That’s the song that was on our minds and hearts when we took an impulse drive to Scarborough. Scarborough is a coastal town on the North Yorkshire coast, and it was once more famous as a bustling market and trading hub in medieval times.
Now, it’s mostly just another town trying to bring back some of its lost glory. The town center and the castle areas are nice and touristy, but some of the outer areas are supposed to be quite rough and crime-ridden.
The reason we headed out to Scarborough was that we had a craving to see the coast. We had already visited Brighton and Anglesey (post yet to come), so we had glimpsed the southern and the western end, and so Scarborough on the North Sea coast seemed like the next likely stretch of coast to visit.
It’s nearing the end of summer, so the weather has started getting a little more unpredictable. It rained all the way there, and we were not very hopeful of a full day out. However, the weather changed just as we parked our car.
The sky was ominous as we entered the parking lot, but by the time we got out, paid the parking meter, it had all cleared up, and the rest of the day was glorious.
I took the above pictures thinking they were of Scarborough Castle, but it turns out it’s just a private residence!
Walking up the slope, we could already see that the castle was going to be well worth the visit. Just the views from the road leading up to the castle were so amazing!
Scarborough Castle itself is a ruin, with one entire side exposed to the elements. And normally, I would be quite indignant about paying entrance fees to see a rubble. But here, it was so peaceful and calm; the views from the cliff were so amazing, and the atmosphere so vibrant that, really, I did not mind at all.
The castle has some great picnic spots with ocean views. And if we had known, we would have taken full advantage of it.
Side note: Unlike in India, there are no barriers to bringing your own food and snacks into private places. For example, if we go to a movie or a zoo, it’s understood that we can bring in food, water, and cold drinks from outside. It was an expensive lesson learned, but this summer we have taken our own food to most places, and nobody cares – in fact, most of the locals, too, think it’s the smart thing to do in the midst of what they call a cost-of-living crisis. To be honest, I think after the rampant inflation in India, we find the prices of most things here (if you skip the tourist spots, which are extortionate), pretty reasonable if you know where to buy what.
Back to our day, apart from the castle, we went to Peasholm Park. K was excited to see a mock naval battle that had pretty good reviews online. He loves all things military, and so this was something we couldn’t skip.
Well, it was quite a dud, honestly. K got mildly enthused about the various types of battleships and submarines. But in essence, it was a mock battle with toy-sized ships on a small lake. There were some firecrackers to show the ships firing at each other. But really, very underwhelming.
K and the boy seemed to enjoy it mildly, but my daughter was particularly indignant that we had dragged her on a family outing (something she actively avoids these days), for something so lame as this.
Thankfully, the castle was good enough to keep her spirits up and not have her call out the trip as a complete dud!
