Day 11 - North Wales and Capernwray

May 12, 2008

We got up at a decent hour this morning (around 7:30am) and started getting ready for the day. We went down to breakfast around 8:15am. This location was pretty different from the other B&Bs we had stayed in. It felt much more formal and like it was run like a hotel instead of a cozy home. The dining room already had other people in it eating their breakfast. We sat down at a table and got some cereal, fruit, and toast. After a little bit, the hostess brought us what I thought was supposed to be a hardboiled egg but I think it was more of a soft boiled egg. It was still very warm and sitting in a special egg holder (I had only seen people eat eggs like this before in movies).

So we tried to crack them with our little spoons but found it rather difficult. We eventually just used our fingers to break off the shell. It was pretty good but I would have preferred it to not have been so soft. We did have a very lovely view of the mountains outside while we ate.

The night before, it rained a good deal and we just relaxed in our room. It was very pretty looking outside and seeing fog rolling over the mountains as well. The scenery at this place was very beautiful but I don't think we would go there again to stay; too impersonal and hotel-like.

We finished getting ready and packed up our things. Then we headed out on the road for Conwy Castle, only a 20 minute drive away. As we neared the castle, we could see it from the road and it was pretty impressive. I think the most impressive thing about this castle was that the entire wall around the town was still in tact.

We parked at a car park a little ways off and walked up some steps to an entrance in the wall. There were stairs leading up to a tower in the wall and said you could walk along the wall to the castle entrance, so we did. It was pretty cool being up there and walking to the castle.

We found our way to the entrance and paid our £4.70 each to enter. There were signs about telling you of what each of the different areas most likely was. This castle was much smaller than Caernarfan, but it was still really neat. We walked all around and spent time looking out over the sea.

If you only have time to visit one castle, I would make it Caernarfan as it is the grander one of the two and much more impressive, in my opinion. But it was still fun to see and to walk around.

We then headed back to the car and started our drive to Capernwray. It didn't take very long, just a few hours. Along the way, we made a stop at a service station off the M6. Now this was a mega service station. It had a mini-store with lots of food and convenience items, toilets, a few restaurants, and it spanned the width of the motorway - it connected the two sides together so that no matter what side you had stopped on, you could access everything inside. I was thrown off a bit by its size when I first walked in and it took me a little bit to find the toilet.

I bought a few snacks and then went out to the car and we ate some beef jerkey, cheese and crackers, chips, and chocolate milk for lunch (hey, we're on vacation; not everything has to be a full-blown meal, plus it's cheaper and we know we like that food, most of which was brought from home).

We got back on the motorway and travelled another 20 miles or so until we reached the town of Carnforth. We stopped at Booths (a grocery store Jeremiah remembers) and walked around for a bit. We visited a local bookstore with more books in it than I could imagine. Jeremiah used to spend time in this store just looking at different books. We also went to a statue in the town which honored the men who died in WWI or died from service in it; a Thomas Cornthwaite was listed among them.

We then headed back to Booths and did a little shopping to stock back up on our water supply. We then drove on some smaller streets on our way to Capernwray. I saw it from a little distance and that put a smile on my face to finally see it in person.

We drove up and Jeremiah took me through the front entrance (Debbie, the door was already open so I didn't get to open it with the large handle, but I made sure to look at it). It's pretty impressive and I'm excited to look around it some more. I did get to see the lounge which was very pretty and you could tell that it used to be a nice room way back when that probably entertained guests. For those of you who are not familar with Capernwray, it was a Manor House bought at auction by Major and Mrs. Thomas after WWII and they bought it specifically to turn it into a place where young people could come and stay and be introduced to God. The house itself is from the 13th century.

We were shown our room in the conference hall and then made our way back to the hall to come and use the Internet before it closes at 5pm, in 4 minutes. After dinner we will explore the area more.

The young man who showed us to our room is the brother of a friend of Lindsey (Jeremiah's cousin who is the most recent Cornthwaite to stay here). His name was Andrew and his brother's name is Jonathan, I believe. Last name is Wilson. He was very excited when he heard that we were cousins with Lindsey and I believe he is treated us extra special because of that. (Lindsey apparently stayed with his family when she was working in Leeds.)

Okay, I have to go now as the computer room is about to close. But more will come tomorrow and I will try to type up my diary entries from the previous days that are missing.

Love,
S&J