Across the Pennines to Lytham St Annes – The Gordon’s road trip (part two)

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After we’d left Durham Cathedral, we were facing a drive over the Pennines to Lytham St Annes.

To be honest, I was quite excited. My mother came from Liverpool, and I grew up hearing tales of how she went over the Pennines (I’m assuming on a coach or a bus) to Blackpool. Considering we’d had glorious weather in Durham, I wasn’t expecting our drive over the Pennines to be undertaken in heavy rain, mist and fog, so we couldn’t really see where we were going. It turns out we were on the A66 and the M6 – but it still felt Pennine-ish.

We stopped a couple of times and decided to have a McDonald’s – something we very rarely do – sitting outside in a shelter next to a dried-up Cheeseburger. I certainly added to the ambience by squirting tomato ketchup from inside the burger all down my dress…

By the time we drove onto the seafront at Lytham, the sun was shining, the ketchup had dried, and I was singing “I can see the sea”.

We were booked into the Offshore, an inn that has a truly fabulous position on the sea front. Part of the Inn Collection Group, Offshore is very dog-friendly with Rollo’s favourite Sir Woofchester doggy treats on sale in the bar. Naturally, Rollo stopped at the counter’s big treat jar while we checked in. And yes, that handsome face was offered a handful of treats.

Upstairs in our first-floor seafront spacious room, I did the Four in a Bed thing and sprawled out on the giant six-foot bed, proclaiming it “perfect”.

It was too late for lunch, and too early for dinner, so we did the only thing possible: we walked along the sea front in search of ice cream.