Blackpool

Violet went to nursery today, so I only had Scarlett to look after, and as it was a nice day I decided to take her to Blackpool as she's kept saying to me that she'd like a ride on a donkey - Blackpool beach is famous for it's donkeys and it's only an hours' drive from where they live.  I also asked mum if she'd like to come with us, which she did, so she got the train to Warrington and we picked her up from the station at 10am and drove to Blackpool.

We walked down towards the beach and saw horses pulling Cinderella carriages - well you can guess what Miss Scarlett wanted to do and it had to be a pink carriage!  We went for a trip along the seafront and when I sent Alan the photo, he said we look like we're going to a gypsy wedding lol!   Our next port of call was down to the beach for a donkey ride, and she chose Molly a lovely white and brown donkey with a pink blanket and pink feathers on her bridle.

The Blackpool donkeys are very well looked after and have regular vet checks, they're not allowed to work for more than 48 hours, don't work on Fridays at all as it's their day of rest, and don't carry anyone that weighs over 8 stone.  The donkeys aren't tied up and are free to wander on the beach, and tend to follow their companions who are giving rides, even if they have no-one on their back.  

They guy that owns the donkeys was really nice and was happy for me to take as many photos as I wanted, and was also happy for Scarlett to spend time with the donkeys after her ride.  She did end up having a second ride though as I'd promised her that she could have a second ride before we set off for home, but they said that the tide was coming in so they wouldn't be back until after 4pm, so we said she'd better have her ride before they left. She chose to ride Dolly this time, who was a very dark brown donkey

Next, we went up Blackpool Tower and went on the glass floor which is 390ft high!  It didn't phase Scarlett in the slightest and was happy to sit  on the the glass and walk across it - check out my extras.  There was a 4D cinema show before we went up the tower, and we had to wear special glasses to give us the full effect, it was brilliant - we got wet, covered in foam, and felt like were part of the film, Scarlett loved it!

We had a chippy lunch at Harry Ramsden's in the tower, then Scarlett wanted 'cotton candy' or candy floss as I know it, however it was an anticlimax for her as she didn't like it.  Finally before heading home, we went down to the beach, but didn't realise that when the tide's in, there's no sand at all, so we just sat for a little while looking out to sea.

We dropped mum off at the station for her train home, but she said she had an awful journey - the trains were all delayed due to an earlier fire on the train, there was a lady who'd broken her leg and the ambulance had to come, then someone tried to commit suicide on the line near Stockport!  How can so much happen on one journey?  She finally made it home at 7.45pm but it took a long longer than anticipated and she was very tired.  Despite that, she said she'd enjoyed her day with us though, and Miss Scarlett certainly had fun!

To finish the day off nicely, Rachel and I went for dinner to the Miller & Carter Steakhouse and had a nice meal and mum and daughter time.

I've added a few photos to my extras today including the views from the top of the tower if you're interested.