Our Trip to England - Day 4 (part 2)

This year Alex and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. We had originally planned to return to South Carolina where we were married, but since we were going to England our plans changed. Grandpa and Grandma agreed to watch the girls while we took a night to ourselves. The taxi picked us up from the flat late afternoon and took us to a place called Middlethorpe Hall. It is a country house built in 1699 that was restored to serve as a hotel. It sits on 20 acres of its own gardens and parkland. It reminded me of something I would picture reading a Jane Austin novel.



Once we arrived and checked in, we took a long walk around the grounds. It was such a beautiful place. These pictures were taken during our walk.




The hedge was 10 to 12 feet tall.


This picture is of an apple tree. It was interesting how it was "trained" to grow. This section of garden was full of apple trees all grown in this manner.


After our walk, we had some time before our dinner reservation, so we headed back to the Shambles to do a little shopping. Alex needed a dinner shirt, since there was a dress code for the restaurant. We then returned to Middlethorpe to get ready for dinner. We began with before dinner drinks in the drawing room.

During this time we also looked at the menu and chose our first and second courses for dinner. We were then led into the dining room and enjoyed a very quiet and romantic 3-course dinner that was wonderful. We both had the filet mignon and being pregnant I had mine cooked well-done and was still able to cut it with a butter knife. Our dessert course was equally amazing and I think we both agreed we had the best cheesecake we have ever tasted. All in all, our 2 hour dinner was very enjoyable and relaxing. The next morning we had a wonderful traditional English breakfast before heading back to the flat and our kiddos. It was an amazing little get-a-way and the best night of sleep we had the entire trip.