Bill and Jen's Adventures: A Morning Walk

Back home in California, Bill and I had a number of favorite breakfast spots: from greasy spoons, coffee shops, and bakeries, to high-end, sit-down restaurants. In England, they seem to have bed and breakfasts or takeaway pastry shops, but not much else as far as breakfast goes. Except for Betty's. Betty's of Harrogate is a Swiss tea house / restaurant that serves fancy meals all day long. And it's only a ten minute walk away!

Bill decided one Sunday morning a few weeks ago, that we should get up and walk into town for breakfast at Betty's. I thought that a brilliant idea; I hopped out of bed and got ready in record time! We arrived at Betty's at 8:30, but they don't start sit-down service until 9:00, so we had a while to walk around and take in some morning sunshine.

Tour de France is coming!!!

Yorkshire Rose and French Fleur de Lis

Right near the center of town, a dying tree was recently cut down. Instead of grinding out the stump, they carved into the trunk some wonderful artwork celebrating the coming of the Tour de France. One side of the tree showcases a bicycle & the year. The other side of the tree celebrates the Tour spending two days in Yorkshire, with the Yorkshire rose on top and the French Fleur de Lis on the bottom.

Just behind the carved tree is a bed of flowers in the pattern of a bike. Can you tell everyone's excited that the Tour is coming?!? The road works crews have been working non-stop to re-pave any and all roads featured on the tour (not inconvenient at all... I type sarcastically) and the whole town seems to be receiving a very big spring clean. I hope all of their efforts are worthwhile and the two days the Tour is in Yorkshire are sunny, warm, and fun!

Bike flower display

After our delicious breakfast at Betty's (eggs florentine for me, smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and bacon for Bill), we decided to take a nice walk through a local garden.

Spring is here! (on some days)

As you can see, the sun was shining and the cherry trees are starting to blossom. Alas, the weather turned about an hour after we got home and it rained for the rest of the day.

Along our walk we spotted a small miniature golf course. Those of you who have heard the story about my "Best. Day. Ever!" (Under 10 years old edition) know surprise miniature golf is awesome (IMHO)!