Our journey to York ran smoothly despite experiencing some erratic drivers along the various motorways. When it was time for lunch we stopped at Woodall services with its never endimg walkway to reach Waitrose on the opposite side of the road. In Waitrose we picked up sandwiches for our in-car picnic.

Comfortably replete we continued our journey to York where we parked in the hotel car park and checked in before heading into York. We visited Cliffords Tower which has recently undergone some changes that allow visitors more open access to the tower. The transformation is amazing and I would recommend the Tower to anyone who visits York. After the lofty heights of the Tower we visited the nearby York Army Museum which displays the history of both the Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire and the Royal Dragoon Guards in joint chronological order.

It was now time for afternoon refreshments so we stopped off at Fenwick’s where I chose Elderflower Presse and refrained from indulging in one of the ‘naughty cakes’.

By the time we got back to the hotel our room was ready so we collected the key and unloaded our car. The room was fantastic and there were several complimentary drinks, including a bottle of wine, for us to enjoy during our stay.

We had plenty of time to chill out in our gorgeous room before it was time to dine in the Olive Tree which is situated next to Clifford’s Tower. There had been an incident earlier in the evening which meant that part of the restaurant had been taped off until the police arrived to access the situation. The service was good and our meals were enjoyable but not gourmet.

After dining we headed back towards the hotel expecting to stop off at a pub along the way. Unfortunately all the famous pubs had bouncers on the door which wasn’t very inviting so we settled on a pub nearer to the hotel. I found a seat, not very comfortable, whilst Mr C ordered drinks at the bar. Some time later Mr C came back without drinks… The service was too slow.

We found a pub that was almost next door to the hotel. The comfortable laid back atmosphere was wonderful.

My kitchen is on it’s last legs and needs replacing before it falls apart completely.  On the morning of my departure to York for my weekend away with family, the kitchen fitters arrived at 8am to assess the situation.  They only stayed for about 20 minutes which meant a nice early start to the journey because there was no point in hanging around after they had left.  The further north we got the more it seemed that autumn had set in and there were some glorious coloured leaves on the trees.

We all arrived in York in time for lunch, so we booked into the hotel but left the bags in the car and headed into the city.  After lunch we visited the Yorvik Centre and then wandered around the the town before heading back to the hotel to find our rooms and empty our cases.  The hotel was very busy over the weekend and there was a shortage of single rooms so Mum’s had been upgraded.  It was a fabulous room, the bathroom alone was big enough for a hotel room!

We had our evening meal in The Olive Tree which is opposite Cliffords Tower.   I chose Sea Bass which was delicious.  Following that we had a quick drink in the hotel bar before retiring for an early night which for me was much needed after such an early morning start