My Dearest Scarborough, England ...
My Dearest Scarborough,
We'd never met before, but there was a certain familiarity about you – perhaps it was a lifetime of travel show binge watching. Everything was just as I imagined, from the ominous grey clouds and the restless waves crashing upon the shore to the ghostly castle up on the bluff, withstanding the test of time and the harshest of gale force winds.
I decided we'd flow in with the tide, and so didn’t do any research beforehand. Traveling in the middle of winter means that most popular tourist destinations are barely a shell of what they are during their peak. Nevertheless, there's a certain charm about getting to know an area when you have it all to yourself – that's the only child in me talking.
The next morning, unable to withstand the allure of the castle ruins, we made the steady uphill climb. We arrived at the fortress, and we were surprised to find that it wasn't just a place of historical significance, but a protected grassland featuring over 100 kinds of grasses. Who knew there were so many? We bought a ticket, picked up our handheld audio tour, and set off to explore this magnificent royal fort overlooking the North Sea.
It was a cold morning and the wind made it colder still, giving us a taste of what life here may have been like on an average winter day. Here I was, wearing the latest in outerwear technology, yet it was no match for the wind chill factor. Walking by the prison quarters made me wonder how anyone survived days, weeks, or even months of bitter cold. Incredibly, this fortress served as a self-contained area, able to sustain its residents at length in case it came under siege.
After learning all about the site of countless wars, battles, and invasions, we strolled down to a place of peace: St. Mary's Church. The product of numerous modifications, this structure has been a comforting sight for believers for almost a millennium.
We were welcomed by dozens of headstones overlooking the bay, some too ravaged by time to make out their inscriptions. I sat there, staring at the blurred letters, somehow expecting them to make sense if I just looked hard enough. When we ventured inside, the caretaker explained that it was rare to find the church open due to lack of staffing. He handed us a brochure and we sat down to take it all in. The church was magnificent – as they all are – but it was the unique, brightly colored individual kneelers or hassocks that caught my attention. I've been in dozens of churches over the course of my travels, and I had never seen anything like these before. Who were the artists who created these whimsical pieces of art? I wanted to know more, but our tourist timer went off and it was time to continue sightseeing – after brunch, of course!
We stopped at the Hideout Café Kitchen Bar, a charming two-story cottage with white wood trim windows on the ground floor, brick on the top, and rustic barrels and exterior wooden furniture for those beautiful summer days. We nabbed the best seat in the house, right next to the furnace.
We sat there for quite some time chatting as old friends do, admiring the vintage décor. I'm not a food critic, nor am I going to pretend to be one for the purposes of this blog, but I will say that the portions were plentiful, the meal was tasty, and we left nothing on our plates. It took all the strength I had gained from that wonderful meal to pry myself from the furnace and head out into the rain.
Our next stop was the Rotunda Museum of Coastal Heritage and Geology. By the time we arrived the rain had stopped, and the sun was shining upon this elegant cylindrical building. It was a small museum, with a varied collection and the curved antique display cabinets were enough to peak anyone's interest. One of the featured fossil collectors of the museum was a woman, whose interest in fossils began as a child when she discovered a fossil on the beach. It gave me hopes of discovering something amazing one day. We had the museum all to ourselves and since we didn't have to wait our turn, or dodge anyone to see anything we were done with plenty of time to visit the art gallery just a three-minute walk away.
The gallery featured some prominent individuals, as all art galleries do, but it also had paintings and posters of Scarborough's Victorian heyday. Call me old fashioned, but I absolutely adore the colors, laces, and intricate details of that era. Yes, it gets a bad rap for a lot of reasons, but the artistry and craftsmanship of the period shouldn't be overlooked. The quality of the crafts and ironwork of the Victorian age will never be duplicated and certainly not within my lifetime.
Spending the day exploring the town in the cold took its toll. We were exhausted! It was nothing that a hot shower and a heated blanket couldn't cure. Getting to bed early gave me a chance to catch up on my reading. I pulled out the brochure we received at Saint Mary's, and read through the church's history, design elements and list of notables buried at the cemetery. I ran across the name Anne Brontë – Anne Brontë! I knew that name, but my half-frozen brain couldn't remember so I turned to Google. The Brontë sisters, of course! Emily, Anne, and Charlotte. I was immediately filled with a sense of dread from a missed opportunity. I felt the need to pay proper homage to Ms. Brontë.
The next morning, I shared my dilemma with my friend Danny and off we went on our scavenger hunt. We consulted the map, walked around the entire graveyard and just when we thought all hope was lost, we turned to Google once again. Google provided us with a clear image of the original tombstone and its shiny new marble replacement. We looked up. There she was, in what was probably the best spot in the burial ground with the best view of the bay. Her final resting place was the town she loved so much. She was only 29 when she passed from tuberculosis. By the time Anne Brontë passed in 1839 she had written about women's issues, dependency, and had a best seller. Wow!
I felt fortunate to have spent some time with Anne and felt inspired by her life, but it was time to go. And so, my dearest Scarborough, whether it is your Victorian style, your welcoming cafés and restaurants or your incredible seaside views that Anne Brontë was so fond of, I can say with all honesty that my fondness for you has also grown.
Love always,
Susana Porras
