Beverley to Durham

Beverley, cont.

It was another full day today! But I think that will be the case pretty much every day, so you can just assume that from now on. But first, here are the other photos of Beverley I wasn't able to post last night.


Beverley has cream-colored phone boxes instead of the usual red, because they are municipally sponsored instead of nationally. Or something like that. They're pretty, anyway.


Beverley Minster all lit up


A tripod attempt from the other side

We generally slept well in the "Beverley Minster Garth Guest House" despite the cramped quarters and funny smell, and got on the road around 8am.

A Couple Yorkshire Churches

Cathedrals and pretty cities are all good and well, but our favorite type of photography project in England is a rural parish church. We got to check out a couple of these after leaving Beverley, and one was really awesome.



The first one (above) was in the village of Bainton. It wasn't all that notable but really fun to visit - it was pouring rain and blowing wind outside and it was so cozy to find the door open, go inside, turn the lights on, and have a look around. It wasn't that big of a storm, but there was still something comforting about taking shelter in a solid stone building that has withstood storms for 800 years. We had the place to ourselves and turned off the lights when we left.

The next one was even cooler, as it had some great stone carvings from the 12th century. The village is called Kirkburn, and the name is a good sign we're moving north - "kirk" is the Scottish word for "church." We stayed longer at this one and had a wonderful time with our tripods trying to do justice to the magnificent baptismal font, which looked like it was carved by someone with about as much artistic skill as me. Here are some highlights:


Exterior


Carved doorway (inside the porch in the photo above) - I've never seen one quite like this before.


Interior


Carved font (12th century)


Detail of aforementioned cartoonish carvings - look at those Gumby arms!


A saint says "What up?"


Tower with some scary-looking stairs

Scarborough

Our next stop was Scarborough, not for any churches but just to check it out and have lunch. It's a fairly big seaside town built mainly in the Victorian era. It was very blustery, but we enjoyed the sea views and some Victorian architecture. The main hotel from that period, the Grand Hotel, seemed like it hasn't changed much since it was built. The lobby full of quiet elderly folks only added to the lost-in-time atmosphere!









Whitby

Then it was on to Whitby, our main destination of the day. This turned out to be one of the windiest experiences we've ever had! Some of the gusts just about knocked me sideways and poor David's ears got so cold, he bought an English Heritage scarf in the gift shop. But we still had a great time, as we love Whitby and we got a few of those much-coveted sunbreaks in the clouds.


Whitby Abbey in a rare moment of sunshine


Whitby Abbey and the sea


From inside


Whitby parish church


Another view of the church

Durham

Around 4pm we arrived in Durham, where we are spending the night tonight. Our hotel, the Radisson BLU, is wonderful and such a nice change from last night. Our room is really spacious and pretty, the bed is big and comfy, I have plenty of space to work on the computer, the internet is generally working great, and parking is convenient. We would both love to stay here another night if we had time.


The Radisson BLU Durham

The hotel also has a great location right next to the riverside path from which there are great views of the town, castle and cathedral. Since the sun was peeking out of the clouds, we took advantage of that shortly after checking in. Durham is such a beautiful town.







We didn't make it up to the cathedral itself tonight, and I'm not sure that we will tomorrow morning either! I'd like some more exterior photos from closer up, but the weather has been bad ever since our earlier walk, and they don't allow photos inside (jerks). We were starving by dinnertime, so opted for a quick solution - Chinese buffet at a place along the river called "inshanghai." It was good enough. Then it was back to the room for photo downloading, blog composing, and finding a place to stay tomorrow night. I'm up later than usual tonight getting all that done (almost 11:30), but it's been a great day.

Tomorrow: Scotland! We're visiting several ruined abbeys and staying overnight in Melrose. I don't expect much of tomorrow night's internet access, so the next post may be from Edinburgh in a couple days.

Tour of the West 2: Idaho Mission and Missoula

In May, David and I took a three-week road trip from our home in Portland to Minnesota, to visit some of my relatives and tour the Great American West along the way. This post is part of a series on the highlights of our trip.

Idaho Mission

After driving through some lovely scenery in northern Idaho after Coeur d'Alene, we came upon a nice surprise - a state heritage sign indicating the presence of an "Old Mission." It was a really interesting place. Part of a state park that looks like a nice place for a picnic, the mission was founded by Belgian Jesuit missionaries and is owned by the local Native American tribe. The simple wooden church was built 1850-53 with the help of converted Native Americans and is the oldest building in Idaho.







Next to the church is the pale blue Parish House (below), which was rebuilt in 1887 after a fire destroyed the original. This is where the missionaries lived, and it includes a small chapel as well. Most of the original furnishings have been preserved and it was quite interesting to look around.





Missoula

We arrived in Missoula around 5pm and asked about a room at Goldsmith's Inn, a historic B&B recommended by my guidebook. They had a room but needed some time to get it ready, so David went next door for some ice then worked on organizing the truck while I went for a wander along the river. It was a beautiful evening and I really enjoyed my walk, which took me along the university grounds and across a bridge leading into the old downtown.


Pedestrian bridge near the B&B leading to the university side.


View from across the river - our B&B is the reddish house in the center. Nice location on the river and a good place to stay all around.







My walking loop ended up taking nearly an hour, but it was nice to get some exercise after the hours in the car. It was also an interesting test of my lungs at altitude, since Missoula sits at 3,200 feet above sea level. Fortunately I didn't notice any issues, but I was unusually thirsty by the time I got back.

Upon my return we hauled our stuff into our room, which was at the top of several creaky flights of stairs (built 1911) on the attic floor. The room was really big, with river views on one side and a balcony on the other. Then we walked downtown to look for dinner.


Downtown Missoula. The city is pleasant enough, but there isn't much to it!

There weren't many restaurant choices, but we did find a place that had some of the most delicious frozen yogurt we've ever had. It's called Moxiberry and its frozen yogurt really tastes like yogurt, with that nice sour zing. It comes in two flavors: vanilla and green tea. David had a vanilla sundae with mangoes and I had a vanilla smoothie made with mangoes and pomegranate juice. Very virtuous and delicious. Then we had a couple tacos at Taco Bell to balance out the universe.

Sacred Destinations in Oregon

Despite its relatively short history, my home state of Oregon does have some notable and historic sacred places. Below are two that my husband and I visited recently.

Old Scotch Church



The Old Scotch Church in Hillsboro (west of Portland) was built in 1878 by 12 settlers from Aberdeenshire in Scotland. Its style is called Carpenter Gothic, which is a modest, North American form of Gothic Revival architecture using wood. It's very beautiful and has a lovely setting among fir trees in the countryside. My husband and I were married in this church in 2004.



More photos and a history of the church here.

Crater Lake

When it comes to Native American sacred sites, the most famous in Oregon is Crater Lake. Still used for vision quests by the Klamath tribe, this sacred lake was formed around 4680 BC by a volcanic eruption.



Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States. It is filled entirely by melted snow, giving it the dazzling blue color for which it is famous. Shown above is a view from the south rim.

I'm ashamed to say this was my first visit despite having lived in Oregon all my life! We stopped by on our way home from San Francisco in late April, when there was still plenty of snow on the ground. (The road around the crater doesn't open until July!) It was midday and the sky was hazy so our pictures aren't as good as we'd hoped, but it was still a spectacular sight. We will certainly return another day for more photos!

More about Crater Lake and its sacred significance here.

And the Beach


And finally, it is not a sacred destination (as far as I know), but here is a view of the Oregon coast taken during our visit to Lincoln City yesterday.