Cornwall's Clotted Cream Arteries

Over the long Easter weekend, we packed into the Volvo and set out for a four day, three night tour of southwest England. Our trip took us through the county of Somerset, then Devon, to the end of the island in Cornwall and back again. Winding roads, single track lanes, and impossibly crooked roads meant that getting around here, like the rest of England, takes much longer than the navigation system in the car can fathom.

Here is a map showing our route (pan and zoom):


View Tatties and Neeps in a larger map

Since our time in England is short, we wanted to get somewhere we were afraid we would never get back to. All of the travel books remark on the climate of this chunk of England that juts out into the warm air of the Gulf Stream and has an (almost) tropical feel with palms scattered about. The area is known for some signature tastes: seafood, pasties, clotted cream, cream teas, ice cream, fudge -- most of it heart-clogging.

Day 1: Hereford to St Ives via Padstow

Stormy weather followed our drive into Padstow -- jokingly known as Padstein since the celebrity chef Rick Stein has opened four restaurants, a deli, a cafe, 40-room hotel, and a cooking school here. After parking in the most ignorantly cramped car park I have ever seen (it took a 10-point turn to fit into the spot and there was no way the guy in the Land Rover next to me was going to get his door open.) We had reservations for a seaside lunch at the simply named, "The Seafood Restaurant" -- Stein's flagship restaurant. Perfectly cooked seafood was outmatched by so-so accompanying flavors and exorbitant prices. We didn't hang around Padstow -- the wind was so strong that neither man nor dog could handle the sand getting whipped into our faces. I was happy to leave -- the place surprisingly oozed "tourist trap" and "irritated locals".

St Ives was better. We had booked a cottage at the decent Garrack Hotel for the night and it had lots of grass for the dog to explore. From our room, we had a great view of the coast and the town. That night was dinner in town at the funky St Andrews St Bistro where I had pork belly (again) and it was the best I've had yet.

Day 2: St Ives to Penzance via Lands End


In the morning, the weather had cleared and the sun was warming things up. We toured the town and visited the Tate St Ives -- a little sister to the Tate Museum of Modern Art in London. The coastal main street of St Ives was packed with chippies, ice cream shops, fudge peddlers, and about a million Easter tourists. Boo had about as much fun as a dog can have on the beach here. A pasty and some fish and chips for lunch and then we were on our way to Land's End.

I hadn't done my homework or maybe I wouldn't have been as shocked to see that Land's End was a giant gaudy theme park venue, featuring things like Dr. Who Up Close. We skipped all that to get to the coast line behind the eye-sore buildings. This is the westernest most tip of southern England. The rugged cliff walks made for some great views and the dog enjoyed the abundant rabbit "kibble".

Next stop was Minack Theater, a open-air theater built into the side of a cliff over the ocean. It is used for active productions even now -- one local told me that they perform in all but the nastiest weather. We didin't have time for a show in our schedule but they were prepping for the night's show while we walked around.

Last stop for the day was the Abbey Hotel in Penzance -- highly recommended. The place is loaded with character (windy stairs, a mix of modern and old, and rich colors) and the staff was great. We had the best meal of the trip by far at the newly opened dining room of the hotel -- a boudin noir (black/blood pudding) ravioli was one of the highlights. My dessert -- a "deconstructed pina colada" -- was in the top three best desserts I have ever had.

Day 3: Penzance to Lynmouth via the Eden Project

Saturday morning found us on our way to nearby Marazion to hike across the low-tide causeway to St Michael's Mount, a part-time island that is home to a castle and chapel. It is historically the twin of Mont Saint Michel in Normandy, France. It was also closed on Saturdays -- allowing us to walk up to the base of the hill but no further.


Next stop was the ambitious Eden Project outside of St. Austell -- a place I have wanted to visit since we moved to the UK. In the bottom of an old clay pit, two 'biomes' have been built, one of which is the largest greenhouse in the world. The biomes, one dedicated to recreating a rainforest and the other to a Mediterranean climate, are intended to provide an educational view into the importance of these climates and how what we do as humans to interact with them. The whole place is a smart, eye-opening look into things the average person doesn't think about every day.

From here, it was the neverending drive to perfectly-placed Lynmouth. Lynmouth sits directly on the coastline of north Devon, on a gorge splitting a steep hill. The hill to cruise into the tiny town was a 25% grade -- you could smell the burning brakes of all the cars just arrived into town. Another cottage was our home for the night, this time it was Shelley's Cottage -- part of the Rising Sun Hotel. The cottage is famous for the supposed stay by Percy Bysshe Shelley (famous poet) for his honeymoon in 1812. The history of the place was great but I think the couch and bedding has needed replaced since Shelley was there.

Day 4: Heading Home!

On Sunday, we had breakfast brought to the 'cottage' -- awful! Greasy fried eggs on top of toast that had been -- no kidding here -- deep-fried in what tasted like the oil from last night's fish fry. Ewwwwww. We then spent an hour or so exploring the shops and streets (all two of them) of Lynmouth. We finally tried real Cornish ice cream -- I 'supersized' mine by getting a dollop of real Cornish Clotted Cream on top. Gross. Imagine a spoon of creamy butter on top of your ice cream. We set out of town across the north coast of Devon and back to the M5 to home.



Cheers!