We saw several places Ken used to live and work. Then we headed to Thorngumbald, (Yes, it's really named that...), the town, (Village?) where Ken lived when he was a kid. It was on the way to Thorngumbald that I met my new best friend, Mr. Bakewell Tart.
And then we arrived at Thorngumbald.
Sorry Emma, but you know how hard it is to get a picture of several people where ALL of them look their best... |
That's better Emma. Ivy, me, and Emma on the road Ken grew up on,(at least partly.) |
They didn't often hit the board so there wasn't a lot of scoring to be done...
Emma, that's an inappropriate way to play with darts... |
Gloria had one of my favourite drinks, Appletiser, a fizzy apple juice
drink, waiting for me at her house, but here I had to order the next closest thing, a Britvic apple drink. I had formed an attachment to Appletiser on my trips to Engalnd, so Gloria brought some over for me when Ken and I got married. We
toasted with it, since I don't drink anyway,and the reception was held in a church basement that didn't allow alcohol.
Ivy found her own lane.
From there we traveled to Withernsea, where Ken lived and went to school as a small kid. Withernsea is a coastal town, and our first stop was the beach area.
As soon as we got out of the car we could feel the sea spray on our faces! The sea is through that distant castle looking structure and down some steps! It's that far away and I was getting speckled in the face with sea water!
Ken really wanted the girls to go swimming in the sea. Even his relatives thought he was crazy for that one. The North Sea is freezing cold. Ken, hate to say 'I told ya so'...
The girls went down to the bottom of those steps to take pictures. The waves were starting to come up onto their feet and they were shivering. |
You don't see anybody on that beach, do you?! |
Can you tell she's shivering? |
Ken got to eat fish and chips for the first time since we got to England at this chip shop. He also had black pudding on his list of 'must eat's,so when the girls and I went a few doors down to find chips that were cooked vegetarian safe and found the place had black pudding, I made sure he got some, even though I don't approve of it myself. Good thing, as it turned out, because he only got it once more while we were there. Black pudding is a disgustingly primal food made of cooked blood and fat. When I still ate meat I did try black pudding. It was actually good. It kind of reminded me of the part of the turkey stuffing that is up against the inside of the bird. I only ate it twice though, because even then the idea of how brutal it was to eat straight blood was just too much for me. Once to try it, twice because that's what was for breakfast where we were staying and because it did taste good.I just couldn't do it again though, because I couldn't handle the idea of how caveman brutal it is.
The girls tried chips for the first time. There is definitely a difference between American potatoes and English ones. I hate potatoes, but I do enjoy English roast potatoes and chips with vinegar. American potatoes are gritty, but English potatoes are smooth and creamy and melt in your mouth. I wish I had had a chance to have chips more often while I was there.
Ken got to visit with his childhood friend Michael Park, who he hadn't seen since they were 17. Somehow they managed to fall right back into their friendship and act like no time had passed.
Michael and his wife Jo are really nice and we all enjoyed getting to know each other. Ken kept Michael to himself out in the kitchen while we hung out with Jo in the lounge,so I didn't get to know Michael as well while we were there. But I could already tell that if I lived close enough I could see myself hanging out with Jo quite a lot. We laughed so much the guys kept coming in from the kitchen to see what was going on. One of them even said, 'What can they be laughing so much about when they don't even know each other?!'
I like Jo even better than Mr. Bakewell Tart.And hanging out with her isn't fattening... |
From there we went back to Gloria's.Next post, day 3. Bear with me. I'm getting to the toys...
Awww, such great family memories created. I felt so happy for Ken all through this post. I can't imagine what it was like seeing Michael again. So do England chips look like our fries?
ReplyDeleteChips are thicker and wider cut than fries. As Ken puts it, chips are better than American fries because they are thicker, and are more 'inside', instead of mostly crispy 'outside'. Normally I would say that would make them worse, since I hate the taste and texture of American potatoes. But English chips are creamy smooth inside and taste really good. Ken photographed all his food for his food review blog, so I'll post a picture in an upcoming post. As for Michael, that turned out much better than what was to come in a few days...
DeleteThose pictures from the North Sea remind me very much of Huntington Beach, on the shores of Lake Erie. Only that looks like Lake Erie in the winter. This far into the summer, the lake has warmed up so that it is pleasant to swim in. Also, the beach here looks less rocky. Those waves look like they would be fun to swim in, if it was ever warm enough.
ReplyDeleteWe used to take the kids to Lake Erie to 'swim'. (None of them really swim. They just walk around, and try to float, and splash each other.) I've never seen it that gray! Ken claims the North Sea gets warm and swimmable, but I've now seen it in April and in August, and it looked the same to me both times. Wait until I get to the day we went to Scarborough.
DeleteOoooh fish and chips with malt vinegar and salt...lovely!
ReplyDeleteYou know you're making me awfully hungry and awfully homesick!
And yes, the North Sea is COLD. I swam in it many many times as a child when you don't notice the cold, but no, definitely too cold, even in August!
Ha! Tell Ken that! He still insists it's swimmable!
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