The B&B in Thrisk was easier to find than we expected, eventhough I missed our exit off the highway and we came in through the back roads. It was so quaint. It was a low stone building covered in creeping ivy with a lovely country English garden with arbours and fountains. It was the type of house Thomas Kinkade would paint. The field across from the house was dotted with sheep and they had a brick stable with two horses. Sam, the black lab, met us at the gate. The room was spacious and the hosts were friendly and open. Isaiah was so happy to be out of his car seat and out of his stroller he didn't want to sit down at all. Fortunately, it was a relatively baby-proof room so he could crawl and pull himself up on whatever he wanted. I still managed to spill grape juice on the linen night table cloth. That's the third time Tide-to-Go has come in handy on our trip already. We curled up on the bed, watched a Scrubs episode and ate our dinner. Isaiah ate Cheerios.
In the morning we enjoyed yet another wonderfully prepared Full English Breakfast. For those of you unfamiliar with what this breakfast includes let me explain: 1 egg, either poached or fried over easy, toast (served in a toast rack), 1 fried tomato, baked beans, fried mushrooms, back bacon, and sausage. In Cambridge, Isaiah was so tired he slept right through out breakfast, but in Thirsk, he was wide awake and made eating a bit troublesome. After we packed up and took a quick walk through the garden, we headed off for the James Herriot Museum about 15 minutes away. This was the highlight of our trip for me so far. It was market day in Thirsk so the town was very hustle-bustle. The museum was fantastic. It is set in the original Skeldale House where James (Alf Wight) really came to work for Siegfried (Don Sinclair) and his brother Tristan (Brian Sinclair). It really helped us learn about the "real" James Herriot and his life, as well as the background to so many of his stories. The gift shop didn't have the sort of souveniers I had hoped it would, but we still found a few momentos to bring back home. We walked around their cobbled marketplace and I couldn't help but notice how different the items being sold were from those described by Herriot in the 1930's and 40's. I really wanted to see the china merchant, plying his teacups on the town ladies while Tristan's run-away pigs trotted passed. We bought out lunch at a little sandwich shop and found a bench to sit and eat right across from the church where James and Helen (or Alf and Joan) were married.
From Thirsk we were headed to Penrith in the Lake District. We took a small break at Barnard Castle. After navigating the city centre packed with people on market day, we were disappointed to see the castle was a ruin and the price of admission but we still enjoyed taking pictures of the outside and stretching our legs. We arrived at the resort around dinner time on Saturday. We love our little lodge. It has two floors and is self-catering which has worked out really well for us. After we brought in our luggage we drove into Penrith for groceries and spent a quiet evening at home.
