Ireland, UK 2017: 5/14 Day 12 - Cornwall

"He felt he would like one more look at the sea, which even now was licking at the rocks behind the house. He had no sentimental notions about the sea; he had no regard for its dangers or its beauties; to him it was a close acquaintance whose every virtue and failing, every smile and tantrum he had come to understand."
~Winston Graham, Ross Poldark

Net travel: 121 miles.
Soul restoration: 100%.

We had a more relaxed pace on this day because we planned to cross the causeway to St. Michael's Mount. The tide sets the timing for this endeavor and today that meant the crossing there and back could only occur between noon and 4:00 p.m. That left us time to take in a little scenery around the hotel. 

The view of the hotel from below:

Tintagel Castle ruins: The castle was built half on the mainland and half on an island. The King Arthur legend claims that Arthur was conceived here. A cave below the castle that is accessible at low tide is named for the wizard Merlin.

Having done a fair bit of driving in and out of Tintagel, where we stayed for 3 nights, we passed this roadside stand a few times. A "bap" is a fluffy bun (like a hamburger bun), but "baps" (especially in the context of "nice baps") is slang for a woman's breasts.

This is how you know where the writer Winston Graham imagined his Poldark characters to live...In the first book of the series, Redruth is the place he found his future wife Demelza, Bodmin is where Jim Carter began his 2 year incarceration, and Truro was the major business hub.

We got to drive on a major highway with an unobstructed view!

A Sunday with nice weather made the beach at Marazion very popular.

Our first view of St. Michael's Mount

St. Michael's Mount as seen from the causeway at low tide.

Sea plants along the causeway--I don't know what the bumps are, but they remind me of a creature in an old episode of Doctor Who for some reason.

If it's an old castle, of course it's build at the top of a steep climb.

Clearly things have been modernized and fortified at the top!

Some type of aquatic animal teased us by swimming around below the castle, but didn't cooperate with being photographed.

We ate a nice lunch on the island and then headed back across the causeway.

Before driving in another country, one should review relevant laws and signage. We didn't do that, so we found some interesting and sometimes confusing. signs along the way.

Not sure what this sign tells us about disabled people...

Buff dude digging ahead? Is he digging a hole or filling it in?

We did finally learn that this one means no stopping. Not that there would have been a place to stop, so just don't do it.;

A sign just up the road from this point just said "Ford." The British seem to be particularly fond of extra wording on signs, so a single word puzzled us. It didn't take us long to figure out what it meant.

I wonder how much additional traffic the single track roads get since the widespread use of GPS devices that search for the shortest route. Surely the road builders didn't intend for high traffic in areas where the cows are penned right up to the road.

We binge-watched the TV show Doc Martin about a year ago, so we had to visit Port Isaac. Port Isaac is the location for the fictional Port Wenn in the series and I'm sure it would be a popular tourist attraction even without the attention from TV fans. Parking is pretty much non-existent in the town, so visitors park in a lot above and walk down/in.

Doc Martin's "surgery."  The scenes inside Dr. Ellingham's medical practice are filmed in studio, but this building serves as the exterior.

The streets are accurately depicted in the show.

The Old School Restaurant is used as the school where the character Louisa works.

The tide was still out quite a way in the port area. This is a fishing village.

Most of the shops were closed by the time we arrived in the town, but we saw plenty of souvenirs available through the window.

We knew the filming for the next season had started earlier in the spring, but didn't know the status. Jeff kept joking about seeing Bert Large. As we walked past a restaurant and he said, "there's Bert" I assumed he was still joking. Nope. The actor Ian McNeice was seated outside the restaurant with Eileen Atkins who plays Aunt Ruth. For a small donation to charity, Mr. McNeice graciously agreed to photos.