We slept really well, in fact I’m sure we were dead to the world but I’m sure the Prosecco had something to do with that. We remember coming back last night and taking selfies on the staircase, you know, as you do! What the night porter must have thought about our antics we’ll never know!
Breakfast was served in what seemed to be the grand ballroom. I’m sure it was grand back in its heyday but it was looking a bit tired these days, but never mind, we’re only here for breakfast. Of course, due to COVID the way they served breakfast was very different from the normal ‘just walk over to the buffet and help yourself’ style. Waitress 1 asked if we wanted tea, coffee or toast. Waitress 2 came round with the trolley full of cereals, yogurts, juices and condiments. Waitress 3 told us where to go for the hot food and Waitress 4 added our selected hot breakfast items onto our plates at the servery! After breakfast we followed the one way system up to our rooms. Depending on which room and which floor you were on depended on which way round the hotel you went and which staircase you used, which were very different depending on whether you were going up or down! Having negotiated the way back to our room without the need for either SatNav Steve or Daphne we made it back to the room in approx 800 yards!!
Packed up and ready to go, Maice was in the navigating seat and I was driving. Apparently in two hours and twenty six minutes we’d arrive at our next destination, Beadnell in Northumberland where we were meeting up with the scottish contingent, Pearl. SatNav Steve was brought back into action and after we’d fed him his directional information we headed off. Neither of us have been to the North East coast before so it was a whole new experience and we were looking forward to exploring the area. Pearl had set off from Aberdeen at 7am with an ETA of 12noon. We set off at 9.30am with an ETA of 12noon so all being well we should get to our B&B, the Haven House in Beadnell at noon. We had a message from Pearl at 11.30am to say she’d arrived……we sent a message to say we were stuck in traffic. Other than that, Steve guided us effortlessly to the little village of Beadnell where he became very confused, telling us we’d ‘reached our destination’ just outside the church. We parked up called Pearl and asked where we were in relation to the B&B but she didn’t know where the church was or how to direct us so we drove off down a side street and called upon Maps App Daphne for assistance. What with Daphne and SatNav Steve trying to redirect us round the little village of Beadnell we were by now totally confused…….and lost! We regrouped. We put our sensible hats on. We looked at the address of the B&B. It was in the same road we first stopped at so following Daphne’s instructions…..‘the destination is on the right’ we drove down it, ending up at the t-junction and the village shop! How can we go so wrong? We rang Pearl and asked her to stand on the roadside outside the B&B and we’d drive back up again and lo and behold, there she was and there it was, Haven House B&B on the right hand side, which was the left hand side when we drove down it. So Daphne was wrong! We hugged, said our hello’s and as it was now just after one oclock, an hour after our ETA we headed off to the local pub for a drink and a catch up. We expected to sit and chill but our experience was anything but that due to this system of downloading the App and ordering on-line. Honestly, what a malaver! After thirty minutes of the three of us trying to work it out we finally cracked it and ordered three glasses of wine. Ah, nothing beats drinking wine al-fresco in a chilly and windy beer garden!
We checked into our room and wow, wow, wow. The room is enormous. In it was the most enormous superking sized bed, a single bed and a put you up bed, our request being that us ladies wanted three single beds. We regrouped around the super king bed and held a discussion about who was having which bed. As it was we felt it was too wasteful to have just one of us sleeping in the super king bed so Maice and I said we‘d share…….there‘d be enough room between us to have our own space. So, bed arrangements sorted we unpacked, refreshed and set off to explore. We felt a stroll was in order so turning right at the village stores we found a small harbour and the beach. It was a fresh wind as we walked along the beach, which is what we needed really after the trauma of the App saga! Fresh air of course makes you peckish so back in the village we found the three eateries, deliberated in front of the menus of the two pubs and one cafe and found ourselves back at the Craster Arms for supper. Maice took it upon herself to place the order and downloaded the App and after fifteen minutes had got as far as paying with her card when all of a sudden the screen went blank and seems she lost the order. ‘@$**@$’ is all she could say! We called the waitress over and explained our dilemma. She searched for the order on the system, realised it hadn’t been saved and consequently took our order the old fashioned way…..she wrote it down with pen and paper!
After supper we walked the 750 yards back to Haven House. It’s been a lovely day, albeit a tad stressful what with the APP debacle but Pearls here now and that‘s all that matters. Best have an early night then…………..we’ve got a busy day tomorrow…..something about a boat trip!
M&A and Pearl xxx