So as mentioned in the previous post, today's adventure was to explore Rye. And we did. Well and thoroughly. Ha.
Day started out with tea and toast at the cottage (all days have started out that way, truth be told). Then we ventured out, armed with maps and guidebooks and British pounds and charge cards. We were ready.
It is still a multi-person evolution to get the car in and out of the garage. Seriously. I have to tuck the sideview mirrors up against the body of the car, ignore the proximity alarms, roll the windows down, and listen to Mom, Dorie and Catch as they let me know if/when the street is empty so I can back out and if I am getting too close to things that might rip the car up.
So... once that all happened, we saddled up and headed out.
First place we went was to High Street. Like many places in Britain, High Street is a primary source of places to buy things. It is full of stuff shops, and boy, did we find stuff. LOTS of stuff. Good stuff, too. Shopping happened. Things got bought. I only made one run back to the car to put bags and bundles into the trunk, but by the time we got back to the car with the last of our parcels, well... We got stuff.
So anyway, we worked our way down one side of High Street for about three or four blocks, and then crossed over the street and worked our way back up. We stopped at The Mariners tea shop for lunch. Today's menu: Mom, Dorie and I all had stilton and bacon (also known in the U.S. as ham) paninis (on baguettes... long and skinny and yummy), and Catch had an egg mayonnaise sandwich (also known as egg salad. Of course, we all had tea.
Then, en route back to the car, yet one more shop was found, entered, and shopped thoroughly.
From there, I made my first effort to find the castle. (Color commentary from Mom: "I think we circled the town." And Catch: "And criss-crossed it a few times." I was on a MISSION, people!) No luck.
Rather than exasperate everyone, we headed off for Camber Sands... once I figured out which direction to go. (See, the main map we've been using is oriented upside down -- North on the bottom, South on the top... most discombobulating.)
Camber Sands is a beach about 8 miles EAST of Rye (if you tip the map upside down, it makes more sense). Descriptors from Dorie, Catch and Mom: Nice beach. Sandy beach. Fine sand. Almost like dust. Tan sand, not white but not black. Sprinkled with shells and stones. Small stones. V--e--r--y wide beach, with sand dunes behind them. With a surprising number of people in the water, including little children. Tiny toddlers.
Catch stayed near the cafe and people watched. One person was a little girl, about two, who flomped face down in the sand, rooted along about two yards on her belly and face crying and screaming and having a fit (in opposition to her mother), then hauled herself up, brushed her face, and carried on. Catch: "You found rocks; I found a kid."
The sky was magnificent. Fluffy white clouds. Water and sky, seems so vast.
Many shells and rocks were collected. Dorie, Mom and I wandered along the beach finding all kinds of treasures, and running out of room for carrying them.
A pick-up cricket game between little boys and their various dads got picked up and moved about halfway through since the rising tide was encroaching on their sand-drawn cricket pitch.
A girl was practicing her soccer kicks as her mom valiantly tried to defend the picnic hamper goal line.
There were windsurfers on the water, some in wetsuits, some just in trunks trying to not shiver visibly.
There was a set of tire tracks along the beach that... just... stopped. No idea where the vehicle that belonged with the tire tracks came from or went. Mom and I theorized that an amphibious vehicle of some unknown origin either took off an d sailed away or landed and drove off. Who knows? Maybe it was James Bond. This IS England, after all.
After we wandered along the beach a while, and Catch wandered along the cafe deck, we reconvened at the car, emptied pockets and hands of shells, rocks, and other treasures, and set back off for Rye. On the return trip we made a couple of photo stops -- one for some beautiful swans that were pretty much posing for us, the other for attempted photos of Rye from the distance. The second endeavor wasn't so effective, so I drove slowly along (incurring curses, I'm sure, from the drivers behind us) as Mom and Catch took photos out the car windows.
Once back in town, I returned to my original mission: FIND RYE CASTLE. (Well, after we made our first stop at Budgens grocers for rooibos tea and eggs.) I warned everyone I was intent on finding the castle, and when it was suggested that I could try once, I suggested back that I could drop them all off and go in search myself. However, we stayed together and drove round in circles and up one skinny street and down another until... WE FOUND IT!!! Well, we found the Landgate, which is huge stone gate leading up the hill. Up through there we found the signs for the castle and the Rye Museum. No parking, of course. Then again, the point wasn't to GO to the castle today. It was just to find it. Which we did. So I was satisfied. And then we made one more stop at Budgens for bread and more peanut butter (which IS a basic food group, after all), and made our way back to the cottage.
And now... our adventures of the day have been recorded. I guess it's only fair to note some of the various stuff that got got today, too, huh? Well, let's see... postcards. A pin. Woolen goods. Did I mention postcards? Candy. Sweet rolls for Sunday breakfast. Books. Oh, and some more postcards.
Okay, that's it for today.
Skip Bo, anyone?
