Moonfleet Manor!

So off we headed to Waterloo Station on Friday morning – en route to Weymouth in Dorset, the southwest coast (English Channel). (You’ll see plenty of Weymouth in a couple of years as it will host the Olympic 2010 sailing events.) The area is agrarian and tourism-driven, we were told, with the population swelling to extremes in the summer months.

After a relaxing 2 ¾ hour train ride we pulled in and cabbed it down windy streets and roads, past lovely brick buildings and patches of green mingled with coastal scenes. Our hotel was down an even narrower country lane, right on the sea. En route we passed some farms, many horse riders and plenty of horses and ponies milling about in verdant green fields (I continue to be amazed at how much green is in England).

A traditional English building, the lovely stately inn had a big foyer with a dozen pair of wellies off left for guest use. A dog was hanging about near reception – we later learned he’s the Moonfleet Dog, name of Snoopy. He was a big hit with the kids.

After ditching our luggage we passed through 3 lounges with plenty of comfy sofas, chairs, card tables and coffee tables loaded with magazines and newspapers, fireplaces…and wound our way to the restaurant. It was bright and cheery, with big windows featuring great views of the sea and countryside.

Our lunch was sandwiches, eggs, pizza – all good – then we headed off to a large indoor play area where Claire and Ava made use of the trampoline and other toys.

Eventually we checked into our room, then headed to the pool. After plenty of splashing/being splashed, I stopped into the sauna to warm up and dry off, then back to Huntington and Harlyn (love how they name rooms in these character-filled inns).
Great fun to see how these places are decorated – lots of old photos, china, bear skins and the like mounted on the walls.

After collapsing for a bit we headed down to the lounge to await our dinner call. The process here is to have a drink, place the food order and wait to be invited to sup. No complaints – nice fireplace to cozy to up and plenty of headlines to glance over.

Our food was good – Joe’s sweet potato soup was superb – my crabcake and pork belly were fine. But my trio of chocolate was superb!!! Particularly the chocolate soufflé.

Saturday dawned gorgeous – blue sky and sunny. Both Joe and I took walks. The countryside screams James Herriott – large green patches over gentle hills, farm houses here and there. The dog accompanied me as we trudged along the water and field’s edge. Claire of course loved hearing the dog went along; she’s convinced we’ll have a dog as soon as I am won over with dog love.

Lovely way to start the day – exploring a gorgeous area on a gorgeous morning.
I then enjoyed a cappuccino and the paper while Joe wandered.

Then down to a noisy, cheerful buffet. Many families were at Moonfleet – very popular with the toddler crowd.

The food: typical British breakfast – bacon, sausages (really good ones, I might add), hashbrowns, eggs, roasted tomatoes, baked beans, toast.

From breakfast I headed off to a 10 a.m. massage, which was delightful. My back and neck melted. I loved that half coma state massage delivers me into. Pity the poor souls who don’t like to be touched.

After I grudgingly left the table I found Joe and company ready to go to Monkey World:

Set amongst the woodland of Dorset lays 65 acres of sanctuary for over 230 primates. Monkey World was set up in 1987 by Jim Cronin to provide abused Spanish beach chimps with a permanent, stable home. Today Monkey World works in conjunction with foreign governments from all over the world to stop the illegal smuggling of apes out of Africa and Asia. At the park visitors can see more than 230 primates of 15 different species.

We had a great few hours there – a gorgeous day to wander through the place, which is quite large, with a wide array of indoor/outdoor facilities for primates. Big and small, busy and lazy, climbing and playing, relaxing and people-watching, they were fun to read about and observe. Some have horrid pasts – cigarette burn scars, prior addictions to valium and other drugs, inability to parent because they’d never been nurtured, etc.

Here they seem happy and according to the anecdotes about them, most have learned how to relate to their species again, after having been caged or used by humans in inhumane ways.

The park has playground areas and a nature walk interspersed throughout, so it was particularly fun for the kids. Great climbing facilities!

We eventually grabbed a late lunch of typical fast food stuff, then hit the gift shop and took our cab back to the hotel. Great views of the area on the return drive.

Back at Moonfleet we grabbed suits and hit the pool. Once everyone was pooled out, I showered the kids up, then hit the sauna. LOVE LOVE LOVE saunas.

We had a nice break before dinner, enjoyed drinks by the fire again, and this time dinner was exemplary. I had an amazing goat cheese and beet tart (again, pity the poor souls who don’t like beets) and a lovely mullet fish dish served with chorizo and gnocchi.

Joe had a duck appetizer and lamb dish which he seemed to enjoy, Ava had her pasta and Claire, chicken, mash and beans.

For dessert I had a simply amazing warm gingerbread pudding. Kids had ice cream. We all fell into bed, tired, full and happy.

Sunday -- We woke up to rain but by the time I got moving downstairs for coffee the skies had cleared and a lovely day embarked.

I borrowed a pair of wellies and squished through mud in the pastures around the hotel. Again, great views and good exercise, hefting those mud-caked willies. Joe did some wellie-hiking, too, then we enjoyed another round of really good sausages at breakfast.

Ava and I then hit the creche, where she made a mask, and Joe and Claire put some time in at the big play area for more trampoline and table tennis.

In no time it was check out and off we went to the train station for a relaxing trip home and tomorrow, back to school!