Oh, That Grand Ol' Duke of York...

National Railway Museum

We had a lovely first night at our new hotel in York, and were bright eyed and bushy tailed for our day out in the town!

The National Railway Museum was very highly recommended by guide books and locals alike, so we gave it a go.

It was great!  A small Thomas engine greeted the boys, but I think little Gabe was most excited by it.  The Great Hall housed some really spectacular engines that have been very lovingly restored.  We couldn't go in them, but there were platforms that allowed us to peak in.  The boys saw the trains from above and below, checking out the wheels, gears and seeing a rainbow of colors.  It was fun to see them all match the engine to the characters from Thomas the Train.

But the museum wasn't just a round house of train engines... oh no!  There was The Works where we saw how the restoration is done, The Warehouse where all the stuff from the trains is kept (it's like a really large version of Grandma's attic) and then The South Yard - a playground complete with a small train for the boys, all the boys, to ride.

Betty's Tea House

From here Chris and I left and sought out Betty's Tea Room.  This was something I'd been looking forward to for months!  As the boys boarded the mini train, Josh and Chris said they'd take the boys for lunch elsewhere so Chris and I could enjoy our tea luncheon alone.  What a treat!!!  I was so, so thankful.  I think the boys would have liked all the little cakes and sandwiches, but it would have been a very different experience.   When we got to the restaurant there was a waiting list.  The girl taking names said it'd be about 40 minutes.  Well, it wasn't quite, more like 20.  Luck was with us and we had a beautiful table for two right by the windows on the main floor.  The whole experience was perfect.  The table settings, the lovely server helping us, the tiered, silver trays stuffed with goodies, my wonderful friend sitting across from me and of course the best tea I'd had yet on this trip.  

After lunch we all met up again and headed over to the famous York Minster.  "Yes, kids, another church, but wait until you see it!"

York Minster

It looked like a wedding cake, with spires and tiers reaching to the sky.  The interiors were bright with sunlight bouncing off all the white marble and gold.  We walked all throughout the nave, through the choir room, which was really beautiful, and even downstairs to the foundations.

Whew!  Busy day already - time for a little siesta.

The dads took our (large) bags of laundry in search of a place to wash and the moms took the kids to the hotel pool for a little splash time.  Oh, the kids were so excited for this!  This hotel had a really nice indoor pool set up, a small kids pool beside a larger, deeper pool and then a good sized jacuzzi pool.  There were lots of other families there but it wasn't crowded.  Josh and Chris returned with two bags of dirty clothes since all the laundrettes were closed or inaccessible due to the flooding throughout the town.

A little flooding wasn't enough to slow us down though!  That evening we bundled up and headed back to the historic town center, to The Golden Fleece - York's most haunted pub, for a scary night time tour of York.  This wasn't a "ghost" tour per se, but more of a historical tour of the creepy things that once happened there... told with a little flare.  Our tour guide, Damian (yes, that's his given name) was really great.  He let the big boys help him act out some pretty gruesome scenes for the crowd, which Van and Brody were super excited to do!  Van came away saying, "I can't believe I got to act on stage!"  He wasn't really on stage, but he was acting and it was a thrill for him.  Josh and I thanked our guide when it was over, not only for a very informative and entertaining tour, but for giving us lots of questions to answer later.  (Thankfully we didn't get that many questions from the boys on the content of the tour, I think it mostly went over their heads... thank goodness)

 The Terror Trail started at the Golden Fleece and through The Shambles