If you missed Part One, you can find it here.
Where I left off, we were in Wareham for the night. The following morning, we hit the road bright and early.
Day Three: Durdle Door and Dartmoor National Park
No. 5: Durdle Door
Arriving early has it's perks. We had Lullworth Cove all to ourselves.
Okay. If Sue would have said, "This is it!" I would have been completely happy, snapped about 100 photos and trotted back up to the van. But instead, she laughed at how long I was lingering on this side of the peninsula and said, "You realize we haven't even gotten to the Durdle Door part yet, right?"
Still lingering.
And finally, we moved on to see the 'door.'
It was windy, y'all. We didn't want to make a phone call to Dad describing how we lost Mom over a cliff in a stiff breeze.
Walking barefoot on these large pebbles felt like a foot massage.
At first. Then I was mad at myself for walking so far away from my shoes.
On the road again. Leaving Durdle Door, we set out on the longest stretch of our trip, from Lullworth, through Exeter and the Dartmoor National Park, all the way to the North side of the coast.
No. 6 Dartmoor National Park
You might be thinking, that photo doesn't look like it's from a national park. And you'd be right. We drove for a lot of hours that day but never did see much that resembled the park we expected. We did, however, stop to wander around this little village. We enjoyed it, but I cannot remember the name.
To add to our mountain of largely useless knowledge, we learned that there is a significance to whether or not and how the legs of Crusader's memorial statue are crossed.
Crossed at the ankles = Survived 1 Crusade
Crossed at the knees = Survived 2 Crusades
Crossed at the groin = Survived 3 Crusades, perhaps working as a career accountant
At any rate, this gentleman was clearly skilled at dodging swords.
All of the detail and columns inside each arch was hand-carved from a single block of wood.
We stopped for the first of three nights in the Boskerris Hotel in St. Ives (No. 12 on the map). Well, it's not actually in St. Ives but in nearby Carbis Bay but I suppose they get more bookings with the St. Ives ruse.
Sminings.
While a little out of the way, it was a lovely, friendly hotel and we enjoyed the quiet view.
Once again, waiting in a comfy sitting room where they serve appetizers and take pre-dinner drink orders while your table is being prepared. Someone seriously needs to make this a trend in the States.
Day Four: St. Michael's Mount, The Minack Theater and Another Village or Two I Can't Name
No. 7: Saint Michael's Mount
Beautifully colored lichens cover pretty much anything that will stand still for a century or so.
When we arrived at St. Michael's Mount, the tide was out and so we could walk across to the island. Four hours after this photo was taken, all of the moss and rocks were back under several feet of the English Channel.
The variety of flora across the island was unexpected. Who knew so many tropical-looking plants grew in Western England?
There's a fable about a giant who was defeated on top of the mountain and ultimately fell down into the well on the left. I apparently didn't listen closely enough to the story; I photographed the large rock on the right assuming that was the giant's heart. Instead, it's a heart-shaped pebble in the walk to the left of the sign (not pictured).
Maybe our definitions of Giant differ somewhat.
Mom and Sue taking a rest on the climb up to the castle.
The people of Cornwall often see themselves as being separate from England; this is their Cornish flag.
Being from Texas, we could relate.
After walking back to the mainland, we were off to lunch.
And then to No. 8 on the map, The Minack Theater.
On what was our only drizzly day of our trip, we saw Under the Milk Wood in this gorgeous outdoor theater. To be honest, it was hard to focus on the plot rather than the scenery.
From there, we drove to a little village and this cove, which fans from the current PBS series of Poldark might recognize. It's been used on several occasions. We were hoping to have a cream tea in a nearby cafe but they were closed for the day. Wandering around was a treat all the same.
Not to be completely skunked, we stopped in another seaside town to take a break, have some hot tea, watch the surfers and laugh about how well our hair was handling the humid day.
Finally back at the Boskerris Hotel, nursing our sore feet, calves and backs after so many steps and so much climbing, we walked down to a waterfront restaurant for dinner. And then hired an Uber to take us back up to the hotel. It might have been the smartest decision we made all day.
That's it for days three and four! With a few more iPhone shots, I'll close out this post and get started on the next.
