It’s
ironic that Leeds Castle (http://www.leeds-castle.com/land.php) is in Maidstone,
and not Leeds. The “Loveliest Castle in
the World” is gorgeous, a compact castle situated in a wooded area amidst a
lake where the reflections of the castle are spectacular. We got there in the morning and enjoyed
stretching our legs walking to lake, stopping to take a ton of pictures. There were folks taking a gondola ride around
the castle, tourists taking the tour, and bus loads of kid everywhere. We went on the tour ourselves, but I’d have
to say that the castle was much nicer to look at than to look from. No worries, I walked around the castle and
got pictures from multiple angles. It
was a great first stop, and I’m glad we went, but we were getting both hungry
and tired so we got back on the road to Canterbury.
Our
first stop was a farmer’s market located close to the rail station called the
Goods Shed. Mostly vegetables, meats and
cheeses, there was a restaurant inside as well as sandwich shops. There was also a bottle shop called the Bottle
Shop (http://www.bottle-shop.co.uk/),
which had a great selection of cold beers that you could drink on the premises
as long as you didn’t sit up at the restaurant.
Needless to say we chose sandwiches and bottle beer for lunch. I got a BLT with avocado that was to die for
to go with The Kernel Imperial Brown Stout, a microbrewery from London that
liked to recreate old recipes. It was
delicious, although at 9.8% ABV it was stronger than what I had assumed was
commonly available back in 1856. I also
tried a Howling Hops Smoked Porter (really smooth, but these heavy beers
weren’t the best choice while jet lagged) as well as getting a few beers to go
(need something to drink in the hotel room for a week).
We
checked into our hotel room, cleaned up, and then to follow my age old advice
of staying up as late as possible (really, it was only 1:30 PM) we headed over
to the center of town to check out the shoppes and sights. While Jenn shopped, I found a Shepherd Neame
Whitstable Pale to enjoy in the sun before Jenn found me again. We had both wanted to see Canterbury Cathedral,
and were pleased to find out that we could get in since they had an Evensong
service in progress. I have to say, one
of the highlights of this trip occurred on the first day when I finally got to
hear the beautiful acoustics of the church singing in one of the gorgeous
places of worship with my wife by my side.
Listening to the music in this way touches my soul, and holding Jenn’s
hand while sharing the experience together literally made me feel closer to
God. 
We
headed over to dinner, thankful that my parents were watching the kids and that
we had the chance to spend this time together.
CAMRA recommended trying the Foundry Brew Pub (http://www.thefoundrycanterbury.co.uk/),
and we were pleased with what we found. I
tried their Papa Sarazz, their Imperial IPA that was 7.2% ABV to go with our appetizer
(Welsh rarebit, yum!) and my dinner, the Foundry’s version of a ploughman’s
lunch that included gammon pate (ham salad?).
Jenn went for Mexican meal, a chicken fajita that was tasty, to go with
a local cider. It was a good end to a
great day, a day that we both agreed was special since we were spending it
together.
We
headed back to the hotel, stopping to listen to a Contemporary Christian Music
concert in the local park, and it was pushing 5:30PM. We’d been up for about 32 hours, and it was
time for bed. It was great start to our
trip, part of our lifelong journey together.
I can’t wait to see what the rest of the vacation had in store for both
of us. – 6327/14367
“They speak of my drinking, but never think of my thirst.” – Scottish Proverb
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