Day 1 6:45 on the 19th June and we set off for a 2 night stay in Devon, or, to be more precise, Torquay. I have booked us into The Sommerville Hotel where I have stayed before, albeit around ten years ago, a small boutique hotel close to the harbour in the centre of Torquay.
First stop is, surprisingly, not for breakfast but at a well known (to me at least) poppy field close to Lower Swell. It was once again in bloom but was slightly past its best although not far enough gone to stop me taking several images before moving on.
My plan was to stop for breakfast at The Blackdown Garden Centre near Taunton as I had stopped there in the past (in pre-blog days) however Mrs. M was not keen on waiting that long so we pulled over at Gloucester Services (again), No full English but a sausage and mushroom bap for me and an egg, bacon and sausage bap for Mrs. M. At around £21 it was slightly more expensive than Greggs and Mrs. M was paying!
First stop was Castle Drogo, a National Trust property on the edge of Dartmoor, Again I had visited here before but in the intervening years a fortune has been spent on renovations. It is a very interesting property. Moving on we called in at Bovey Tracey for a quick one at The Cromwell Arms (and to purchase of a couple of books from a local Mare and Foal Sanctuary charity shop).
Next stop Torquay and we arrived at The Sommerville just after the 3pm check-in time and mine host Peter rushed out to meet us. A stroll into town revealed that a pub that I had used in the past turned out to be the recently closed Hole In The Wall, the oldest pub in Torquay. The closure had been reported in The Times. Unperturbed we made our way along the side of the harbour to Seamus O.Donnell's Irish pub and finished up at Ollie's, as recommended by Peter at The Sommerville, for an excellent steak dinner (Thursdays being "steak night")
Day 2. After an excellent .breakfast we set off for Hope Cove where Mrs. M had holidayed as a child, crossing the river at Dartmouth on the lower ferry (again as recommended by Peter). The satnav seemed unsure as to how exactly to get to Hope Cove but as we got closer the roads got narrower (as they tend to in Devon and Cornwall) until eventually we hit a "stalemate" which was only avoided by me driving up someone's drive to allow the traffic to clear. At this point Mrs. M decided that she couldn't be bothered to go back to Hope Cove so we headed instead for Salcombe where, amazingly, the roads were narrower and the traffic heavier, so we didn't stop there either (although it looked stunning). At least the weather was good and it was pleasant driving with the top down until, and this was a first, we had to put the top up as the sun was too hot! Anyway it was back to the hotel to park up and walk down to the harbour for a couple more at Seamus O'Donnell's and then, after a short wait for it to open, a Thai curry at The Junaow, another restaurant on Peter's recommended list. This proved to be something of a revelation as Mrs. M, not a fan of Indian curries, was delighted with her prawn based dish and is now a convert.
Day 3. A novelty for me, a sausage and cheese toasted sandwich for breakfast (it won't be the last) and after Mrs. M had purchased some plants from Peter (funds to a breast cancer charity) we set off up the M5 and this time we called in at The Blackdown Garden Centre for lunch. The traffic was pretty heavy but we arrived home mid-afternoon after an "interesting" couple of days.
By the end of the trip my camera had not made it out of the bag and the few images which had been captured were taken on my phone, so not really a photography trip but there are 3 images in the Devon Gallery,