After leaving the abbey, I wiggled out of my awkward car park space and more or less headed back the same way I'd come, down even more winding country roads in an off and on light drizzle. As previously mentioned I had no idea where I'd even be staying that night, I just knew where I wanted to be: Seaham!
Seaham is an interesting little gem in County Durham just south of Newcastle upon Tyne. The accent here is predominantly Geordie inspired which meant I had to more or less laser-focus on what was being said as well as read people's lips in order to communicate. I did well, more or less.
Mobile signal was still sketchy on the approach to Seaham so I didn't actually get to stop and check where I wanted to stay until I literally arrived at the seashore. Luckily one of the many free car parks was right next to the ocean, so I flicked though my hotels app as I listened to the waves and the seagulls. By this point it was well past 4 and I was getting ever so slightly nervous about finding a spot. My hotels app was failing me in finding me anything good remotely near Seaham, in fact it was telling me to literally head to Newcastle which was completely not the point of going to the seashore!
So I went on to Google Maps to see what I could randomly find, and randomly find I did. The place was right smack in the middle of everything, literally a three minute walk to the seashore and had a large, free car park right next door - what more could I ask for? Oh, I dunno, perhaps really amazing Thai food?
The place that had caught my eye was a odd little gem called Thai-Ger which is predominantly a Thai restaurant, proudly the only Thai restaurant in Seaham as a matter of fact. However, upstairs there is also accommodation to be had and it really was a steal of a deal with everything factored in.
So sitting in the car park next to the sea, I booked my Seaham night's stay and then promptly hopped out of the car to check out the beach. Now, one very important thing to know about Seaham is that the beach contains zero shells. None. But if you want stones, pebbles, rocks and other synonyms of rocks, then you've found the right place. Even better, Seaham is known for it's plethora of sea glass.
So the full history is easy enough to Google, but essentially there used to be a bottle factory not far from Seaham and when that factory closed, they chucked the bottles into the sea. Over time all the broken glass was worn down by the churning of the waves and now all sorts of different colours and sizes of sea glass wash up on the shore.
So I wandered down the pathway to the beach as there was still perhaps an hour of daylight left to take advantage of. It was a grey, windy day but thankfully no real sign of rain, just the half-hearted threat that the British know all too well.
Once on the beach, I noticed right away all the hunched over figures littered up and down the stretch of coast.
Some people were even splayed out on the pebbled ground like overgrown toddlers, sifting through the sea's bounty. I chose to continue walking along the tide line, occasionally pirouetting out of reach of the ocean waves. Although the light was quickly fading, my eyes adjusted and soon they began picking out the tell-tale signs of sea glass. Most of the glass is mottled white with some being more transparent that others, but you can also find green, amber, blue and sometimes even red or multi-coloured glass. Once I knew what I was looking for, it became easier and easier to collect glass of all sizes and colours. For barely an hours work I came away with well over twenty pieces, some even large enough to turn into jewellery if I so desired.
I put my bounty into my pocket and headed back to the car. I was sad to leave the beach, but I promised myself that I'd spend time the next day perusing the shores once again. I started the car, turned on the sat nav and drove away.
Luckily, my destination was a mere 3 minutes down the road! Once I'd found the correct car park I headed to the front of the building. Whilst not at all unusual, this particular building was sandwiched in between other businesses. Upon walking through the door, there was an Indian type restaurant that was only just opening. I eyeballed it briefly before following the signage to head upstairs. On the next level I came across what I presumed was the Thai restaurant portion of Thai-Ger, only it wasn't clearly defined. There were two distinct doors, both locked and neither had lights on. It was just after 5 pm now and I was getting slightly annoyed. Where was everyone?
Well, I continued to the next level where I spied what was clearly the accommodation section. There were five rooms in total, two just as you came up from the stairs and another three opposite on a small landing. But I still couldn't find anyone. The priceline.com website clearly stated you could check in from 5 pm onward but there was no one around. I even did the standard "Hellooooo" shout/query and still nothing! I was very annoyed and a little hungry, but I didn't want to just wait. I've become ever so bad at just "waiting". So I dialed the number priceline.com had. I heard the phone ring downstairs. So I went down the stairs and phoned again. Twas from one of the darkened, locked rooms. So this wasn't looking very good so far.
