I had heard quite a few people talk about South Shields, which is a town just north of Sunderland. Ash and I decided we'd go for a day trip, not having any clue what was there. All in all it turned out to be a really great day! Right before the metro came to a stop we saw a building with a giant green "ASDA" plastered on the side of it. As lame as this sounds, my heart skipped a beat -- ASDA is owned by Wal-Mart. Yay America! As soon as we got off the metro we made our way there. Although ASDA is much smaller than Wal-Mart, both of us almost had an emotional breakdown because it looked so much like home. We perused the store, wandering down each and every aisle with eyes wide with astonishment (looking back, I'm positive we looked like complete idiots, but oh well!). I was leading the Bible study later that night, so I bought some chocolate to introduce the CU girls to Hershey's kisses. After ASDA, we went to the South Shields Museum and Art Gallery, where we found live pythons, an exhibition about weddings, and a small interactive zone about exhibitions in general. I've found that museums and galleries in England have a LOT more interactive/kid-friendly exhibitions compared to ones in the States. It's my strive to share art with everyone -- and that includes children and families. It's definitely something I'll take back with me.
The receptionist at the gallery told us about a public artwork called "Conversation Piece" (or "Weebles" as the locals call them) down by the beach. While we did get lost trying to find them, we stumbled upon the Ocean Beach amusement park, complete with swings and arcades and rides and donut stands! There was also a small skate park where a few kids were showing off their skillz on bikes and scooters. The beach itself reminded me SO much of North Carolina with its dunes and cattails and fences along the coastline (minus the fact it was 40 degrees outside in May). Asking a couple more people for directions to the Weebles, we finally found the group of fat bean-bag-looking sculptures from the postcards in the museum. From where we were, there was a little red Groyne Lighthouse peeking over the dunes. Wandering down to the lighthouse I found a guy fishing for mackerel to no avail. By this time the wind was chilling us down to the bones, so we headed inland and slowly made our way back to the metro station.
We grabbed a late lunch/early dinner at a place called Southern Fried Chicken; Ash's mom back home had just watched an episode of Undercover Boss that featured that specific SFC. The food had my official southern stamp of approval! A cut-through through a park nearby yielded lovely pictures of flowers and some random Japanese arch-looking things. Ash grabbed a brownie at a small cafe once we got back into town, I finished off my Haribo gummies, and we got on the metro back to Sunderland. I must say that South Shields pleasantly surprised me, although I do hate that we had never made it there sooner. Nonetheless it was a good day and our dogs were barking after all was said and done. That night, I tried to go to bed relatively early because I had a 7:00 coach to York the next morning. A friend of mine from App was doing a 3-week Eurotrip and they happened to be stopping in York, so of course I couldn't resist another excuse to visit York and see her! :)
I had heard quite a few people talk about South Shields, which is a town just north of Sunderland. Ash and I decided we'd go for a day trip, not having any clue what was there. All in all it turned out to be a really great day! Right before the metro came to a stop we saw a building with a giant green "ASDA" plastered on the side of it. As lame as this sounds, my heart skipped a beat -- ASDA is owned by Wal-Mart. Yay America! As soon as we got off the metro we made our way there. Although ASDA is much smaller than Wal-Mart, both of us almost had an emotional breakdown because it looked so much like home. We perused the store, wandering down each and every aisle with eyes wide with astonishment (looking back, I'm positive we looked like complete idiots, but oh well!). I was leading the Bible study later that night, so I bought some chocolate to introduce the CU girls to Hershey's kisses. After ASDA, we went to the South Shields Museum and Art Gallery, where we found live pythons, an exhibition about weddings, and a small interactive zone about exhibitions in general. I've found that museums and galleries in England have a LOT more interactive/kid-friendly exhibitions compared to ones in the States. It's my strive to share art with everyone -- and that includes children and families. It's definitely something I'll take back with me.
The receptionist at the gallery told us about a public artwork called "Conversation Piece" (or "Weebles" as the locals call them) down by the beach. While we did get lost trying to find them, we stumbled upon the Ocean Beach amusement park, complete with swings and arcades and rides and donut stands! There was also a small skate park where a few kids were showing off their skillz on bikes and scooters. The beach itself reminded me SO much of North Carolina with its dunes and cattails and fences along the coastline (minus the fact it was 40 degrees outside in May). Asking a couple more people for directions to the Weebles, we finally found the group of fat bean-bag-looking sculptures from the postcards in the museum. From where we were, there was a little red Groyne Lighthouse peeking over the dunes. Wandering down to the lighthouse I found a guy fishing for mackerel to no avail. By this time the wind was chilling us down to the bones, so we headed inland and slowly made our way back to the metro station.
We grabbed a late lunch/early dinner at a place called Southern Fried Chicken; Ash's mom back home had just watched an episode of Undercover Boss that featured that specific SFC. The food had my official southern stamp of approval! A cut-through through a park nearby yielded lovely pictures of flowers and some random Japanese arch-looking things. Ash grabbed a brownie at a small cafe once we got back into town, I finished off my Haribo gummies, and we got on the metro back to Sunderland. I must say that South Shields pleasantly surprised me, although I do hate that we had never made it there sooner. Nonetheless it was a good day and our dogs were barking after all was said and done. That night, I tried to go to bed relatively early because I had a 7:00 coach to York the next morning. A friend of mine from App was doing a 3-week Eurotrip and they happened to be stopping in York, so of course I couldn't resist another excuse to visit York and see her! :)
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