Vertical Food and Parakeets

 

Last weekend was Gainsborough beer festival.  I went for two days 

I was meant to be staying at the Travelodge, but they had water issues when I arrived, so I booked some rooms above a pub very nearby.  I  was supposedly one of the roughest pubs in Gainsborough, and my friends were a little concerned. But there was no trouble.

I've left them a nice review on TripAdvisor.

The festival was at Gainsborough Old Hall ( https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/gainsborough-old-hall/ )

I was pre-warned the main part would be unheated, so I needed to dress warm.

Day 1 - Friday

I decided on a halter neck peacock print dress, with my new DM's and a big fluffy green coat I got at a charity shop in Lancaster the previous month. I also had my steampunk clock handbag too.  

Got there by lunchtime at Friday, and had a beer at the festival, then had to sort out alternative accommodation with a quick Google, as my friends had told me about the hotel issues.

I had a KFC while I waiting to check in at the pub. Then back out to the beer festival.  We spent the rest of the afternoon drinking, I was mainly on stouts and porters, as my tummy seems to deal with these better than fizzy IPA's.

We ate at 'The Clockhouse' where I ordered a hanging Kebab, which was different - fairly nice, I enjoyed posing with it as much as eating it. 

We tried to get back into the beer festival, but there was a limit of 200 people in the venue, and a queue had formed, so we went to a pub nearby, had one in there, then headed back to find the queue gone.

We left when they chucked us out at 10:30pm :)

Getting to my room at the pub was uneventful as there was a separate entrance I had been given a key to, it was very lively in the bar so wouldn't have wanted to go in that way.

Day 2 - Saturday 

We were aiming to meet for breakfast at a café at 9am.  I hadn't slept that well - not due to the hotel, they had left me earplugs.  I had a few cups of tea while plastering my face, and that revived me. 

I ended up following a friend at a distance, I didn't feel confident at shouting in my manly voice to attract their attention.  

The breakfast was really nice, the sausages were locally produced and the best I've had in a long time. Got a nice photo of us by the river after breakfast. 

On the way back to the hotel, we passed through the market square where

there were people fundraising for the poppy appeal.  I got a fab selfie with a Parakeet while there :)

The festival didn't start until midday, and I had offered a room to Cindy as she had not intended to stay the Saturday, but I had a twin room and nobody using the other bed, so had offered it to her.

So we got her bags from the Travelodge, then decided to go around town and look  for bargains in the charity shops. I was getting quite a few nice comments about my handbag around town which I enjoyed :)

I had been a bit cold the previous day, so I was on the look out for a hat, and found a sort of  Russian looking one that I really liked the look of. So bought that, and also a necklace too.

Cindy and myself had a drink in the pub we were staying at, which wasn't that crowded during the day - there were a few people still dressed in uniform for the vintage fundraising going on in the square. Felt safe and friendly enough in there.

We headed to the beer festival shortly after.  I was on cider for most of the day, but was flagging a little in the afternoon, and had a few more teas.  Also some sausage rolls and crisps, as we didn't really do lunch. I had a fab Ginger beer - it was very strong tasting, nobody else liked it.  

We went for a Pizza at Prezzo's around 6ish, which I was most glad of.  Then to a pub for a final drink after that.  I think we were back in the hotel for 9pm , we had all run out of steam by then. 

Day 3 - Sunday

I had slept a lot better thankfully, but we were still up fairly early.  I had a shower and got dressed and packed, then headed to the car with my friend. My plan was to drive us both just around the corner to the shopping centre, where I could charge the car, and we could have breakfast in one of the cafes.

Turns out only Greggs was open, so that limited the choice, but we had a nice bacon roll each, and a hot drink.

I headed home after saying my goodbyes to my friend - it was a very foggy return journey, but no issues. I was home for 10:30am.  Spent the rest of the day dressed and catching up on a bit of housework.

All in all a very nice weekend, and it did help chase some of my post LFF blues away ! - This is likely to be the last Beer festival for a while, so glad it was a good one.