06 | September | 2015 | The Cannon Family's travel blog

(Posted a day late which will be explained later.)

Today we awoke in our lovely bed and breakfast to grey skies but a fantastic breakfast. We had a lovely chat with another couple visiting from Colorado Springs but then it was time to hit the road. Today’s destination: the Lake District. But not just anywhere in the Lake District; we were bound for the Whoop Hall Inn where we went 28 years ago to celebrate our engagement.

Up first: a stop at Kenilworth Castle near Warwick. Once the home of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and rumored lover of Queen Elizabeth, it was built in the 12th century an fell in to disrepair after the Civil War in the mid 17th century. The entire thing wasn’t a ruin though: one of the buildings had been fitted out as a house in the 18th century and it was closing early for a wedding ceremony. We wandered about the grounds, including the Elizabethan gardens, for well more than an hour, soaking in the history around us. It was wonderful to get the feel for how things were back then – a really interesting way to go back in time.

And then back to the car for the rest of the trip north. More than 2 hours on the M6…. yawn… I don’t know why long road trips here are so much more painful than at home but they are for me. We stopped at some point for a quick bite to eat and stretch our legs and then back on the road. And then we pulled up to the hotel that was our destination. Got checked in and marveled at the changes that had taken place since we had been here last – which was at some point with the kids so it was in the last 10 years. We unloaded the cases, put on the hiking boots and wandered around on the public foot paths posted around the inn. Now I know why they call it walking instead of hiking – we just wandered across fields with no clearly marked trails but more slight indentations in the long grass through groups of sheep and other grazing animals. But it was a fine way to stretch the legs before dinner.

So we actually dressed up a bit and went to dinner in the hotel restaurant. We weren’t expecting things to be anywhere close to what they were back in the day but things were just plain weird. For example, this is the first hotel I have been in for at least a decade that didn’t have a hair dryer. You could request one from reception but why would you require that? And we reserved a table for 7:30 and when we went to the restaurant at that time, we were told to order at the bar. What? Okay, we ordered our starter and main at the bar and sat down with our drinks. Shortly we were taken to a table in the restaurant where our meals were promptly delivered. It was obvious that they were short of staff and they did a fine job of getting our meals out in a reasonable amount of time but they were really nothing special. We decided that it was time to give up on nostalgia and just start making new memories. We know that you can’t go back but it would be nice if you could go forward with some confidence.