Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside.
Posted by:
Skiffle (---.cache.pol.co.uk)
Date: June 27, 2003 11:48PM
I've just been catching up with all the posts that have appeared while I've been away in Blackpool with my friend, Gary. We stayed in a little B&B that was so quiet, we were offered the choice of two twin rooms when we arrived. It was a very nice place, very informal and friendly. The landlady seemed to spend most of her time sitting outside improving her impressive sun tan. Thought at first that our bathroom sink was black, then found it was a deep Imperial purple !
On our first evening, we ate at Mr Chips - '100% halal, 50 seats, toilets, prayer room.'
Our first full day we spent at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (amusement park). We were pleased to find that as high season doesn't start till July, and we were there midweek, we could get one-day unlimited ride wristbands for £15 ! Worth every last penny, believe me. Blackpool has some of the biggest, oldest and rarest rollercoasters in the world. As the Pleasure Beach is built within a confined site, several of the rides intertwine, which makes life interesting. I took my glasses off for some of them; they might have been safe, but I didn't want to take the chance of losing them, doing 65 mph down the Pepsi Max Big One.
The Valhalla ride has a warning: You will get wet, you might get soaked.
As it was a sunny day, Gary and I decided not to buy disposable plastic capes. We did get soaked and came out laughing. The shop by the ride has a people dryer, at £1 a go, but we headed off to the loos and spent time getting dry under the hot air hand driers. After ten minutes, I was no longer cold and wet, merely warm and clammy. The sun dried me off nicely.
As Gary agreed to go on the Big One with me, I had to go on the Ice Blast with him. It's one of those vertical things, with seats round it, that shoots you rapidly up into the air. I really didn't want to go on it in the morning, but after having trying all sorts of other terrifying things during the day, I gave in. It was fun ! I was shouting 'Wheeeeee !' as we rocketed upwards. In fact I would have liked another go, but the place was closing by then.
On the second day, we decided to treat ourselves and hire a carriage to take us to Blackpool Tower (similar to the Eiffel tower). It was rather wonderful sitting back in an open landau as Bess trotted steadily along the prom. I had to restrain my urge to practice the royal wave. (which is not much like a Mexican wave - in case any non-Brits were wondering)
We went right up the tower, and I did the Walk Of Faith. This is a thick sheet of glass set in the floor of the tower balcony. You can stand on it and look down a *looooong* way to the ground below. Gary hopped over the corner. I was a little nervous at first, but I wanted Gary to take a photo of me standing on it, and what with waiting for other people to get out of the way, and then for Gary to work out whether my camera had taken the shot or not, I entirely forgot that there was nothing but 2" of glass between me and a lot of air.
We visited the aquarium in the tower complex - I want sea-horses ! And then saw the (non-animal) circus. Not as good as last year's show, but I've never seen anyone doing the can-can on a tightrope before. The Chinese acrobats were fantastic too.
Found that Blackpool tourist shops sell the oddest mix of things: party wigs, sticks of rock, BB guns and cannabis paraphanalia seemed to be a popular combination.......!
We had a great time, even though the exhaust fell off Gary's car on the way back - he tied it back on with some wire. I might have recovered by next week.