Trip Away

So, on the Monday I found myself looking up things to do in Plymouth.  Himself expressed a desire to go and look at a bike there.

I realised that I really don't know Plymouth at all.  I went to college there, commuting daily.  I have been on a couple of works courses.  Shopping twice and the National Maring Aquarium once.

In order to get to Plymouth from Cornwall, you either go on the Torpoint Ferry or take the Tamar Bridge.  I have never been over on the ferry either.... Plymouth sits surrounded by water.  In this part of the country, a number of river valleys became flooded by the sea as sea levels rose after the ice age.  The Tamar is one such river that got flooded.  Plymouth sits on what would have been hillside, overlooking the river valley, with a good view downriver.  Now Plymouth has a good view out to sea, many harbours and lost of tidal water.

Despite the stunning location, Plymouth isn't a hot tourist destination.  It has to compete with the rest of Devon, including Dartmoor and Exmoor, as well as the wonderful Cornwall. A large part of Plymouth was bombed in the war as it was a valuable target given the dockyards.  The Navy still has a heavy presence there.

That said, there are areas of Plymouth I have never visited that look pretty cool.  Royal William Dockyard, to the Hoe then the Barbican and Sutton Harbour. While looking all these up, I discovered that right in this area there is a grand old hotel called the Duke of Cornwall.  It happens to be a Best Western, which got me thinking....  Our tesco clubcard vouchers have three times their value if transferred into Best Western vouchers.

Tuesday, a colleague started talking about staying in Plymouth for theatre trips in the past.  That was enough synchronicity for me.  I rang the kennels and discovered when the next available weekend was, compared it with the shifts of my working man, and Bob's your Uncle.  Two days in Plymouth with an overnight stay in a very grand hotel.

There doesn't seem to be anything on in the theatres that night but that might change.  What they have got is Wimbledon final on a big screen on the lawn at Royal William Yard and the boats for the La Rochelle Revival Race docked at Sutton Harbour.

So I have some more things on my list of possibilities...

63) Take the Torpoint Ferry

64) Watch Wimbledon at Royal William Yard

65) Visit the Hoe

66) Visit the Barbican

67) See the La Rochelle Revival Race boats at Sutton Harbour

68) Visit Smeaton's Lighthouse