Another classic Road Trip day — An Elegant Sufficiency

After a fab dinner last night and a pretty great breakfast too, it was hard to pack up and leave The Gilpin this morning. Only the knowledge that we were headed for somewhere with a similarly good reputation got us up and out there, on the road in decent time.

We loved being here and our room was very comfortable and quiet. Our only small grumble was that we could have been anywhere. The only sense of place was the name of our room, Dollywagon Pike, which was a bit of a shame since we hadn’t really allowed time to do anything in the Lakes at all.

We got going straight after breakfast then, doing my best to capture a little bit of the Lakes as we left.

As soon as we joined the motorway though, we got a reminder of the endless roadworks we’d encountered yesterday, though thankfully, at this time of the day, the traffic hadn’t had time to build up.

We made the almost obligatory stop at Tebay Services, feeling disappointed by the selection of things on sale there and possibly more so by the number of moochers. A recent TV series might have increased footfall here - and possibly raised expectations? - but I left with the distinct opinion that the Gloucester Services (owned by the same family) are streets ahead of Tebay. in every respect.

At least I was able to take away a flavour of the Lakes - I know Kendal Mint Cake is pretty ubiquitous these days but there’s nothing like getting it from the original source. I’ve not come across the Extra Strong variety before, either.

Driving further north, we were well aware of the distance still to drive. Here we were at Carlisle and little more than half way to our destination.

There was a milestone just up the road too.

We left the motorway shortly after than, heading towards Dumfries but passing a curious signpost about which I just had to find out more. The Devils Porridge was easily googled and once again, we learned a whole new set of stories.

When our satnav announced that we had reached our destination in Dumfries we felt there must be some mistake. This didn’t look much like the Robert Burns Centre. However, just across the road, there it was, on the riverside and with a car park right beside it too. Whilst my Hero went to bring to car into a more likely parking spot, I eyed the rather noisy and threatening seagulls that hovered above my head and trembled.

We’d set about planning out trip in the same way as we usually plan a road trip, looking for interesting places to stop by en route and the Robert Burns centre fitted the bill perfectly. With free admission, we’d booked our arrival time and here we were, just twenty minutes or so early.

It’s on the “other” side of the river in Dumfries in an area of green parkland.

Our experience so far with pandemic precautions has been very positive. The places we’ve visited have been universally well organised and the Robert Burns Centre was no exception.

The exhibition was small but ideal for those of us who were starting from scratch as far as knowing about the poet were concerned. We were able to follow the whole story of the man and his life and to get a good picture of his many dalliances and shortcomings as a husband. The most memorable part of the story was that Jean Armour, his wife, went into labour as his hearse passed by on the day of his funeral!

In the same way was we’ve seen elsewhere, this small museum didn’t have many genuine artefacts, for such valuable treasures were surely kept in national museums and private collections. So there were a couple of handwritten poems but neither was of something familiar - still, I was interested to see his handwriting and his signature.

Leaving with one or two Burns couplets on our minds - the best laid plans of mice and men, for example, we jumped back in the car and made our way back through Dumfries, towards our next stop.

We’d earmarked the World Heritage site of New Lanark as somewhere we’d like to see, but were disappointed to discover the visitor centre was closed on a Tuesday. The whole place couldn’t be closed though, could it?

Well, no, it wasn’t. We parked the car and made our way down the steep slope into the town, wishing we’d done a bit more research and found out a bit more information about it before we arrived.

Quite spectacular and beautifully set in a wooded valley, we were really pleased we’d made the detour.

Our pleasure was a bit short lived when we found ourselves stuck in horrible traffic trying to get through modern day Lanark though.

We were soon on the open road again though and looking forward to just “being there” now. By mid afternoon we both find ourselves wilting a bit and the endless road works here and there just add to the frustration.