I'm writing this post super-early because we're getting out of here today, headed back to London, and there's a lot to do. For one thing, we're still not sure how we're getting home. We've been unable to secure an Uber Pet to take us the whole way, so it looks like we need to catch the train -- and even getting to the train station is a question because of the dog. We'll work it out one way or another.
We've also got to tidy up the cottage, bag the linens, run the dishwasher and stuff like that. We don't need to be out until 9 a.m. or so, but I am all about getting an early start.
Olga, meanwhile, is perched on the couch watching the deck for our fox friend. She's convinced that Winifred is coming back. For the sake of all our nerves, I hope she doesn't.
Another gray, foggy morning yesterday. We spent most of it indoors, reading, except for a brief beach walk I took with Olga. I then walked into town just after lunch, intent on having a pint at the Old Neptune and exploring a bit more. Along the way, I saw this kestrel, perched high in a tree and surveying the grassy brush below for careless rodents.
The Old Neptune makes a big deal about being a pub directly on the beach, which it certainly is. Yesterday it was bustling with families and kids, the parents sipping their libations at outdoor tables as the kids ran around the seafront. I had a Whitstable Bay Stout and read David Sedaris's most recent piece in The New Yorker, about having trouble getting to New York from Maine after a flight cancellation. His partner Hugh is apparently an angsty traveller, but to be fair, it sounds like Hugh shoulders a lot of the logistical burdens. I can identify! I am the Hugh in Dave's and my relationship.
I walked along the beach and then back through town, retracing the route I took on Sunday. (Did we really get here a week ago? Where has the time gone?)
In the evening, before dinner, I went for a walk back to the wildly decorated Christmas house -- and joy! The lights were on! So I was able to get some video footage, which is included in the montage above showing various decorated houses in the Seasalter area. (That's the neighborhood where we're staying, just west of Whitstable.)
The crazy house is the one at the end of the video, as will be obvious. Do you suppose the owner takes all that stuff down every year and puts it up again in November? Surely they don't leave it up year-round? I love how their next-door neighbor puts up a single strand of blue lights as a minimalist counterpoint.
Anyway, wish us luck on our return. We'll be coming to you tomorrow from good old West Hampstead, insha'allah!
Good luck with the journey back. I suppose if push comes to shove you could go back on the train with Olga and Dave could go by uber on his own. As you say, one way or the other you will get back home.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we considered that possibility as well!
DeleteThat’s a lot of lights! And I do love the contrast between megalights and the blue-light special house next door. I can’t imagine putting up all those lights every year but I also can’t imagine leaving them up year-round. Good luck with the trip home.
ReplyDeleteI am mystified about how they manage it. Like you, I find either option unpalatable.
DeleteI am glad you made it to "The Old Neptune" and the Whitstable domestic light show was fantastic though not very friendly from an environmental point of view. Good luck with the transport. I thought you might have arranged for the same Uber taxi to come to get you from London.
ReplyDeleteAt least I think the lights are LEDs, so maybe the power consumption is less than it otherwise might be?
DeleteAlas, we couldn't arrange for the same car because you have to book and pay through the Uber app, and it didn't give us an option for Uber Pet pickup in our area of Whitstable. (Or maybe any of Whitstable.)
Holy cow that is a lot of lights! I can't even imagine putting that up and taking it down every year. I also can't imagine leaving it up all year.
ReplyDeleteI am getting anxious about your trip home just reading this.
We were anxious too but it all worked out. I was pretty sure it would but the uncertainty was stressful.
DeleteI didn't get up the motivation to put up my single strand of outdoor lights this year. I have no hope of ever putting up enough strands to equal that display in my lifetime.
ReplyDeleteMe neither! I can't imagine where they get the time, money or motivation!
DeleteI think Olga needs a stroller for times like this! Pop her in it, red coat and all and you can walk to the station, if Dave's able. I hope the journey home works out.
ReplyDeleteI love your comment on David and Hugh. I've always thought David was the oh dear, oh dear one and Hugh the logistics manager. I don't think your Dave is oh dear but you're definitely the general logistics and organizing force in the family.
I am both the organizer and the worrier! So maybe I'm Hugh AND David? Dave takes things in stride, for the most part. He never gets very worked up about anything.
DeleteI am considering the stroller option for Olga but I don't think we're there yet!
That house is OUT OF CONTROL! And that's saying something coming from me! Whew! Hope you figured out your transport!
ReplyDeleteHa! I would describe it the same way! But I liked it enough that I had to go get video of it. :)
DeleteThat. Is. insane.
ReplyDeletePutting all those lights and decorations up, taking them down, and storing them must be the work of an entire year. I mean- that's like a career. A full time job.
