walked the site and visited the museum. We stopped in the Tea Shop for hot chocolate and scones with clotted cream and jam.
Pictures at Whitby Abbey. (Click to Enlarge)
Then we drove to Sainsbury’s on the edge of town to get our supplies for the week. That accomplished, we still had an hour to kill. By chance I noticed a sign for Whitby’s West Cliff parking lot, so, a cliff sounding promising, we headed there. As we parked Pierre for a walkabout, it didn’t seem like there was much to see. Then you emerge at the top of the West Cliff. Magnificent views! Bright sunshine! Glorious! I talked to a Brit who was sitting and enjoying the sun. He told me it was his favorite spot in Britain.
Pictures on the West Cliff of Whitby (Click to Enlarge)
Finally it was time to find Galatea Cottage and settle in. Actually, it is just down the road about a mile from Whitby Abbey. We turned in, as instructed, on a farm track (single lane for both directions), drove through the farm, then past a few residences, slowly past some cows, past the Hornblower Lodge, and at the very end of the road we arrived at Whitby Light. There are two cottages, Vanguard and Galatea, separated by the working lighthouse itself. Galatea is the far one at the true end of the mile long farm track. As we parked we gloried in seeing our picnic & cocktail table. The house itself, like all our rentals, is very comfortable with all the amenities you could want (except, of course, wi-fi, which is missing at this isolated location). The sun was shining brightly and it was pleasantly warm as we enjoyed cocktails on the patio. Dinner, also enjoyed al fresco, consisted of crayfish pots that we had brought with us from Craster with a nice salad and Oyster Bay Pinot Noir from New Zealand.
Pictures at Galatea Cottage at Whitby Light. (Click to Enlarge)
Saturday – Rainy Day in Whitby
We awoke to the rain that was forecast for Saturday. Since I didn’t have a map opf Whitby and didn’t know where our pre-reserved restaurant for tonight was located, first order of business was to drive into Whitby and find the Tourist Information Office. That was easy. Map in hand, we began a walkabout of Whitby in the rain. First stop was the Captain Cook Museum where we were the first ones in. An 86-year-old Brit serves as a guide there, and he adopted us and led us through the museum.
Pictures at the Captain Cook Museum. (Click to Enlarge)
One thing Whitby is famous for is as the onetime home of Captain James Cook, seaman extraordinaire. He led three major exploratory expeditions that pretty much circumnavigated the globe. He was the first seaman known to have crossed both the Artic and Antarctic circles. He died on the third voyage in Hawaii, then know as the Sandwich Islands after the Earl of Sandwich, head of the British Admiralty and inventor of the sandwich (as a snack to eat when he was gambling). Cook’s expeditions had illustrators and scientists aboard as a primary purpose was to discover new peoples, new plants, and new lands. One of expeditions was to find a northwest passage through the Artic to the far east, but ice always blocked his way. Had climate change begun centuries earlier, he might have succeeded. Captain Bligh (of Mutiny on the Bounty fame) worked under Cook on one voyage. Little know fact: Bligh was a superb seaman and after having been tossed off the bounty with eighteen me into an open longboat, he successfully guided it over 3,600 miles back to England, continuing his surveying and exploring along the way.
After the museum, we wandered about in light rain to the harbor areas of Whitby. One whole street reminded me very much of Revere Beach in the 1950’s – fudge shops, fish and chips take-outs, penny arcades, and souvenir shops. There were also plenty of pubs and restaurants. (In the 1950’s my grandfather tended bar for awhile at Lewis’s Restaurant on Revere Beach, and I remember him letting ,me stand with behind the bar. Now there’s a long forgotten memory that came to mind in Whitby!) One thing of note that we saw during our walk was the bottom of the 199 steps up the East Cliff to Whitby Abbey. If you’ve read Dracula, then you have read of the 199 steps. Bram Stoker used Whitby for the location of Dracula. (We hope to walk up the 199 steps one qay before we leave.) Whitby is also famous for its fish and chips, so we had lunch at Hadley’s – haddock and chips for me with a bottle of ale; cod and chips for Elaine with pinot grigio. After walking that off, we stopped in a pub for a loo break and a beer and then headed home to Galatea with the rain still falling.
Pictures of a Rainy Whitby Walkabout (Click to Enlarge)
The rains stopped and we sat outside in a chilly breeze for cocktails before driving to dinner at the Ditto Restaurant, selected though Trip Advisor and reserved long before we left home in Arizona. It rivaled Whites of Ashbourne as the best meal of the trip.
Wine
A Delicious Red from the Bekka Valley in Lebanon
Starters
(Elaine): Chicken Terrine with Red Pepper and Feta
(Joe): Mackerel Fillets
Mains
(Both): Sumptuous Duck Breast with Potatoes and Veg
Desserts
(Elaine): Deconstructed Carrot Cake with Crumble and Vanilla Ice Cream
(Joe): Lemon and Passion Fruit Cream with Sherbet
Pictures of Dinner at the Ditto (Click to Enlarge)
After dinner the sun was out, and we were just a short walk from the West Cliff. We sauntered up and were rewarded with a couple of great photo ops. On the drive home we passed by Whitby Abbey and had to stop for a couple more photo ops too good to pass up. And there was a final op at Galatea when we arrived home ready for bed.
Photo Ops After Dinner (Click to Enlarge)
Sunday – Villages and a Train Ride
Sunday was mostly sunny. We set off early to visit two villages each five miles in opposite directions from Whitby. First stop was Robin Hood’s Bay. The ridiculously picturesque old village is located at the bottom of a cliff. We parked at the top (no parking down below) and walked down the narrow streets and lanes to the tiny beach at the bottom. Walking back up was a bit tougher; I lagged well behind Elaine. We rewarded ourselves at the top with hot chocolate and scones (with the requisite clotted cream and jam).
Pictures at Robin Hood’s Bay (Click to Enlarge)
Then we drove back through Whitby to Sandsend, a lovely beach town (thankfully not on a cliff). We had a leisurely walk on the beach before heading tomour next destination, the highlight of the day.
Pictures at Sandsend (Click to Enlarge)
It was a 20-minute drive to Grosmont where we were to board the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) for a two-hour plus luncheon ride from Grosmont to Pickering and return on an old steam train once used on the long defunct British Railways (British Rail still owns and maintains the tracks, but all passenger service was transferred to private ownership years ago.). The vintage dining cars of the train were very comfortable and elegantly set for a very enjoyable three course luncheon. We sat a table for four with a nice British couple and enjoyed good conversation with the food. (Yes, of course, Trump was one subject of discussion; they are astounded by his loutishness, as are we.)
Pictures of the NYMR Luncheon Adventure (Click to Enlarge)
Then it was back home for cocktails under sunny skies on the patio deck. Our cottage seagull settled in on the roof to join us. And we took a good shadow picture.
Pictures At Galatea Cottage (Click to Enlarge)
Fabulous pix to go with a fab weekend! Did the choo choo have a caboose????