As per, I had done a little research on where I wanted to eat, so before we even got to the hotel, we visited 'Coast Café Bar' which was actually located on a caravan site, very near to the cliffs of Whitby. I was lured in by their pretty summer gardens, the set up reminded me of somewhere abroad, however when we visited, some of the more comfy couches were still covered, and a few dogs were there (with their owners of course) so we opted to eat inside instead. The food was yummy, cooked from scratch and the whole place had a definite seaside vibe to it.
Taking the short drive to our hotel, we checked in then went for a wander down to the harbor. Because we'd ate at an awkward time we weren't really ready for tea, so stocked up on snacks and drinks from a shop and spent the evening in the hotel watching TV.
The following day was my birthday, so after opening up cards and presents we headed round the corner to a place called 'Cranberry Swamp' and had THE best eggs benedict known to man. I wouldn't shut up about how delicious that bloody breakfast was! The interior of the restaurant was really quirky too, which always gets a thumbs up from me! Tummies full, we headed to Whitby train station and caught a vintage steam train to Goathland, which was about a 50 min train drive away. The ride up there was lovely, the scenery into the moors was great, so many hills and cute little streams and waterfalls.
Arriving at Goathland station (Where Harry Potter was filmed) we took a stroll through the cute village (also where Heartbeat was filmed), switched my ballerina shoes to trainers (so not me!) and went on a bit of a hike until we found Mallyan Spout waterfall. This consisted of climbing over a few huge rocks in the stream, but it was fun! However the uphill trek was not, and I didn't realize how unfit I was!
Reaching the top, we went into a local café and had tea and cake. The plan was to have afternoon tea but we wanted to catch the earlier train back, so I just had to settle for cake! Back in Whitby we looked around a few shops before heading back to the hotel for some downtime.
I wasn't really sure what I wanted for tea that night, so we booked a last minute reservation at Magpies Fish & Chip Restaurant, which always has a huge queue outside every time we walk past, so it only meant good things. 4 hours later and we saw ourselves sat at a table there, indulging in some traditional fish & chips.
We did plan on ending the night by heading onto a bar and having a cocktail (it was my birthday, after all!) but I noticed Whitby lacked modern bars, and the very few that were available, their cocktail prices were ridiculously expensive, so we thought better of it and headed back.
Check out morning came, so we packed up the car, parked up at Whitby harbor and went on a boat ride (£3 for 20 minutes.. bargain!). This definitely woke me up as it got pretty blustery out on the open sea.. thank god I had a scarf on me that I then used as a blanket!
Time up in Whitby, we then began to make the drive home, stopping at Monks Cross Shopping Outlet in York - I'd never heard of this before but they'd just had a Primark built only a week prior, so I definitely wanted to visit! I was pretty impressed with the amount of shops on offer and may have made a few purchases!
All in all, a very different birthday weekend to the city breaks I normally opt for, but it definitely made a nice change.
