Jurasic Coast, Exeter, Plymouth

It is September 5th and our trip has gone very nicely. Traveling with Pat and Lisa has been a great joy. Pat, who accepted my invitation to drive, has done so marvelously. His little Audi (2008) has done quite well so far. And Pat’s driving has been flawless in this land where driving is a bit different than in America. It is all good…just different to us.

We got up this morning not quite sure what thing we might see. I tried to plan specific activities to do but honestly there is so much to see and do that it was tough to do. I kinda let National Trust sites push us onward even though we may not choose to see them as it is easy to uncover something else to see.

This morning we decided to go off to see a National Trust site at Branscombe. It has one of the oldest forgeries there. It also had a nice set old cafe and is set in a nice little valley that leads down to a beach. Driving there was interesting as we ended up on some very small farm roads and wondered if another car were to come at us what we would do. Two cars could not pass on the road that the GPS took us on. But we arrived there safe and sound.

The forgery (is that how you say it) was pretty cool. There was a guy forging a railing, I believe…or something like that. They had many things there being shown that had been made there. And apparently they go to country fairs competing amongst others who do this craft. It was pretty cool to watch him heat up the metal and then pound it into a shape that he desired.

From there we did take the 20 minute or so walk down to the beach. It was a nice beach that had a surprising amount of people enjoying it. We spent a bit there. Then Pat and I returned by foot to retrieve the girls as they preferred not to walk it. Again, the drive to get down into the beach was a bit harrowing as the road was barely wide enough in places for a single car. Anyway, we made it. On the beach they had ‘whippy’ ice cream cones. These are called soft serve ice cream in America. :-)

After leaving Branscombe, we headed to Exeter, a fairly large town. We wanted to take the city cavern tour. Unfortunately it was closed. So instead we decided to go visit the Exeter Cathedral, which was originally built 1000 years ago. At least the foundational part of it was that old. It was quite the building with beautiful stained glass through out. The history is overwhelming to me as there is so much of it here in England. I can’t imagine living in those times. It had to be so hard…so different than today’s standards.

After visiting the cathedral, we decided to walk down to the river nearby to eat an early dinner. A Angelican priest gave us many recommendations on where to go to eat. We chose the river and it was a nice choice. I could write about the food a lot. Generally it was all quite good. I do get tired of pub food a bit as it is everywhere. But it is always good. I would say the average price for a dinner meal is between $16 and $20 per plate. So it can get a bit pricey. Because we piece eat through out the day, Denise and I tend to share a plate with maybe an appetizer. That seems to work out good.

After eating, we headed to our BnB in Plymouth…on the Cornwall coast. We will stay in this flat for 3 days. And upon arriving, we were amazed at the niceness of this flat. It is a 5-star flat for sure.

Days pictures: