Birthday Lunch in Cleethorpes

We all had a bit of a lie-in this morning and didn't get up until about 8 a.m. - late for most of us. Each member of the family had a shower in our hotel room and whilst Sara dried her hair I packed the car and also went for a short walk towards the old Grimsby-Immingham Electric Tramway terminus at Cleveland Bridge. We drove to Mum's for breakfast - toast, cereal, apple juice and coffee. The children and I went for a walk after breakfast. I took them to see my old secondary school, Havelock Grammar - now Havelock Academy; - the old "Bungalow Town", which has now been made over with smarter brick builds than the old wooden shack like structures; a visit to the Clee Crescent newsagents to get crisps and sweets for the homeward journey; to watch briefly a football game on the old La Porte's/Conoco/Millennium Sports and Social Club and then back to Mum's via Old Clee Church. We then drove to Cleethorpes seafront where we had a table booked at the Punch Bowl for 12 noon. We were very fortunate to find somewhere to park and were seated at our table on time. The food was very varied and of enormous proportions. Mum and Sara had roast beef, Mary roast pork, Tom fish and chips with mushy peas and I had minted lamb on the bone. It was all very good but a bit too much. The kids were anxious to go in the penny arcades on the front and so I gave each of them a £1 bag of 2 pence pieces. They both had quite a few wins and in Tom's case he actually had so many wins on the "roll a penny" (2p actually) that he left with 58p still in his bag. After a stop at Tesco's for some essential grocery shopping and returning Mum home, we drove back home to Winterslow. Setting off at around 2.30 p.m. we were back home by 7.30 p.m. The route I took was along the A180 to Brigg then down the A15 to Lincoln where I picked up the A46 to Leicester and then down though Coventry and the M40 back down south. We watched "A History of Christianity" presented by Cherie Booth and then Sara watched "Desperate Housewives" which she loves and which drives me mad with the most annoying pizzicato music imaginable. The programme would be marginally amusing if it wasn't for that dreadful music which is totally out of place and is used to ultimate distraction.