English summer evening

On route, and after 6 hours on the road what could be better than an English pub. We took an inside seat for the quietness with a view into the garden.
Today being so warm, and week ending, and school out for summer the garden was full of kids,dogs and their parents. Such a happy scene, adults in their best t shirts talked animatedly, occasionally pausing to pat or stroke their children or dogs. The kids ran round and round free from bedtime and school. The dogs chewed each other's legs so persistently it made you wonder if in the excitement of it all their tea had been forgotten.
As for us content if weary travellers,glad to pause one night on route, glad to have had those hours on the road to catch up, to put distance from our busyness, to begin to settle into each other's rhythms once again. Summer holidaying without children seems mildly absent, heading to a familiar place, but unfamiliar without them.
No longer the smokey, yellowing rooms with chicken in a basket, prawn cocktail and black forest gateuax the staples, food in the UK can be so much more thoughtful and varied these days. Linda's crab main was the "nicest I've ever had", my steak and " hand cut chips" (one can only assume this latest fad involves a knife) was just what the doctor ordered, washed down with the local brew.
Now for sleep.