Grasmere, England
Saturday, September 21 – woke up before sunrise as we were all practically falling asleep in our dinner last night, so turned in relatively early. I decided to take a walk around the village, which is small, but very quaint.
Visited William Wordsworth’s grave and the daffodil garden dedicated to him in a section of the churchyard. Enjoyed the quiet and serenity of the area as the town woke up.
After a hearty breakfast, we set out on our final hike of the trip. Dan decided to take a rest day, so only 3 of us ventured out, and we took the shorter, easier option, which was only a 3 hour hike. Dan was assigned the job of finding a place for lunch for when we returned.
The hike took us through farms and fields and up about 900 feet along a stream. At the top of the climb, we reached Easedale Tarn, a lovely lake amidst the hills. It was a popular place this Saturday morning, with families, dogs, and even some folks camping (tents, not RVs). One hardy souk actually went swimming. I put my hand in the water–yeah, not for me.
The descent was a little tricky as there were a lot of smooth, slick rocks along the path, and also, lots of people were making their way up as we came down. Fortunately, British hikers are very polite, and passing areas were easily negotiated.
We returned to Grasmere at lunchtime, and Dan came through with a fine choice of a cafe. After a nice lunch, we had time to wander through the village, poking into shops, stopping at St Oswald’s Church (come on, it’s been a while since we had any church photos) and perusing a great exhibit on how farms in this area are adapting to survive alongside tourism in the 21st century.
As we are finishing up our time in England, we had to stop for tea and scones in a lovely little cafe. Then we had a couple of hours to relax before dinner–the shorter hike was definitely the right call so we could have a fun, relaxed, and varied day.
Plenty of food photos today…last opportunity for a bit
Tomorrow, we start the trek back.
25,003 steps;11.2 miles
Hotel:
Rothay Garden Hotel:
https://www.harbourhotels.co.uk/our-hotels/lake-district/rothay-garden-by-harbour-hotels
Hike #6 Options
Hike #6 – we chose Option B sans the optional spur.
Hike #6 Map
Breakfast:
Breakfast was included at the hotel and there was a nice buffet of cold items plus numerous hot items to be ordered off the menu. In this area, the Rothay rivaled the Merewood.
Lunch:
Greens Cafe & Bistro
Great little cafe serving homemade food, lots of vegan and vegetarian options. Indoor and outdoor seating, very popular.
Afternoon Tea:
Baldry’s Tearoom:
https://baldrysgrasmere.com/tearoom
Extensive selection of teas and baked goods for a perfect English tea experience.
Dinner:
The Grasmere Hotel:
https://grasmerehotel.co.uk/bar-restaurant/
Small dining room offering a prix fixe menu in an elegant atmosphere. Fairly new, they were a bit disorganized, lost our reservation, but the service was friendly and the food was good.
Afternoon Tea
Dinner
Somewhat sad day as it was our final hike. However, it was quite fun as the hiking was really only a morning activity — us, along with a lot of English families who had the same idea on a nice Saturday morning!
The afternoon was spent wandering the village, enjoying some really fine food and tea, poking in the shops for some souvenirs and just enjoying the day. If this had to be our final full day of “real” vacation, it was a good one.