Seeing The Sights In Seahouses

For our second ever holiday with N we decided to stay in the UK and go to Seahouses in Northumberland. You may recall our first holiday with N was Center Parcs, and again we decided to stay in the UK to make it easier for ourselves. We’ve been to the Northumberland area a few times before. It’s a beautiful part of the country with some amazing views and scenery.

For this holiday we were recommended some really nice static caravans in a site called Seafield Caravan Park in Seahouses. We’ve seen the area before when we’ve visited but we’ve never stayed there.

Half way through the week Gradnpa joined us which was great. N is always very excited to see Grandpa, though I’m not sure whether Grandpa is more excited!

What’s The Caravan Park Like?

I have to say the caravan park was great.

Firstly the caravan was great. It was a two bed caravan with a small kitchen, dining room and lounge. The lounge was a very good and comfortable size, great to spend time watching the football (the World Cup was on).

The bedrooms were functional. There was a twin room and a king size bedroom. We stayed in the king size room but we did have trouble with the travel cot for N. It wouldn’t go at the bottom or either side of the bed. Instead, the only place it would fit was in the cupboard in which we would store clothes! He was a Harry Potter baby! It was right next to the foot of our bed anyway so it worked pretty well for us, but he was effectively in a cupboard!

The whole caravan was really functional, well laid out and I’d say small but perfectly formed. Let’s be honest the place where you spend most time is in the lounge and that was absolutely spot on with no complaints at all.

In terms of the caravan site itself it’s great. Very well laid out, well maintained with a swimming pool, spa and a club which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus, essentially, alcohol.

What We Did

Day 1

On our first day it was a Father’s Day. I’ll write a whole post about that so I won’t repeat myself too much but it was an amazing day with some great presents, plenty of football but most importantly spending some great quality time together as a family.

Day 2

On our second day we went to Northumberland Zoo. In essence you pay £6.50 for adults to get in to see lots of animals. For those that follow this blog regularly you’ll know that we like going to see animals so when something has the word ‘zoo’ in it we are always tempted.

I have to say that for us it was very much worth the price. That’s not that expensive for the vast array of animals you see. However, I probably wouldn’t go if I were in a wheelchair or if I had a child that has to be in a buggy. It’s just far too uneven underfoot. I carried N round most of it (I enjoy carrying him) but when in his pram he didn’t seem to like the bumps.

Day 3

On our third day we went on a tiny steam train from Heatherslaw to Etal. His was £7 per adult for a 20 minutes return journey which isn’t bad. At Etal there is are ruins of a castle (there was a big battle here in 1513 where James IV of Scotland was killed), a small church, a pub and a convenience store with a cafe in there. We ate here and the food was pretty good. I would say though that if you’re getting on the train you probably want to take a small pushchair that folds up. Ours is big and doesn’t fold much so we had to go in the area where wheelchairs would go. We were lucky to get in there as if a wheelchair came then they of course got priority.

Day 4

Grandpa came!

N always gets excited when Grandpa arrives and they love playing together.

While we were waiting for him to arrive we went for a swim, followed by a nice fry up in the Ocean Club cafe.

Once Grandpa arrived we spent some time in the caravan as he had a long drive to get there. We also watched some football of course!

Then we went out for a curry which was really nice, and returned to watch Spain v Iran in the World Cup. N at this time took advantage of learning a new high pitched noise to squeal away all evening. Joy. Pretty sure he was communicating with the local dogs.

Day 5

This was a good day but also a really tough day. Today, six years ago, my Mum passed away of bowel cancer (if you have any symptoms please go see your doctor, don’t hide in silence). It was a relatively short time from when we found out she had it to when she passed away. The only benefit was that my Mum didn’t have to suffer for long, plus, I guess, we got to say goodbye.

One of her favourite places to go was Holy Island in Northumberland (Lindisfarne is another name for it). It meant a lot as this was the first time we took N to here. We walked around the centre where there are a few shops and pubs etc. Then I and Dad took a longer walk around the island to some inaccessible places with a pram.

It was a really nice day but difficult at the same time.

Day 6

On our last full day we went to Alnwick Castle Gardens and the Treehouse Restaurant there.

The Treehouse Restaurant was fab. This was a Father’s Day present for my Dad, a slap up three course lunch. It was a great location, great scenery and look to it. the food was fab, belly pork to start, beef for main and a special sundae for dessert.

Following this we went for a walk around Alnwick Gardens. We’ve never been before but we were so impressed. There were loads of fountains (always a winner with Clare), well maintained gardens (such as a roses garden), a cherry orchard area with some bench swings, amongst other things.

Also, very importantly they had a map with routes marked out for those with a pram or wheelchair. I was so impressed with this! Also, they had a changing couch in the changing room that had a hydraulic lift to it. Fantastic.

Day 7

Heading home!

We had such an amazing day, really fantastic. A real break from everything at home and it felt so relaxing from the very start which was amazing. It was such a shame that it only lasted a week!