North Yorkshire

If a vacation day happens, but no one is there to photograph it, does it really count? Sadly, Mike put this to the test on our beautiful day in North Yorkshire, as his camera battery was dead. As you can see, we weren't completely without the ability to take pictures, as we had Camille's point-and-shoot and our camera phones. Still, Mike had to fight off a little dark cloud from ruining his day, imagining all the pictures he'd like to be taking.

Starting in Farndale there is a famous walk that goes along the Dove river where wild daffodils bloom in the spring. We timed it just right to catch the flowers in bloom.

The weather was a little misty and wet, which I decided might have been a blessing - we had the trail to ourselves for much of the time.

Somehow, the stars must have been in perfect alignment, for our girls were completely in the spirit of going for a country walk. These are the sort of fun family times we imagine we should have but generally don't, as either one will want to make sure we are all aware how much she dislikes walking or our girls have flatly refused to come at all. But how fun to have cheerful, enthusiastic girls along!

Misty and foggy Yorkshire. It's simply beautiful driving through the North York Moors National Park.

Cute little Yorkshire village.

And this is quite close to how I imagined the moors from reading my English novels as a girl.

You could really devote a full day, or really weeks, to walking in Yorkshire; however, we didn't want to test our girls' patience. On to our next destination - the seaside town of Whitby.

Whitby has several famous fish and chips shops. I do believe there is a world of difference between the best fish and chips places and the fish and chips you can get on every corner anywhere. We tried out Quayside and really enjoyed them. But Anya stuck with a good ol' American hotdog.

Whitby is filled with cute streets and shops.

 Walking the hill up to Whitby Abbey.

The town of Whitby is featured in the novel Dracula. Can you see why Bram Stoker was inspired by Whitby? Here's a selection from the novel: "Right over the town is the ruin of Whitby Abbey...It is a most nobel ruin, of immense size, and full of beautiful and romantic bits." 

Here's where Mike was really lamenting not having his camera. You'll just have to trust him, that with his proper camera, his photos would be wonderful.

But camera or no camera, we had the most beautiful day in North Yorkshire.