Lake District - Nature's Playground

Situated in the northwest corner of England, only 30 miles from Scotland, the Lake District has been poetized by famous writers and dreamt by the lucky few who realize the pure nature beauty. The rugged hills, dotted with sheep and cows, remind those of the iconic English countryside settings. There are many little villages nestled into the foothills surroundin the countless lakes. These villages are completely sustainable and many inhabitants depend on good farming weather, lots of sheep wool, and each other to survive the rural conditions. Our little village owned a pub and bakery and each person contributed to it, either financially or with work, in order to provide a place to come together and provide means for many people. It is a remarkable place - an area most well-known for being nature’s playground.

[quote author="William Wordsworth" source="" ]

“I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills

When all at once I saw a crowd

A host of golden daffodils

Beside the lake beneath the trees

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”[/quote]

[divider class="" ]Planning:

Because of the long commute to the district, we knew that we would have to go on a long weekend. Luckily, the UK has several bank holidays to help us! We decided this as our first big UK travel weekend because we felt like we would need a secular break from city living and all the chaos that comes from moving overseas! It also was the top destination on the 15 most scenic destination in the UK ;).

I researched BnBs by how close they were to the water and found our room! There were other properties closer to the main lake (Windermere), but our Ennderdale Lake appeared very beautiful and was only a 5 minute walk!

AirBnB: $200Gas: $100Activities: $0...Sore legs...

[divider class="" ]Arriving: Car/Train/Fly

There are many ways to get there; however, all involve a car. I debated all the various ways to get there - train to Manchester or Carslie, then rent a car and get there. In the end, we drove our little gokart 5 hours up the M6 to the remote Lake District. Because we were driving up on the bank holiday Friday, we dealt with a lot of traffic! Fortunately, google maps was spot on so we kept driving on small backroads until we hit the M6 and we were near Preston. We stopped for gas and dinner outside Manchester and the voices sounded like a foreign country. It was close to rough gibberish. Ordering my burger felt silly since all I could do was nod my head in response in hopes of getting the correct meal. It was hilarious! We kept driving in the dark slowly getting closer. An important thing to note about the Lake District is it is fairly large so depending where the hotel is means how much dark, back woods driving you have to do. Since we were in the Western district, we had an hour or so of driving in the dark…

Probably one of my favorite memories is Mary Frances navigating me to the BnB with some interesting directions! Since we kept losing Google Maps, our BnB hostess smartly sent us directions beforehand and they were nothing like I have ever used. Go down a winding curve until the green sign with a rose, keep driving past the house with a garden, and my personal favorite - Turn left at the abandoned farmhouse! Of course, these directions are useless when it is so dark outside! Regardless, outside of the bank holiday traffic, we made excellent time to the BnB!

[divider class="" ]Lodging:

Our BnB was such a diamond in the rough! It was an amazing experience! The room overlooked the lake with mountains in the background. We had tea, biscuits, and a very comfy bed waiting for us! Probably the best part was we had a cocker-doodle in the house that wanted to be our best friend!! Our hostess, Nina, prepared a lovely three course breakfast. The first course consisted of locally made fresh bread and jams. The second was a delicious muesli with fresh fruits and berries. Finally, we had the option of fresh meals - I opted for the full English and quite loved it! Our meals each morning were at whatever time we opted to and it was really nice. We did have company, even a fellow American, while we were there and had to make small chit chat. It was a lovely environment!

[divider class="" ]Activities:

The BnB was located in the small village of Ennderdale - population ~300. We were 5 minutes from the lake and it felt like we were located on a private lake! Unlike the other bigger lakes, most of the time we were there, it felt like we were the only people. Obviously, with the Lake District being hilly and full of nature, there was loads of hiking trails and other nature-related activities (kayaking, swimming (burrrrr cold!), and bird watching). We also were not far away from the other “big” cities that had more restaurants, but we liked our little village!

Our first day was mainly soaking in the scenery on a beautiful sunny day!! Nina recommended a hike around the lake as it would only take around 2-3 hours. We took about 5 hours and it was actually 9 miles (according to the iPhone Health app!). It was a day very well spent as we took loads of pictures and practiced our photography skills on Mary Frances’ new camera. Plus, we were grateful that we arrived on Friday night and had the whole (and only) sunny day to explore! On Sunday, we lounged and recovered from our hike and explore some stone ruins near Kendall. We drove around the town as well, and saw the horde of bank holiday tourists. We decided to go back to our little village…. Of course, we had to try out the local community owned and operated bakery! My oh my, those baked goods were delicious. All the farmer’s wives contributed to the store and wow it was delicious!

[divider class="" ]Food:

[quote author="Julia Child" source="" ]“People who love to eat are always the best people."[/quote]By far, we had the best breakfast. The porridge or muesli was a delicious and fresh start to the day. With the English breakfast, it provided much sustenance for the day! For dinner, my meal of a tasty lamp chop with yummy chips! It is typical English pub fare, but very good!

[divider class="" ]Overall:

[highlight style="light" ]In short, the Lake District lived up to the reputation as nature’s playground. There are so many fun, outdoor activities and even if you did not want to participate, reading a good book and glancing up at the lake views are worth the trouble.[/highlight]

[divider class="" ]The UnChartered 13:

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