An obsession?
Anyway, glory be to the electrical grid!
I surely hope you made it home all right. I find it so hard to understand why no Ubers want to take pets. I thought dogs were welcome in all sorts of places in the UK. Am I mistaken about that?
Dogs are welcome almost everywhere. But I think some Uber drivers are very protective about the condition of their cars, and -- at the risk of sounding racist -- I also think drivers of certain cultural backgrounds are more skeptical of dogs in general. (Islamic culture is particularly down on dogs.) In London black cabs, though, dogs are never a problem -- mostly because there's lots of floor space.
DeleteWow, that's a LOT of lights. I suppose it sets of the fog.
ReplyDeleteThat's true! They would create a glow!
DeleteThat's way too many lights, not to mention the time and money spent.
ReplyDeleteCould Dave take an uber to the station with all your stuff, and you and Olga walk there?
I'm sure you'll figure it out. Have a safe trip home.
We considered that, but it would have been a long walk for Olga. The backup plan was for Dave to take the cab with the bags and Olga and I to catch a bus.
DeleteYour stay does seem rather brief. Can't believe it's been a week . Good luck on getting home.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing? That was a fast week!
DeleteSubtle lighting- their electricity bill must be shocking. Thanks for the crazy look around.
ReplyDeleteA week anywhere is usually not long enough unless it is jail, I suppose. Your holiday was a nice change of pace but I am sure you will all be glad to get back to your apartment below Russia. Really appreciated your photos, thank you!
You're welcome! We were very ready to return home, but it was an enjoyable escape.
Deletesurely it stays up all year. it would take months to put it all up and months to take it all down. but if it stays up all year and not lit, that's a lot of ugly to live with the rest of the year. and where would you store all that?
ReplyDelete9 am seems an awfully early check out to me.
I can't imagine the labor, and yeah, where do they keep all the stuff? All those wood frames and the chicken wire, not to mention the lights?
DeleteWow, that is a lot of lights! Best of luck with your travels homeward. You are most likely there already now that I think about it. I hope it was a pleasant journey. I love the photo of the pub above. It looks a isolated out there by the water but I'm betting it isn't.
ReplyDeleteIt was a generally pleasant journey and a pleasant stay all around. I'm glad we went. Right across the street from the Old Neptune are houses and flats, and "downtown" Whitstable is just a few minutes' walk.
DeleteWildly decorated might be an understatement, there's more lights there than my entire city! And it's beautiful, I love it. I hope you managed to get a ride to the train and are now safely home.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely gets attention and stops traffic!
DeleteI think they take them down and put up more and more each year. That's what people do around here. I've always been too lazy and cheap to do that but I do enjoy seeing them! Hope you had a safe trip home and can relax and rest until your school break is over, Steve.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good theory -- maybe add a new feature every year until they have an extravaganza?!
DeleteClearly Whitstable does not have a dark skies ordinance like we do here in Tucson. I too would like to see that guy's electric bill for December. Good luck on your return trip. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteIf they do, it's clearly not very strongly enforced! Though the lights are mostly LEDs so they're really not THAT bright. I wonder what his neighbors think.
DeleteI like the photo of the kestrel and wow... I'm not sure what to say about that light display!
ReplyDeleteI hope by now the three of you are safely home and settling back in.
Wow is sufficient!
DeleteThe pub on the beach looks like a great way to spend some time, books and beer!
ReplyDeleteIt's a very atmospheric place! I would have taken more photos (and closer up) but there were a lot of kids around and I didn't want to get yelled at.
DeleteOh I miss the pubs in the UK. Sigh. But good luck!
ReplyDeleteFortunately, many places in the states now have good British pubs. Surely Canada has them too? But that's not the same as being in a real English pub, admittedly.
DeleteWow! I'm sure they can see those lights from space! It's beautifully done though, if you're way into excess. At first I thought the heavily lit house at the beginning was it -- and that was something else, too. But then, this one. Wow! Well, by now I hope you are home without incident or traumatized Olga. You're both probably exhausted. That week went by awfully fast! That pub looks great!
ReplyDeleteThe heavily lit one at the beginning is pretty impressive, too! Olga isn't traumatized but she IS exhausted.
DeleteI like looking at outside Christmas displays but personally I do not think I could tolerate anything like it on my own home.
ReplyDeleteWith Dave still recovering, the Uber makes travel easy and comfortable. I hope you find an Uber for the trip home.
I really wonder what that guy's neighbors think. It would be hard to have all that light and flashing outside your windows for weeks on end.
DeleteExtravaganza at the shore!
ReplyDeleteOr debacle, if the fuses blow!
Delete