We had booked into the Rembrandt Hotel in Weymouth (a regular haunt) for 2 nights but due to unforeseen circumstances Mrs. M was unable to join me so it became a solo trip.
Day 1. Setting of at 7am on 21st May I decided to go down the M5 making Lyme Regis my first port of call. Given a lack of Greggs on the M5 (excluding Bridgewater which is probably my least favourite service area) I stopped off for a coffee at Gloucester Services and duly arrived in Lyme Regis to, surprisingly, find the tide in and, very surprisingly, find it raining (after about 3 weeks of bone dry weather!). I took a few images but there was nothing inspiring so I decided to move on to West Bay where the only remotely inspiring thing was a cheese and onion pasty for lunch.
The weather was beginning to brighten up so I made my way to Portland and the lighthouse. I took several images before moving on to my hotel. After checking in I walked into the town and managed to get into the Wetherspoons before getting completely soaked. After a quick pint of Abbot I managed to get back to the hotel between showers collecting a "meal deal" from Tesco for dinner.
Day 2. After s distinctly average breakfast I set off for Swanage and parked up on the promenade. I walked around the bay and took some images of the old pier using my tripod to get a long exposure but I didn't manage to achieve the effect that I was looking for. I took several more "seaside" type images before setting of back towards Weymouth and stopping off at Durdle Door. The sun was out and the Durdle Door car park was very busy. I walked down to the top of the steps down to the beach and then a little way along the cliff top. I took several images from different viewpoints but decided against trekking down to the beach and returned to Weymouth where I spent a very pleasant afternoon sat outside a bar on the harbourside. Another "meal deal" from Tesco and I settled in for the night only to be woken by a screeching noise which, to cut along story short, necessitated a midnight change of room!
Following another mediocre breakfast I returned home calling in at Wareham where, in common with many towns, the town centre was quite run down compared with my last visit.
There are some images in the Dorset Gallery.