Lake District

This was at the end of the dock--how adorably romantic!



St. Martin's Church








And for the lighter side...

They're made in Wigan, one of the towns my ancestors came from. Classic!


In the bird food section of the garden shop in Ambleside

The lake district is absolutely gorgeous, especially right now with the changing leaves. We had great weather--sunny & clear, and it's not windy up there like Leeds is. First we went to Bowness-on-Windermere, where they do cruises on the lake. They were pricey and didn't really cover much of the lake, so we didn't bother. Instead, we walked along the public footpath and saw the lake that way. We had fish & chips for lunch and checked out the shops around town. There's a Beatrix Potter centre, but it's not really a museum--more of a storytime show for kids. Since I didn't want to pay 6 quid to see people in hedgehog costumes, we skipped that as well. After seeing everything Bowness had to offer, we still had over an hour until our coach would move on to Ambleside. So, we went on the most ridiculous tram ride ever. For 2 quid, you go along the lake to a car park where they had apple bobbing & candy and the half-dozen or so staff were dressed up in Halloween costumes. Nicole and I were the only people on the tram, and it was clearly meant for kids--all decorated for Halloween with cobwebs and cardboard tombstones. People stared as we went by, but that just made it even funnier. The tram played Halloween music, too--"The Monster Mash" and "Thriller." It was the lamest thing, but the fact it was so lame made it great somehow. It was the highlight of my day.
When we finally got to Ambleside, we only had about an hour before all the shops closed and we were planning to go home. The museum was closed and it was already too dark to take pictures, so we just walked around and checked out the shops that were open. It's a very beautiful town, though, and I'd love to go back some time. It smelled like autumn--warm, slightly smoky and spicy. They have a really cute downtown shopping area, with old shale buildings and very narrow streets.
All in all, I'm definitely a fan of the Lake District now.