Making Travel Memories - Lollipop Box Club

Summer is almost done and we have gone to York for our yearly August bank holiday adventures.

Why York I hear you say ? I have been wanting to see York and curious why they say it is one of the lovely places to go to.

My husband’s best friend was in charge of the accommodation this year , and he came trumps with it !

He found a lovely bungalow 4 miles from the city centre and there is a regular bus route which we can take and avoid driving into the hustle and bustle of a city centre. The bonus is that we can have a little tipple and not worry about who is driving.

We drove four hours on a Thursday , so we decided to just take the rest of the day easy and went to the local pub for dinner and local store for our breakfast provisions.

Leading to our trip., I have been researching things to do , food to try and free things to do . I also make a packing list for me. I use my daily journal for this – it’s like a planner journal .

First Adventure day

Today we planned to go to the Shambles , the chocolate story, Cliffords tower and a walk up the city wall. We walked around the Shambles and I was so mesmerised ! It was like walking in Dragon Alley in Harry Potter. There were several shops that were Harry Potter or mythical inspired.

All the walking and mooching made us hungry and so I lead my hubby and his best friend to a place called York roast pudding Co and had a traditional roast dinner in a wrap pudding. It was amazing! It is a definite must try ! we were so lucky that it wasn’t so busy and managed to get a seat at their restaurant.

The lovely lunch gave us the crave for something sweet . What a better way to satisfy that craving than going to the York chocolate story . We booked out tickets before hand and we had managed to get a discounted ticket for the tour. The tour was impressive and interactive. By the end of the tour we were chocolate’d out! we learned about the history of chocolate coming to York. Again another highly recommended activity and place to visit for all the chocoholics and kids at heart. At the end of the tour , we made our own chocolate lollipops and was shown how they make the chocolates and tasted them !

We didn’t do the wall walk but we went to a local brewery instead ( yes it was not on my list, but on hubby’s ) and had my first milk stout. Funnily enough , I somewhat enjoyed it!

Before we headed off home , we decided to have dinner so that we can just all chill out for the night. So we went to a place called The House of Trembling Madness. It is a shop that sells a different beers and liquors , but has a pub upstairs. The place served unique beers and really hearty and well price food. We had the beef stew and it was delicious. The pub was so quirky and it felt like you are dining in a viking / medieval place. They had lots of taxidermy and weird decors, but it totally adds a lot of character to the place.

Adventure Day 2

We all woke up worse for wear, but we didn’t let it stop us from having more fun. For today’s adventure , I booked free tickets to the train museum and also booked tickets for the York Viking museum. Disclaimer, we ended up missing our time of entry to the Viking museum ( I forgot that I have booked the tickets for a certain time) . Fortunately, we were able to move the booking for the next day, The viking museum was very helpful with this despite it being busy. We did the city wall walk instead and only managed half of the city wall. Our legs were aching from all the walking , but it was really good.

Last Adventure Day

Before our drive home , we ventured again for the last time. This time we went to the Viking museum. The museum emulated how the Viking village looked , felt and smelt like. Boy it did ! it was so stinky!

The animatronics were amazing and the detail of work that was put in was exceptional.

What is a trip to York without visiting Betty’s and trying out their lovely cakes and Fat Rascals. We bought them instead of having the afternoon tea on site, as the queue was so long it went along around the corner of the shop. The Fat rascals were delicious!

Remember , an adventure shouldn’t always cost the earth . Research what free things you can do as well , it is equally fun. We did the cat trail and the city wall walk and we enjoyed it equally as much as the paid ones.

Documenting Our Adventure

Now all of these shenanigans needs to be documented so that we can re live the adventure again. Journaling about our adventure just gives me the feeling of doing and enjoying the trip all over again. Throughout the trip , I have collected lots of memorabilia. I have collected and saved bus tickets , brochures, activity books , paper bags , coasters , etc.

Do not be afraid to ask for extra bags , brochures and those little extras . They will make a great addition to your journal . Even the wrappers and perfume sampling sticks ( I think that is what they are called ) .

I have cut the paper bags to size , preserving the designs or details as much as I can. The activity book is what I used as my guide for journal size. To bind the pages together, I used a 3 hole pamphlet stitch. I used one of the postcards to decorate the cover of my journal.