Becca Jane St Clair

[This entry refers to a day trip taken in March 2009. As requested, I will be going back and blogging the trips from January – April.]

Tim had a day off mid-week, and since it had been such a gorgeous week so far, we decided to head towards the seaside. Previously, we went North to the seaside in Yorkshire, but this time we decided to stay in Lincolnshire.

We started our trip by driving through some of the small towns along the way, including Market Rasen and Louth. We explored the small town shops for a bit before heading on a drive through the Lincolnshire Wolds. We actually pulled over to the side of the road to enjoy a brief snack and just to enjoy the scenery.

I can’t remember where we made our stop for Lunch (hopefully Tim will comment and let me know!), but it was a small walking path surrounded by a wetlands/wildlife area. The carpark even had a port-a-john. We sat down for our picnic lunch at a small pavilion platform built out on top of some of the wetlands. It was quite windy and chilly, and I actually wound up putting on extra layers while we ate! [*edited to add* Tim informs me we stopped at Tetney Marsh]

After Lunch, we followed the coast all the way up to Mabelthorpe, where we happened to spot a sign for the Seal Sanctuary. We checked and the place was open, so we decided to visit the seals. We soon found out that not only were there seals, they had all sorts of wildlife from around the United Kingdom as well as animals formerly native to the United Kingdom, from wild cats to pheasants, beavers, foxes, owls, ducks, and a whole slew of other animals. We stayed until it was closing time for the facility, since we were having fun wandering around and seeing all the animals.

I think we spent the most time looking at the wildcats – Tim told me it had been one of his goals to see one up close, and we were lucky enough to see three! These cats were huge, but I still think my own “little” housecat could pass for a small wildcat.

We were super tired when we left, but we still managed to stop off at Tim’s grandparent’s house to visit his granddad for a bit. I was yawning and was very unsociable, but Granddad didn’t seem to mind.

For dinner that night, I had Brown Sugar Chicken in the crock pot, from A Year of Slow Cooking, but since we were out of the house for over 10 hours, it wasn’t too great. Oh, well. Can’t win them all.

(photo by Tim) A random tank on the side of the road….

(photo by Tim) Wildcat!

(photo by Tim) Me looking at Geese

For more photos (most of them taken by Tim), please see: http://photos.beccajanestclair.com/uk-trip-2008/mabelthorpe/

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