Day Tripper – A Cornish Wife's Tale

Day Tripper: Afternoon Tea

August 6, 2019August 1, 2019Posted in Day TripperTagged afternoontea, birthday, blogger, cafe, Cornwall, eatingout, food, lifestyle, lifestylebloggerLeave a comment

I went for afternoon tea as part of my birthday celebrations this year, even though it was a few days to go until my actual birthday (I do like to stretch them out!) I wanted to spend some time with all my favourite ladies, with two of my other favourite things: tea and cake. So, afternoon tea seemed a winner!

We went to Broomhill Vintage Cottage Tearooms within the estate of Antony House. It’s only been open just over a year but is such a favourite amongst locals and tourists. It’s a beautiful old cottage, converted into a tea room with the pretty garden. There’s pastel bunting, fairy lights, wooden tables and chairs and plenty of dog bowls with water (we’ve gone several times with Lola, she loves it).

We had a table made up with pretty lace tablecloths and delicate china crockery. There was tea on tap from dainty teapots and then the most glorious selection of cakes and sandwiches on 3 tier stands. Some of my friends brought their children and they enjoyed playing on the grass or with the toys put out for them. Luckily, the weather was absolutely glorious and we spent a few hours just chatting and eating. It was the most perfect afternoon.

I think it’s also worth a shout out to Popsy clothing, where I bought the jumpsuit I wore. It had the most lovely strawberry print and was the comfiest thing to wear, especially as I was consuming my body weight in cake and bread. You can find their website here: https://www.popsyclothing.co.uk/collections/frontpage Check it out- they’re awesome!

Here’s some pictures from our afternoon:

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Day Tripper: Liverpool.

July 1, 2019Posted in Day TripperTagged blogger, citybreak, lifestyle, lifestyleblog, Liverpool, music, newblogger, personal, roadtrip, staycation, TheBeatles, travelblog, UKbreakLeave a comment

It’s almost like the title I use for all of these “trip” style posts was MADE for this very road trip!

As you may (or may not) have seen on my Twitter (@KateHepples), last week I took a road trip to Liverpool with my husband and brother. I’d only been once before when I was about 5 and, quite honestly, don’t remember a thing about it. I’d heard some great things about the city and, being a huge Beatles fan, I really wanted to do the touristy, Beatles related stuff. My husband doesn’t know a lot about them but wanted to find out more so he was up for it. And although my brother has been many times (he’s even played The Cavern Club twice!) he’s always up for a road trip, especially to Liverpool!

When looking for hotels, they were all really expensive so I turned to trusty Air B’n’B. I quite liked the idea of us all being in somewhere together as well, so we didn’t have to keep splitting up. I found a fab flat which turned out to be in the most amazing location, about 7 minutes walk from the main shopping centre of Liverpool One. It was a residential building and, despite REALLY noisy neighbours on our last night and only getting about 3 hours sleep, it was perfect for what we wanted it for. You can find the link to here if you’re interested. [https://bit.ly/2Jfes3T] Between the 3 of us, it worked out at great value for money.

We arrived late afternoon on the Thursday and, after a very quick freshen up, headed straight out. It was during the REALLY hot weather, so no jackets or cardigans needed – it felt a bit like we were abroad! We ate dinner at TGI Fridays (am I the only one who thinks the music in there is far too loud or am I just aging prematurely?) and then headed straight to Mathew Street, home of the Cavern Club and other related bars.

It was AMAZING walking into The Cavern Club for the first time. Although it isn’t THE original cavern (it had to be knocked down and rebuilt across the road) it is an exact replica and to be honest the atmosphere and vibe felt what I imagined it would have been like back in the 60s. It was dusky, hot and dim but the minute you started descending the many flights down, you could hear the crowd and feel the pulse of the music. I was SO in my element! I was really proud of myself too, as my anxiety quite often stops me from even considering going somewhere like that but because I knew I could leave at any time and we stood near the back, I managed to keep it mainly under wraps! We watched a few fab bands that night but got a relatively early night as we were shattered from the drive up.

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The next day was tourist central: we went to Albert Dock, did the Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles Experience, The Double Fantasy exhibition in the Liverpool Museum and the British Music Experience. It was very tiring (I did 25k+ steps!) but it was absolutely amazing. The weather was stunning, I learnt so much, took lots of photos and really enjoyed the day. In the evening, we went to the most incredible steakhouse and then onto The Cavern again for drinks and music.

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Saturday was shopping day: I enjoyed looking round the shops which are scarce down my way and bought a few bits (would be rude not to). My feet were actually hurting from the amount of walking we’d done the day before, but we still managed a good 5 hours out before heading back to the flat to freshen up and get ready for the evening. We went to Byron Burgers (highly recommend) for dinner and then went back to Mathew Street. It was ridiculously busy though (typical Saturday) and even my new-found tolerance for loud clubs couldn’t really cope. We found an absolute gem just round the corner though in The Hard Day’s Night Hotel bar, where there was live acoustic music and we managed to snaffle a booth right at the front, where we could listen to the musicians, have some drinks and watch the world go by on the street outside.

It was the most amazing few days and I would recommend everything I’ve mentioned here in the post: there wasn’t really anything that I didn’t enjoy or didn’t like. The city itself was really lovely: you can tell it’s had a bit of money pumped into it in the last few years as there were some modern buildings and Liverpool One is great. The people were generally really friendly and it just has a vibe about it. Almost like it’s one of the cool kids and they really know it! We walked back from the clubs late at night too and I didn’t really feel unsafe which is quite a big thing for me!

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I hope you enjoyed this post about my latest road trip and enjoy the photos. Hopefully I’ll have more great trips to post about in the future!

