This is a smidge of a belated one, given boyfriend Ben and I were holidaying in the last week of August. What can I say? I’ve been rather busy since getting back, and by busy, I mean swamped in work emails.
Back in South Devon, we had a rather splendid time in and around the English Riviera (even if Ben’s reaction to that description was laughter, followed by “no, really? The English Riviera?“)
We did wine tasting, we did a cider tour, we visited National Trust properties, I even did a walk along the River Dart in hopelessly inadequate footwear. We did all the classy things. We had a simply wonderful time thanks to all the wonderful human beings that made it so.
Oh, and Ben’s car almost got flooded, due to the super blue Moon (he’ll insist it looked worse than it was, but he was the one moaning about his wet socks for the rest of the night!)
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Attractions visited (in no particular order):
- Ring O’Bells, Chagford (pub and restaurant). Great priced bagette sandwiches, just what we needed after an early start on the road
- James Bowden & Son, Chagford (shop). AKA the never ending shop
- The River Shack, Stoke Gabriel (restaurant). Coffee, breakfast, pizza, this place never fails to delight
- The Castle Inn, Stoke Gabriel (pub and restaurant). Repeat customers throughout the week
- Hunt’s Cider, Stoke Gabriel (tour and tasting). Tried about 6 ciders, then got offered more by the owners because we were one of the last ones there. We may have been stumbling across the fields on the way back…
- Sandridge Barton (home of Sharpham Wine), Stoke Gabriel (wine tasting and self-led vineyard walk). Oh my god, the wines were beautiful!
- Slapton Sands (beach and WWII memorial). Got our steps in and relaxed on the pebbly beach, taking in the sounds of local nature and the sea (relaxation somewhat broken when Ben said “look! There’s a dead crab near us”)
- National Trust – Coleton Fishacre, Kingswear (visitor attraction). The property where Ben compared every bedroom to the side of his house and I made passing comments over the 1920s obsession with single beds
- National Trust – Greenway, famed author Agatha Christie’s holiday house, Brixham (visitor attraction). The property where Ben said “so, this will be the kind of second home you own one day?” I pulled a face that made him laugh
- Brixham (town). There were models/figurines of topless mermaids everywhere (locals, please fill me in on this, I didn’t get the connection, other than it being a significant fishing town)
- I previously wrote a post giving my person review of Brixham, including top attractions. You can read it here
- Paignton (town). See above, alias “where Alice loitered in a coffee shop with her book”
- Ikea, Exeter (shop). Because we stopped off there on the way back and Ben and I love day trips to Ikea…even if it is only the second time in 10 years I’ve been to one)
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My Housemate's a Mermaid 