The seaside

I felt like writing a quick travel post for this week’s blog post, Matt and I have been lucky enough to have travelled a lot this year! I wanted to document the experiences 💖 We don’t travel in the UK as much as we should, so this was a lovely seaside weekend to see something a bit different to the day-to-day.

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A few weekends ago, Matt and I went decided to spend the weekend away from Leeds and do something different. Since the weather has been lovely over the last few weeks, we booked a train to Blackpool and stayed the weekend. Matt also had a 2-day hotel voucher he got for his birthday, so accommodation was pretty much covered.

For those that don’t know:

Blackpool is a seaside resort on the Irish Sea coast of England. It’s known for Blackpool Pleasure Beach, an old-school amusement park with vintage wooden roller coasters. Built in 1894, the landmark Blackpool Tower houses a circus, a glass viewing platform and the Tower Ballroom, where dancers twirl to the music of a Wurlitzer organ. Blackpool Illuminations is an annual light show along the Promenade.

We took the train from Leeds to Blackpool after work. Although it was initially busy (which was expected from a Friday), the closer we got to the seaside, the quieter it got. 🙈 It took just about 2 hours to get there! The weather looked like it wasn’t going to be great that weekend, but we tried to be optimistic! After all, time away from the routine is always going to be beneficial.

When we arrived, we checked into the hotel then headed out for dinner. Just around the corner from our hotel was a Thai restaurant called Boonnak – the food (although it seemed like it took forever to arrive) was fantastic and needed for both of us!

Blackpool Beach and Piers

The next day we headed to Blackpool Beach and took a morning walk around the piers. We walked all the way to Pleasure Beach (an amusement park type thing) and back. The weather wasn’t too bad as well – it actually was clear blue skies and sunshine, but with strong winds!

There are so much rides, arcades, food places and other entertainment areas up and down the piers – we didn’t go on any, but it was still fun to walk around.

Walking down the beach reminded me of the summers I used to spend with my family. Growing up, we used to visit several different beaches in the UK. Back then, the beaches seemed a lot bigger and felt more of an adventure than it did when Matt and I visited. But hey, I guess that is part of getting older. 😉

Madame Tussauds

We both wanted to make the most out of the weekend, so actually ended up buying a pass that allowed us to go to two different attractions of our choice. The first one we went to was Madame Tussauds! It was my first time going to one ever and I actually ended up really enjoying seeing wax figures of singers, actresses, and other famous people. Although they weren’t real, I was as excited as I would have been if they were. 😂

Sea Life Centre

Next up was the sea life centre. This was nostalgic for me because as a little girl, my parents used to take me to different aquariums just like this one! It was fun to walk around, and look at all the animals that live in the sea. There were some pretty cool sharks (including some lemon sharks that Matt and I saw back in February in our adventure in Sal!)

The Gym

I’m not that bothered about getting a workout in when I’m out and about. But we did have some time to kill before our train back to Leeds on Sunday, so we spent the morning working out.

I always find it super to go to different gyms and seeing all the different equipment! In this case, the gym in Blackpool had a calf machine that I’ve never seen before – it looked so much better than the ones at my home gym.

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Adventures in the UK

Overall, it was a fun weekend that reminded me that not all adventures and travel experiences have to happen away from the UK. We both left feeling surprisingly calm and refreshed – maybe it was being by the sea. 🤷🏻‍♀️

There are so many wonderful places in the UK that I still haven’t seen but would love to visit! I think my interrail trip very much inspired train travel, and I hope that in the future I will do more of it!