Morecambe

Last weekend my Hubster and I went to Morecambe for the weekend.

It's only just over an hour from home, but I fancied somewhere by the sea. I love the sea, it's just so vast and moody.  Having said that, if your thing is staring wistfully out to an never ending sea, then Morecambe is not really the place as you stare right across the bay to Grange Over Sands  :)

Eric Morecambe  (of Morecambe and Wise fame) is featured heavily, from his statue to Eric's Café opposite, shop windows done out 'Eric style' and even the Weatherspoons pub called The Eric Bartholomew  (his real name).

We arrived Friday afternoon, having stopped off in Lancaster for lunch and a wander around Standfast Fabric Factory shop.  Oh, my, what gorgeous fabrics, you can read all about that visit HERE.

The weather wasn't so great, but not so bad either.  We checked into our Hotel (The Auckland) where we had booked a sea view room, had a cuppa and chilled for a little bit while watching walkers on the promenade.

On the friday evening we drove into Lancaster and had a lovely meal in a very noisy wine bar called Oscars. We had booked a table, but on arriving and hearing how noisy it was we walked back out.  I like to be able to talk to who I am with when out to eat.  But outside I decided to stop being so old and we went back in.   I am so glad we did as the food was amazing.

When we went to bed that evening we took the decision to leave the bedroom curtains open so we could rise with the natural light - I like to do this when I go to Higham Hall as it means I am not waking up with a noisy alarm clock then feeling grumpy all day.

As it happened, the natural light, as in the sunrise, started blinding us at 4.00am, so we decided to roll with it, get out of bed, and go take some photos.

And Andrew wrote me a message in the sand  :)

You can see some more sunset and sunrise photos HERE if you like.

I used to go to Morecambe a lot as a child, and then as a teenager - jumping on the train, having a day out, then back home for supper.  It has changed a lot since then, the biggest change being the absence of Frontier Land, which was the pleasure park area.  A £5.00 wristband would last all day and numerous rides on the dodgems.  (I could never stomach the ghost train, scared the life out of me!!)
All that is left is the old polo tower and the front entrance, which is still a family bar/pub.  Behind the bar where the park once was is just a mass of waste land.  How sad.

After a long day strolling around shops (mainly craft and charity shops) and heading back into Lancaster for a lovely curry at the Bombay Balti  we managed to catch the sun setting too.  Got some quite nice photos although the sky was not as fiery as I would have liked  :)

I took some crochet of course..... I always have a craft bag of some sorts with me, it would be most rude not too!  Here I am crocheting myself a jumper, and also working on my 50 Stitches Challenge.

Because he knew I would take some craft stuff of some sort, Andrew took a Chain Maille book and some rings.  He swore a lot, dropped a lot of rings, swore some more, then gave up.

Sunday saw us strolling around a market and car boot sale, then we spotted a vintage bus rally.  Oooo, 'photos to make Daddy L jealous' I thought and got up close and personal with some very old, but quite shiny, buses.  I looked like a completed enthusiast trying to take arty shots and tutting very loudly when a bloke with a snappy camera and a note-pad got in my way.

If you are a vintage bus enthusiast, you can find more photos to drool over HERE.

And of course you cannot go to the seaside without buying a windmill....

And you cannot go to the seaside and not bring sticks of rock back for the children and their partners  :)

We had a very lovely time in Morecambe, although we did miss our Dotty Dog. It would have been no good taking her though as dogs are not allowed on the bead between May and October.  I totally understand this as dog muck is not a great addition to sand castles, but while we were there we spotted a couple of girls walking their pony along the water edge  (the pony was loving it), so apparently horse poop is fine, dog poop is not  :)

If you would like to see more photos of Morecambe Bay click HERE.

I love seaside towns, which is your favourite?