Part 2 of our wedding anniversary weekend write-up.
We'd seen in tourist brochures that Castle Douglas is a "food town". Great, we thought as we left the B&B this morning, we'll go there on the way back for a spot of lunch, and buy something to take home for supper.
There's just one problem.
It's Sunday. And that means just about all the small local food shops in Castle Douglas are shut.
Bang went our beautiful plans.
We managed to find an open cafe, and Matt said their coffee was wonderful, but the menu looked very Greasy Spoon, which put us off eating there (not to mention the howling child at the next table).
Now I can understand the religious view of not wanting to open shops on a Sunday. I can understand wanting a day off.
But if Castle Douglas - and other towns like it - want to attract the tourist trade, then Sunday opening might be something that it has to embrace, at least in part.
After all, not everyone who goes to South West Scotland will stay a whole week and be able to stock up for Sunday. There will be weekenders like Matt and myself. Castle Douglas is less than an hour off the M6. It's not the back of beyond.
And it's also just off the main A75 to Stranraer and the ferry terminal. There will surely be tourists coming off the ferry at Stranraer and heading along the A75 and looking for somewhere to have lunch, or buy a picnic lunch. And for the latter, our only option would have been Tesco.
If the shopkeepers of Castle Douglas want to promote "buy local food from small local shops" then keeping their shops shut on a Sunday may not be the way to do it...
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Delicious food, gorgeous unspoilt coastal beauty...
Just back from a weekend away with Matt to celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary. (Where did that time go.)
We picked a B&B in Dumfries & Galloway, Balcary Mews. It's less than 2 hours' drive from where we live, advertised itself as a "tranquil hideaway", and we'd easily be able to get to Wigtown for a spot of one of our favourite weekend pleasures - second-hand-book-shopping.
We weren't quite sure what to expect when we were told check-in was between 4pm and 6pm. Given we both work full-time, we knew we'd not get there by 6pm so we had to contact the landlady, Pamela, to ask for a late check-in. But to give Pamela her due, she said straight away "yes that's fine".
And the B&B proved a real find.
Comfortable, welcoming, friendly, with lovely large thick fluffy towels in the ensuite bathroom, and a scrumptious breakfast. I went for eggs both mornings - boiled yesterday, poached today - and they were full of flavour and golden-yolked, and Pamela didn't commit the cardinal sin of putting vinegar in the water when she poaches eggs. You can always taste it on the egg if someone's done that. Urgh.
Matt had the full Scottish breakfast and praised it highly.
"The bacon's delicious" he said to Pamela. And I've never heard him say that to a B&B landlady before.
"It's local" she said. "Everything's local except me!"
The breakfast had plenty of original touches about it too. Toasted English muffins (mmm and I wish I could resist smothering them in butter), Nutella, local honey, home-made fruit salad...
And the location is just out of this world. 2 miles down a no-through road with superb coastal views. We were very lucky with the weather, gorgeous sunshine, which meant we could see right across the bay and the Solway to the coast of Cumbria. And this morning we had a walk down to Balcary Point, where the unfenced, narrow, unmade coastal path spooked us a bit (especially Matt, whose sense of balance isn't great), but the views, sunshine, clear air, huge clumps of thrift pink in the grass, seabirds nesting on the cliffs...
Next time we're going for a week.
We picked a B&B in Dumfries & Galloway, Balcary Mews. It's less than 2 hours' drive from where we live, advertised itself as a "tranquil hideaway", and we'd easily be able to get to Wigtown for a spot of one of our favourite weekend pleasures - second-hand-book-shopping.
We weren't quite sure what to expect when we were told check-in was between 4pm and 6pm. Given we both work full-time, we knew we'd not get there by 6pm so we had to contact the landlady, Pamela, to ask for a late check-in. But to give Pamela her due, she said straight away "yes that's fine".
And the B&B proved a real find.
Comfortable, welcoming, friendly, with lovely large thick fluffy towels in the ensuite bathroom, and a scrumptious breakfast. I went for eggs both mornings - boiled yesterday, poached today - and they were full of flavour and golden-yolked, and Pamela didn't commit the cardinal sin of putting vinegar in the water when she poaches eggs. You can always taste it on the egg if someone's done that. Urgh.
Matt had the full Scottish breakfast and praised it highly.
"The bacon's delicious" he said to Pamela. And I've never heard him say that to a B&B landlady before.
"It's local" she said. "Everything's local except me!"
The breakfast had plenty of original touches about it too. Toasted English muffins (mmm and I wish I could resist smothering them in butter), Nutella, local honey, home-made fruit salad...
And the location is just out of this world. 2 miles down a no-through road with superb coastal views. We were very lucky with the weather, gorgeous sunshine, which meant we could see right across the bay and the Solway to the coast of Cumbria. And this morning we had a walk down to Balcary Point, where the unfenced, narrow, unmade coastal path spooked us a bit (especially Matt, whose sense of balance isn't great), but the views, sunshine, clear air, huge clumps of thrift pink in the grass, seabirds nesting on the cliffs...
Next time we're going for a week.
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