Monday – The Day that the Rains Came & a Great Book Store

It was misting when we got up at 5:30 (it starts to get light before 4:00), but it dried off a bit after 6:15.  Dorothy came by to walk to the Castle with Elaine, and they set off in dry conditions but bundled up in anoraks.  They came back an hour later pretty drenched as the rain was coming down pretty good.  I watched from the window.

With the weather, today was going to be a casual, stay-in kind of day with doing laundry on the agenda.  We did have to drive into Alnwick to visit Sainsbury’s for some supplies and for some petrol for Pierre. (Alnwick is pronounced Aneck by the locals, so I now pronounce it that way too.  When in Northumberland, do as a Northumberlander.)  After a bit of research, I decided we’d also stop at Barter Books for a look see.

I miss great bookstores.  I loved Waterstone’s in Boston in the old Exeter Street Theater.  I would go there at lunch time at work and wander around the three (four?) floors of books.  Barter Books is not quite that but rather an antiquarian book store, one of the largest in the UK.  And it is wonderful!  We wandered about the aisles and enjoyed seeing it all.  There are cheap books and expensive collector editions.  And, best of all, Barter has the Station Buffet – the whole of Barter Books is located in a 19th century railroad station last used in 1908.  We enjoyed lovely hot chocolate and scones with clotted cream and butter.  People are encouraged to browse the books and read them in the buffet and numerous other seating areas throughout the building.  There is a roaring fire in the entry lounge.  Years ago the owner found an old forgotten WWII poster that he liked.  His wife framed it and hung it in Barter Books.  People liked it, and he started selling images of it.  Now it is seen and sold everywhere in its original form and hundreds of parodies. It all started here.

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After Barter Books, we did our grocery shopping and filled up Pierre Peugeot.  Then we drove the short distance back to Boulmer on the coast for a lunch at the Fishing Boat Inn.  Alas, the pub, highly recommended by Dorothy, is closed on Monday.  So we headed a few miles north to Low Newton by the Sea where we had Sunday brunch at the Joiner Arms.  This time we sought out the Ship Inn down by the beach.  It’s a tiny place that has its own microbrewery. Elaine sipped a ginger beer while I had White Horses blond beer brewed on site.  Elaine had their famous local crab sandwich for lunch while I had a Ploughman’s plate with local ham and sharp cheddar and apple chutney.  All delicious.  We got soaked walking back uphill to the parking lot.

Then it was home.  The rain stopped momentarily and I ventured down to Craster’s famous Robson’s Smokehouse where they produce the famous Craster Kippers.  No kippers today, thanks, but I purchased some pots of crayfish and mussels for starters at tonight’s home cooked meal.  Since I was “downtown”, I stopped in at the Jolly Fisherman Pub for a pint of Timothy Taylor draft beer.  We’ll be back here Wednesday night for a repeat dinner.

The crayfish and mussels with seafood sauce (purchased at Sainsbury’s in anticipation) were delicious.  Leftover Tikka Marsala with green beans was an excellent rainy day meal, this time served with nice garlic naan.  After dinner the rain had let up a bit, so we walked down to the Jolly Fisherman for a nightcap and had a nice conversion with two locals just back from a training exercise with the local RNLI crew.  We had watched them come into the harbor as we walked down.  The RNLI is Britain’s lifeboat service, separate from the Coast Guard and independent of government, run by volunteers and funded by donations and grants.