Heathrow to Craster

Saturday

I should say that Thursday night at the Marriott Heathrow was delightful – it’s a lovely hotel and we will stay there again (some day). We were upgraded to Club Level and thoroughly enjoyed it. The free buffet breakfast was delicious with the best serve-yourself scrambled eggs I have ever tasted, done just right.

At 8:15 Friday morning right on schedule, our new Peugeot arrived. It’s silver. We’ve decided to name it Hiho. Hi Ho Silver – get it? In French it would be Hi Ho Argent. Meghan is the voice of our SatNav (GPS). After adjusting the GPS to know it was in England rather than France, we were ready to hit the road. We filled it up with gas (no diesel this trip) and headed out.

The drive from Heathrow to Craster is about six hours on the M25, the dreaded M1, and the A1. Traffic was heavy almost all the way, but there were no major delays and we made it pretty much on schedule. Five hours into the drive we stopped in Gateshead to visit Costco. We found everything we needed: Kirkland Vodka, a couple of bottles of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, two folding chairs, a small cooler, the latest Philip’s UK Atlas, some cheese and some nuts.

In Alnwick (Annick to us locals), we stopped at Sainsbury to pick up essential groceries: lime juice for gimlets, a shepherd’s pie for dinner, water, Diet Cole, yoghurt, ice, etc. Then it was on to Craster and our home for the week – Craster Rocks. We unloaded, unpacked, and settled in for cocktails. It was a beautiful day – sunny for the whole ride – and we sat outside (chilly but nice) and sipped gimlets (me) and wine (Elaine) as we watched the North Sea. We met our neighbors at Craster Waves, the cottage next door. They are from Bristol. After enjoying our shepherd’s pie, we were off to bed to sleep like logs while listening to the sounds of the North Sea.

This morning broke beautifully clear again – very unusual weather for the North Sea coast. I broke out the camera and took a couple of pictures. This morning we will watch some of the Royal wedding on TV and then probably drive into Alnwick for a look around Barter Books, the most amazing used bookstore in the world. We plan on a quiet day without much driving. Dinner tonight will be at the Jolly Fisherman, Craster’s delightful pub and seafood restaurant. It’s just a three minute walk down the road.

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