Day Out in Cornwall

We both slept well and woke up at an appropriate time (7:00!), which was a nice surprise. Our B&B put on a very nice breakfast with a cold buffet and hot items served at the table. I had some scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, delicious

Our plan was to head west to the far end of Cornwall. Our first stop was the town of St. Ives, a charming seaside place with lots of touristy shops. We had a bit of an adventure finding a parking spot (right by the harbor) and then trying to find our way out of town. At one point we had to back down a small side street that dead-ended. Our GPS was a bit confused in the twisty streets, but we found signs saying "Outbound Traffic" and followed them.

When we arrived, the tide was out, but by the time we got back to our car after walking around, it was coming back in. I enjoyed seeing this woman walking in the water with her dogs, who were enjoying playing.

Low tide at arrival

Incoming tide at departure

Looking up a side street in St. Ives

We took the coastal road from St. Ives to Lands End, even though the fog was so thick that we couldn't see much of anything. In the small villages we passed, many of the houses were so close to the road that I could have easily touched them. At the small town of Trewellard we stopped for petrol. There were two pumps, and the woman tending shop came out to pump it for us.

I pride myself somewhat on being quite knowledgable about geography, but I DIDN"T KNOW that Lands End is not a town! We did get there and enjoyed being at the western-most point of the island. We chatted with the man at the entry booth and he gave us a free parking voucher. He said it was because we had come from so far away. We walked around the buildings a bit -- some of it definitely caters to families on holiday, with attractions such as The King Arthur Adventure and Shaun the Sheep. We went on through to the coast and took a few pictures. Again, it was pretty foggy and misty.

Looking back from the coast to the Lands End Hotel

We toured an interesting display on the End to End -- people who have traveled from John O' Groats (the northernmost point of this island) to Lands End by bicycle or foot. As we were leaving, two bicyclists arrived to a small group greeting them. However, they did not look like they had come all that way.

Our last planned stop for the day was St. Michael's Mount. I've had several family members who have visited it and said it was a must-see. We arrived at the small town of Marazion, the departure point for the Mount, topped by a castle. We stopped at the first carpark, then walked along the coast toward the jetty where the boats depart. (At low tide there is a causeway you can walk to the island, but the tide was high when we were there.) With every intention of going out to the island, in the end we didn't do it. The poor weather and the rough-looking seas, and the fact that we hadn't had lunch yet at nearly 2:00, combined to deter us from going out. Anyway, it was a lovely sight. (We did share our first Cornish pasty for lunch.)

Although we didn't do everything we had hoped to on our first day outing, we had a good day and enjoyed it all. It was good to get back to our room by 4:00 to have some down time before going out to dinner.