last month i had the absolute pleasure of escaping to the seaside for a beautifully blue weekend in one of the uk's prettiest towns, appledore. bex and i jumped on the train to bristol, picked up a car there and then drove a few hours west until we hit devon's north coast - a part of the country i hadn't had the opportunity to explore before then, but somewhere that had been on my list for the longest time. mainly because of scones, if i'm honest, but once there it became obvious i'd underestimated the west country.
the narrow, cobbled lanes were lined with multicoloured doors and windows, and overhanging flowers from baskets and window boxes and every other kind of flower vessel you can imagine. it was only the first weekend of spring, but man, were those flowers a-bloomin'. the colour was pouring out of every corner, around every corner, in every corner. likely aided by the fact the sky was a pristine shade of blue, with not a single cloud in the sky too. the only annoying thing? it was too sunny, and caused shadows to dance in every street. shadows that played havoc with every. single. selfie i tried to take. sigh.
the scones were pretty decent too. it seems like this has been the year to shape my palate preferences, as before now i've never been a fruity-scone kind of gal. i've always liked my scones plain - or cheesey, but never, ever fruity. but then i didn't have the choice at one afternoon tea in derby, and the rest is history - i'm a fruity scone gal now. what i'm not though, is a devonshire tea gal, because those fools build their scones cream-first. cream first! the monsters! though my taste in scones may have changed, i'm committed to the jam-first life.
the other bonus about the west coast? the ice cream. at one point - when we had run out of cash (who even carries cash anymore anyway?) and the closest atm was like, 12 miles away. there was an adorable retro ice-cream van on the westward ho! beachfront that we wanted to buy a cone from, but couldn't, so when we made it back to appledore and saw another of the same vans, we made a beeline for the closest shop that would do cash-back so that we could finally get our fill. and was it worth the effort? good lord, yes it was. when in doubt, always order the salted caramel.
appledore was pretty enough, but also super close to similarly-picturesque towns, which made the weekend even more exciting. we jumped in the car and drove no more than 20 minutes down the road, and ended up in the quaint, harbour-side village of clovelly. privately owned and totally car-free (and also atm-free, so take cash), it was the perfect place to visit to just totally relax, sunbathe, and take in the gorgeous surroundings. until it was time to walk back up to the car park, that is.
all in all, north devon really blew my mind. could have been because of the weather, could have been because of the plethora of dog-friendly restaurants and cafes, could have been because of the fresh air and clotted cream filling my lungs and belly, but whatever the case, i'll be back. i'll definitely be back.
