A Day of Otters

A friend from our Doc Martin group online lives nearby in Exmouth.  We are going to try to meet  with Collette but in the meantime she has given us great tips on places to visit.  Last night we were both suffering from jet lag and decided to turn in early.  It was supposed to rain today so Collette gave us some suggestions of things we could do in the rain.  She knows where we are so she is good at telling us what is close or how long it will take us to get there.

The next city over from us is called Ottery St. Mary.  It is a good size city in that it has a nice grocery store called Sainsbury where we shopped yesterday, a school, lots of housing and several streets in the downtown area that are full of all kinds of shops.  Since it was raining when we woke up this morning, we took our time being lazy then deciding what we wanted to do.  We decided to take Collette's advice and visit the Otterton Mill which is a working mill where they actually grind flour and sell it in the farm shop attached to the mill.  This turned out to be a fun trip and it really was not too far of a drive.  We had lunch in the tea room there then went and saw the mill operation and walked through the gift shop and farm shop. It is also a favorite walking trail around the mill and they have a board where people can write the wildlife they have seen that day.  Otters were leading the sightings...perhaps because there was a stream there.  Kay bought some things she couldn't resist in the farm shop...mostly sweets for us to snack on.  Tomorrow is her birthday so she is already in the "all about me" mood. 

When we left the parking lot, Kay said "which way should we go?" and I said turn left.  So we were off on another adventure.  We wound up in another place Collette had recommended called Budleigh Salterton which is a seaside town.  Very different from the others we have seen in that the surf was much rougher here and the water was muddy near the shoreline.  You could actually see the line in the sea where the color changed.  This town has a very upscale feel to it with beautiful beach front homes. It had lots of shops in the downtown area as well.  After our visit there it was starting to be rush hour so we decided to head home.  Of course we had a couple of George adventures before getting there on the all to familiar one lane road.  I told Kay I believe he is alive and enjoying taking us out of the way on these roads.

Tomorrow is Kay's birthday and her choice for the day is to go to Greenway.  Greenway was the summer home of Agatha Christie.  We have to be up early as we have a timed entry to the car park that we have reserved.  We will have tea and lunch there and Ms. Kay wants to spend some time in the book shop.  Until then, another day is in the books.....well done us!