After the first two days of our holiday the weather turned not just warm but hot at times, so there were plenty of opportunities to spend lots of time outside.
How great is this sign on the caravan park next to where we stayed? I love that the caravan is being towed by the Mablethorpe Mermaid:
All the owls were out that day and I particularly liked this snowy owl's expression:
A pig and a guinea pig!
And seals of course. These baby seals were in the seal house and will be released back into the wild when they're strong enough:
We couldn't have a holiday in Mablethorpe without going to the Mablethorpe Seal Sanctuary and Wildlife Centre. It's a place that started out as a labour of love by the owners, and I think it still is. As well as rescuing a releasing seals they also have long-term seal residents and many animals resued locally and from other zoos that have close.
This terrapin didn't know what to make of Ford:
Colin met a lovely goat that enjoyed several log head rubs:
Having admired all the animals and eaten out sandwiches whilst watching frolicking seals, we walked along the golden beach to Mablethorpe, via Gnomesville, another labour of love. Ford was, naturally, very impressed and gave it the thumbs up:
It was time for refreshment by the time we reached the town. We found a charming and cosy place for coffee and cake called The Blitz Tearoom. The cakes were generous and good, and the decor was fascinating. Lots of vintage furniture, ornaments, pictures and knick knacks.
Revived, we spent some of our cake energy at an amusement arcade, where we shoved money into the 2p machines, went on a rollercoaster simulation and saw this very impressive pinball machine themed around 'Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory':
On Thursday the weather was glorious; the perfect weather for a trip to Gibralter Point National Nature Reserve. My word, what a stunning place. We drove through Skegness, out along the side of a golf course then reached the nature reserve which was all big skies, open land and wild beach.
There's a welcoming visitor centre, shop and cafe with a rooftop viewing area where you get excellent views across the Wash. The cafe serves excellent coffee and the see through panels around the outdoor seating area made the most of those spectacular views.
After a good walk on the beach we went back to Skegness after that for some more pier wandering, bingo and gluten free seaside doughnuts.
In the evening we sat on the beach with a couple of nice drinks then went back to the caravan for a buffet super - which I think will be a new last day of the holiday tradition.
On Friday it was time to go home, so we packed up the extra gnomes I'd made that week...
...and drove to Cleethorpes for some final seaside time.
It was a really excellent holiday, in fact before leaving we booked our return trip for September 2022!