Park House & La Locanda | Gisburn, England

{image courtesy of Park House}

As Mr. H mentioned in yesterday's post, our road trip in Ruby the Fiat was one the highlights of our trip. I would definitely reccommend renting a car and exploring the precious towns that dot the UK's countryside. However, a word to the wise: give yourself more than enough time to get to your destination. There are several reasons for this... one, it gives you to freedom to make a spontaneous detour to see one of the many castles, churches, and other attractions along the way; two, takes much longer to get places when you are driving on small, country roads (even with a GPS). We learned this the hard way on our trip to the Park House B&B in Gisburn. We left Edinburgh with more than enough time to arrive around 5:00 pm. However, we weren't prepared for the winding track roads and rain that met us on the way. We  ended up arriving in Gisburn at 7:00 pm. 

Park House's lovely drawing room

All the stress from our drive melted away when we were greeted by the wonderful Proprietor, Howard Williams. He showed us to our lovely room, Room 3, which was coated in Farrow & Ball's Lamp Room Gray and had a perfect view of the 12th century church across the street. B&B's can conjure up notions of dusty, garish Victorian furniture and creepy, porcelain dolls, but Park House is so far from that. Our room was immaculately clean, cozy, and well decorated. The common rooms downstairs were the same and the service is excellent.

our cozy room

view from Room 3

When we booked our room, we noticed several guests' reviews mentioned the Park House's Friday to Sunday Special, which includes dinner at the award-winning Italian Restaurant, La Locanda (a two-minute walk from Park House). We decided to follow the advice of these reviews, which was one of the best decisions we made in all of our trip planning. La Locanda is amazing! It was hands dow the most amazing Italian food I've ever had outside of Italy. The owners, Cinzia and Maurizio Bocchi, are dedicated to sourcing local ingredients to create authentic and excellent Italian cuisine. This strategy, coupled with their Italian hospitality, has led La Locanda to become England's most award winning Italian restaurant outside of London. It was a meal I'll never forget!

{images courtesy of La Locanda}

I would advise anyone who wants to plan a road trip through the UK to make sure to go through the Ribble Valley, stay at Park House, and eat at La Locanda (even if you are staying on a Saturday and can't do the Friday to Sunday Special... trust me it's more than worth it). Gisburn would be the perfect "base" from which to explore the stunning surrounding area. I'm already dreaming about our next visit!!
- mrs.h

mr.&mrs.h's Quick Guide to Gisburn:
EAT // La Locanda
Antipasta
➺ Pere al Gorgonzola
Pasta
➺ Tortelloni  di zucca con amaretti
Secondi Piatti
➺ Pollo mozzarella e speck
Dessert
➺ Tiramisu 
➺ Panna Cotta

SLEEP // Park House 
➺ Room 3

Adventures with Ruby...the little red Fiat

It was love at first sight

I consider myself to be an excellent driver, and my long list of speeding tickets and fender benders only reveal the miserable state of other drivers worldwide. So when Mrs. H and I decided to take a road trip in the U.K., I was excited about driving. I'm not scared of a manual, and surely driving on the other side of the road is no problem.....and roundabouts don't even deserve mention - easy.

Well, picking up a car at Marble Arch in London wasn't exactly the best place to start our adventure. Let's just say it felt like I was a 13 year old who stole my parents car in the middle of New York City. And, that humongous roundabout - how do you know where to turn?

Once we missed the first turn, it was all over. Our directions to our friends house in Wimbledon were irrelevant, and without a navigation system, we were at the mercy of pedestrians. It didn't make me feel any better that every person we asked for directions said, "Wimbledon??? hmmm.... wow."

Three hours later, our seven mile journey to Wimbledon was over. But that was just the start - no time to rest. On to York we went. Driving to York was fine. It was the country roads that followed that were terrifying.

Apparently there are "track roads" in the U.K. that used to be country roads for horses. I'm really not sure how they've been updated other than throwing some asphalt on them. The little "Rubix Cube" (another pet name for Ruby) could hardly fit on the track roads, which looked more like golf cart paths, so I'm not sure how we survived the SUV's with horse trailers that flew passed us.

A slightly terrifying track road

I will say, though, that driving ended up being incredibly exciting and fun. We saw so many things from the road that we would have never seen otherwise. Stay tuned for some of our favorite places we visited with Ruby.

Faithfully waiting

The world through Ruby's eyes

We loved seeing the sheep in Scotland

Scottish sky

Your average road-side cottage

Never knew roads could be so beautiful 

We miss you Ruby - Mr. and Mrs. H

get your kicks on route 66

I'm sure you've noticed by now that we're really into "dreams" here at mr.&mrs.h. I have an amazing mom--she's fun, wild, full of adventure and life. One of the things on her dream list was to road trip across the country, drive down Route 66 and stay at one of the nostalgic motor courts that still dot the highway. When Mr. H and I moved to Cali, it provided the perfect opportunity for her dream to come true.

We first hit the "Main Street of America" (Route 66) in Amarillo, Texas. No, George Strait, we didn't make it by morning... at that point we'd been driving from Dallas and we still had a long way to go to get to our motel, The Blue Swallow, in Tucumcari, New Mexico. 

the Lone Star State

One of the more random sites we saw in Texas...

...yes these are mannequins in a convertible in someone's front yard 

(forgive the "from car photography")

Amarillo by evening

 Texas

The Blue Swallow is a place I would recommend to those looking for a little adventure and a lot of nostalgia... not to those looking for luxury. If you're looking for that, I have many suggestions, but Route 66 is probably not the place for you. The bedding was far from Egyptian cotton and we went to sleep with the glow of neon lights shining through the curtain. That being said, it was a night I will never forget. We woke up the next morning and the owners had a pot of coffee brewing for guests in the lobby next to the cigarette vending machine. We really did feel like we had stepped back in time. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

This beauty greeted us upon our arrival in Tucumcari

Refrigerated Air

The Blue Swallow's Lobby

Our room... with one car garage and glider swing

Our room's garage... complete with the Route 66 mural

 Morning on Route 66 - Tucumcari, NM 

From Tucumcari, we headed west to "the other Vegas"... Las Vegas, New Mexico. It's a small western town that was the home of Doc Holliday's dental office and one of Billy the Kid's "hang out" spots. I'm a lover of architecture and it's got a plethora of amazing (and well preserved) Old West homes, hotels, and buildings. We ate at Charlie's Spic and Span for breakfast--which had amazing sweets plus breakfast burritos, huevos rancheros, and breakfast tacos. After filling ourselves with great treats, we were on our way to the Grand Canyon. But, that's a story for another day. Bottom line, if you've ever wanted to drive down the "Mother Road," I'd say go! It's not boutique luxury--not even close--but it is nostalgic, road-tripping adventure at it finest. As Nat King Cole advised, "If you ever plan to motor west; travel my way, take the highway that's the best; get your kicks on Route 66!"

On the road to Las Vegas, NM

 Off-roading to look at the road-side shrine

 road warriors 

our typical view from NM to CA

The "other Vegas" - Las Vegas, NM {via}

 

Treats at Charlie's Spic and Span  

(I found the following map on google maps. It highlights "hotspots" along Route 66--including the Blue Swallow. We didn't use it on our trip, but if I did it again I'd definitely check out a few of these stops.)

-mrs.h