Thank you for reading!

Love KH xxxxx

Day Tripper: Portreath

June 18, 2019June 16, 2019Posted in Day TripperTagged blogger, Cornwall, daytrips, lifestyle, lifestyleblog, lifestyleblogger, newblogger, personal, puppywalks, weekendaway, weekendgetaway3 Comments

My next post is another “Day Tripper” but it’s actually more of a weekend tripper! It was such a lovely few days away that I simply couldn’t not share it.

Back at the end of April, me, my husband Mark, my Mum & Dad, my brother and Lola the puppy went for two nights away to Portreath in Cornwall. We bought it for my Mum & Dad as birthday presents as their birthdays are only a few weeks apart. We stayed at a lodge called Cedar Creek which is set in the grounds of many other lodges. However, you’d have thought we were somewhere all by ourselves, it was so quiet and peaceful!

We made sure we had the Friday off work and headed down early afternoon. Lola isn’t great in the car – she used to get physically sick and even though she hasn’t done that in a while we made sure she had some travel sickness tablets. She wasn’t sick but you could tell she didn’t feel well. She was as good as gold still though, as usual ❤

Does anyone else get that buzz of excitement when they arrive somewhere to stay? I always get excited and this wasn’t any different. The lodge was brand new and you could tell – it was clean, bright, beautifully laid out and had its own, private hot tub! The kitchen was one of my favourite areas, with a gorgeous breakfast bar for everyone to sit around.

The weather wasn’t great but we didn’t let that stop us getting out. We headed off for a walk on a trail which was literally a minute from the lodge. If you follow the trail all the way it takes you to Portreath but as Lola was still only 4 and a half months we couldn’t walk her too far, so we turned back after half an hour. It was a beautiful walk.

It was so snug inside the lodge, especially with the weather outside not great but we couldn’t not have a go in the hot tub! It was bizarre to be outside in the dark, wind and drizzly rain but feel so warm. It was a real treat, something we’re not very used to.

Portreath itself is a small, Cornish town on the coast. There’s not as much to do as somewhere more touristy, such as St Ives, but it’s the quietness I quite liked. We went a lovely walk up through some woodland which Lola loved again and on the Saturday evening we had fish and chips from a takeaway in the town (highly recommended!)

The rest of our time was spent completely relaxing: we ate lots, played some Star Wars monopoly (I lost), went on a few more walks, another hot tub session and just spending time together as a family. I would really recommend the lodge. You can find booking information here: https://www.holidaycottages.co.uk/cornwall/west-cornwall/cedar-creek

It’s so lovely to get away sometimes, even just for a few nights. It felt like a truly relaxing break and we actually had some real holiday blues for a while after!

Share your favourite weekend getaways in the comments 🙂

Love KH xxxxxxx

Day Tripper: Mount Edgcumbe

June 2, 2019Posted in Day TripperTagged blogger, Cornwall, daytrips, hobby, lifestyle, lifestyleblog, lifestyleblogger, newblogger, personal, puppywalksLeave a comment

For my first “proper” post of this blog, I’ve decided to go with a trip out. I love hearing about people’s favourite places, what to do there, best places to eat (this one is obviously really important) and browsing their photos. Even if it’s somewhere a long way away that I’m unlikely to be able to visit, it’s lovely to see where people enjoy making their memories.

Earlier today, me and hubby took our puppy Lola (you’ll see lots of her on this blog I’m sure!) to Mount Edgcumbe. It’s a gem of a country park situated just across from the city of Plymouth. There’s beautiful scenery there, cute cafes, quirky shops and we love that it’s completely dog friendly! Often very busy during the summer/school holidays/nice weather, today’s drizzle meant it was really quiet, which I have to admit was really nice!

We started off walking from the car park through to the Italian Gardens, which has a lovely eatery called The Orangery. The colours are beautiful, even in drizzly weather.

From there, you walk along a path overlooking Plymouth, more notably the Royal William Yard (renovated naval offices, transformed into trendy apartments and restaurants). It’s a really special place for me and my husband as it’s not only where we had our first date but where he proposed to me!

Along from here, there’s an Apiary, which houses hundreds of bees! It’s part of a new project to protect and conserve our bees. It’s definitely worth a look – they even have a bee cam!

Walking up through the French gardens offers many more beautiful flowers, including a wide selection of roses and cork trees – some are so old they have grown right over into the ground!

By this point, we’d worked up quite an appetite and a rather heavy shower had set in, so we headed to The Stable for some lunch. It’s name is rather accurate, as it is literally a converted horse stable, with original stone floor and water troughs! I had a fish finger sandwich which was very delicious.

Walking back around took us past some more beautiful plants, and the impressive man-made Green Man – built for a festival the previous weekend, he sits made out of a variety of foliage, leaves and sticks. Lola wasn’t quite sure what it was!

Old canons remain pointed towards Plymouth…Lola was determined to achieve World Pawmination, but we managed to pull her away last minute!

A leisurely 3 hours later and we were back at the car. Despite the occasional drizzly shower, we all had a lovely time. We almost didn’t go this morning as the sky was very grey and the weather forecast wasn’t promising but looking back we’d have missed out on such a lovely time! Nothing a pair of wellies and a coat can’t fix – and Lola certainly didn’t mind!

I hope you enjoyed reading the first of what I hope will be many Day Tripper blog posts. Mount Edgcumbe is probably one of my favourite go-to places for a walk and a spot of lunch. Do you have any favourite places or suggestions for lovely days out? Share them in the comments below! 🙂

Until next time,

KH xxxxxxxxx