Northumberland

My fiancee had two days off back to back so we e took a trip to the Northeast coast. It took a couple of hours to get there, but well worth it. On our first day we stopped in Seahouses, a little seaside village, but the wind was too much for the tour boat operators. So we continued North through Bamburgh onto The Holy Island of Lindisfarne. Before crossing the causeway (which has limited cross times due to tidal fluctuations much greater than I am used to in Florida) we stopped at the Barn at Beal. This place was fabulous. We had fish-n-chips in view of the North Sea. It was very nice. Then we stopped at the Bird of Prey Center. Although we entered near the end of the day, the staff was excellent and was very pleased to be in the company of animal people again, even if only for an hour or so. We then crossed the causeway, which looked more desert like than waterway, to Lindisfarne. After parking up we walked to the Castle of Lindisfarne. The castles in this part of England were built more for military defense than royal decadence. You can see why this island was picked for such defenses. The views into the bay and back towards the mainland were phenomenal. They would have been able to see the Scotts coming from miles away if they had weather like ours. After the castle we had a few hours before the the causeway would be too wet to cross so we walked through the Village of Lindsfarne to the new church and the old priory. Saint Aiden is the patron saint of the island for he brought Christianity here and set up a priory in the early 7th century. We made it off the Island with plenty of time to spare, but the landscape had changed to that of a wetlands from a desert. You could see why they do not keep it open around the clock. As we continued north a bit further to Berwick upon Tweed picturesque views of quintessential English countrysides were plentiful. We walked around the walls of Berwick and out to the lighthouse before choosing a bed and breakfast to spend the night. From here I was able to Skype my one year old nephew on his birthday and sing Happy Birthday from 4ooo miles away. The next day we chose to head back to Seahouses for another attempt to take a boat out to the Farne Islands and we had success. The "Glad Tidings III" was our vessel for our 2.5 hour tour of the bird island sanctuaries and seal colony. We had the opportunity to explore one of the islands along well marked pathways. By staying along the marked paths, the birds were familiar with people being on the island and continued nesting behavior as normal when people were around. They even have a blog which i follow giving updates of the Islands activities. Good Stuff My fiancee picked a great location for our "weekend" getaway in the middle of the week. If we lived closer I would volunteer with the National Trust on the Farne Islands!! Northumberland is a must see for any animal lover visiting the UK!! It was a nice change of pace from village life.