The town I’m in, Grasmere, is one of the biggest tourist towns in The Lakes District for two reasons: poetry and gingerbread. The poet William Wordsworth lived and is buried here and Grasmere Gingerbread a famous British brand that started here over 100 years ago and hasn’t moved from its original small cottage location.
I had another tough long day ahead of me, which meant I should have left early, but I really wanted to wander around this adorable little village, tour the writers house, get gingerbread and maybe even sit in one of the comfy looking tea shops for a bit.
This trip isn’t about being a hiking perfectionist. It’s about going out into the wilderness alone, thinking and reflecting on my past 50 years while figuring out how to shape the next 50. In fact I prepared questions to ask myself, one a day, so I can walk and ponder about my life and the meaning of it.
But the hike has been so tough I haven’t been able to put any thought into anything other than my next step. I haven’t had time to reflect much less do any writing about it, which was my original plan.
So I made an executive decision. I was gonna spend the day in Grasmere and take the bus to the next village. No hiking for me. Call me a cheater if you want but I needed this.
And I had THE BEST day. I still needed to pack my bag early for the sherpa company, so I just checked out of the hotel while I was at it. Then I wandered over to the gingerbread shop a few minutes after it opened. It is the original cottage the company started in in 1854 and it is teeny, tiny. Only about 2 people can fit in at a time, and it is less a shop to look around and more of a counter with all the product around it. You don’t have much time to look, only while the person in front of you orders and checks out, but they had some jams, jellies, fudge, knicknacks like pins and magnets and of course, gingerbread in packs of 2, 5 and more.
It was the cutest little shop, with the two workers dressed in old time apparel. The guy was baking the gingerbread and the woman was checking out the customers. It smelled soooo good as it was cold out and this shop was warm and cozy with the smell of sweet ginger in the air.
The gingerbread comes in a sort of wax paper wrapped around it, held shut with a rubber band. This company is a legit company, they have a website that sends it all over the world and probably sell millions of dollars worth of gingerbread every year, but it feels very mom and pop, like your local neighbor just made a batch of gingerbread and wrapped it up for you to take home.
I wanted to savor the gingerbread and not just shove it in my mouth on the side of the road, so I somehow had the willpower to put it in my bag and forget about it until the opportune time. The gingerbread shop is right in front of an old church where William Wordsworth (and his sister and some other family) is buried.
After I paid my respects, I walked over to “Dove Cottage” the place where he and his sister lived for years and where he composed much of his poetry that would become famous later. It’s part of the Natural Trust and has a whole education center, cafe and exhibition area. You have to take a tour and I was lucky enough to get on the first one of the morning.
We watched a video and then we had about 15 minutes to wander freely around his cottage, asking the guide any questions we wanted. Man, was I ever jealous of his life. He and his sister would basically wander and hike all day, then come home write poetry (his sister wrote a diary), and then have friends over for dinner where they would talk about poetry, inspiration and the creative process.
Ultimate dream life.
I had about an hour to wait for my bus so I went to a cafe and sat down and, inspired, did a little writing of my own (no poetry thought). I had so many adventures over the past few days and no time to write it down I was eager to scribble away in my journal.
Because this is such a rural part of England, with such small villages, there isn’t a ton of buses. I actually had to change buses so I went to the town of Keswick which I had a chance to look around as I had an hour to wait.
Then I took the next bus which I was nervous about. The drivers are incredibly friendly, but the bus didn’t have any announcements or names of where we were. I had NO idea where I was supposed to get off but you need to buy a ticket from the driver when you get on (different distances have different prices) and I heard another woman say “Patterdale” which is where I wanted to go. She seemed like a local so I kept my eye on her.
The bus drove through some adorable little Lake District villages and finally I saw her press the stop button so I knew I had arrived. It was confirmed to be the right spot as the second I got off the bus I ran into Hanna who had just finished the hike.
We were happily surprised to run into each other and chatted excitedly about our day. She, like me, was doing this alone and we had already talked about how it was harder than we expected and also a little dangerous for a single hiker. See, I wasn’t the only one worried about slipping and breaking my legs.
But she said today’s hike wasn’t as bad as the past few days, but I didn’t mind missing it. I had such a pleasant day and felt totally rejuvenated. It was exactly what I needed to give me the strength (and courage) to go on.
We parted ways as she was staying at a different B&B, and I set about finding mine. I got lost several times as I didn’t trust where the map app was telling me to go. It turned out to be a converted sheep farm (well, they still had sheep, but the barns were converted to gorgeous guest rooms). I ran into Lisa as I walked into the courtyard and she greeted me with a “welcome! We have a triple room and you’re bunking with us tonight!”
Uhhhhhhh….as much as I liked them I had paid for a single….
“Just kidding,” she laughed. “But we are neighbors.”
A woman came out and welcomed me in such a friendly manner I was a little taken off guard. “Hey Becky! How was your day?” Did I know her? Turns out she was just the very friendly owner, and she showed me to my room, which was amazing and comfy and smelled like a spa, and gave me a tour of the guest area which Lisa, Jeremy and myself had to share. It had big comfy couches, a TV and some tables where we would eat our meals. She had made some cake for us and the whole place had such a peaceful and friendly vibe to it. Even better they did laundry, so I threw all my muddy clothes into a basket and handed it off to her.
Lisa and Jeremy took off to the pub for a beer before dinner and I grabbed a cup of tea, my diary and the gingerbread and headed outside to write. The view, with mountains to the side and white puffy clouds in a perfect sky was so distracting I kept looking up from my writing. I took a bite of gingerbread and basically moaned it was so good. It’s not normal gingerbread but a little more crumbly with a more old fashioned flavor without modern style sugar or seasonings. But it is now my favorite kind.
For dinner we had the most gorgeous charcuterie boards. I got the vegetarian one with hummus, cheeses, crackers, a greek feta salad and more. Jeremy and Lisa got one meat and one vegetarian, and we chatted happily all through dinner. There were other guests but they had their own rooms and their own guests lounge like we did so I didn’t see them.
It was a fantastic day overall and while the trail continues tomorrow no regrets about the day I had.
0 miles and 0 hours!
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