So I opted to go question the ground floor Indian place, but they rudely shouted that they had nothing to do with the accommodation and so I left. I made it a point to avoid eating there.
So with nothing else that I could really do, I waited. At the very least the restaurant portion of Thai-Ger did list their times, so with some luck there would be someone in soon to help clear up this sordid mystery.
I didn't have to wait long. I was more or less upstairs by the rooms when I heard someone coming up the stairs lugging heavy objects. So I waddled back down, laden with my bags, and asked the woman if she had anything to do with the accommodation and she said that yes, she was the caretaker. Oh, what joy!
I waited for her to unburden herself and she took at look at her online booking system. Within ten minutes I'd been let into my room (a "sea" view room which lovingly overlooked the car park instead) and I plopped my things on the bed so that I could run back downstairs and grab even more things. Remember, I over packed for this adventure!
One of the first things I did was take a shower. I had originally wanted to shower so that I could go downstairs and have dinner, but a coy thought floated through my head. After my shower I lumbered down to the bar area, which was separate from the dining area, and cheekily asked if I could eat in my room instead of in the dining area. It was a resounding yes from the caretaker, so I ordered some Pad Thai and Vegetable Tempura with a couple cokes and proceeded to set myself up for a lovely night in watching my shows.
Roughly half an hour later, a young woman came up with my food on a tray, complete with the cutlery I'd asked for! Hurray, I didn't have to eat with my hands! I thanked her graciously and proceeded to go over my meal. And what a meal it was. The portions were very generous and well-cooked and the Veggie Tempura was some of the best I'd ever had. I genuinely thought I had under ordered but in reality I struggled to finish!
The next day I woke up and realised I didn't want to leave yet. The area was so lovely and vibrant and the caretaker was so warm and easy to talk with, combined with the amazing food and the comfortable room I decided to ask her at breakfast if it was possible to stay another night. I tried to eat breakfast that morning in the dining area but I was still so full from the night before it proved impossible. I did get to watch the sunrise though from a spectacular sea view balcony, and the owner was chuffed with my twisting and turning and standing on tip-toes to get a good view of it that she pulled out her phone to show me what I'd missed only a half hour earlier. She was a truly remarkable woman by the name of Lesley and I do hope I get to see her again because we got on like a house on fire.
Once breakfast was more or less wrapped up I asked Lesley if I could possibly stay another day. She said she'd have a look and let me know. About ten minutes later she came back with the universal nod for "yeah, you're fine" so I was elated to know I didn't have to jump in the car so quickly!
I made my way back upstairs and proceeded to do a bit of admin work, sorting through receipts, putting figures into spreadsheets and of course writing my previous blog entry. Around midday, although it was turning a bit grey in spots, it was still marvelous weather so I fired up my little camera and headed out.
I walked along the road and viewed all the spectacular seaside shops and cafes, stopping occasionally to look at menus or read signage. At one point I found myself down near the pier and the loading point for the boats. I watched two men struggle with getting a small fishing vessel back onto the trailer. From there I wandered around, taking pictures of artwork and the not-too-distant lighthouse that sadly was not able to be visited.
Down the road I stopped to photograph
Tommy, the statue depicting a World War I soldier moments after hearing about the war ending. I found that a very poignant piece because seldom do you see artwork of that nature. Many families were taking pictures with the statue so I patiently waited for my turn, but finally one of the family members noticed me and signaled to their crew that I existed. I thanked them, took my shots and wandered off again. Further down the road in much quieter area I came across a path that lead to a more or less dead end walkway, except that a beautiful art piece had been placed there like a giant chess piece. The lighting was more or less perfect so I took a few snaps and then decided to start heading back.
On the way back I came across
Lickety Splits, a retro-themed ice cream parlour that reminded me a little of being back in the states. I ordered a banoffee sundae. Since coming to the UK I've become a huge fan of anything banoffee (banana and caramel) so this was a very decadent little dessert!
Sadly my day needed to come to an end so I'll leave you with this absolutely hilarious picture I took by the seaside in the car park.
Tootle-loo!
*Please note, as of the publication of this blog entry, Thai-Ger in Seaham has now unfortunately shut. Best of luck in all your endeavours, Lesley.
Tootle-loo!