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I‘ve just got back from the Lake District.
I’d never been before and it is without doubt a beautiful place to go for a holiday. No long flights, no getting up early to rush to an airport – yes, it has got a lot going for it. That said, it is a five hour drive, so we stayed over halfway going and coming back.
We also got stuck in traffic on the M6 on the way home, so a planned stop off at a National Trust property in Worcester, Croome to be precise had to be put off. And sitting in a car for five hours to go half the distance was not exactly ideal, especially mid heatwave.
Now our stay in Windermere was great, a lovely boutique hotel, nice restaurants in walking distance and the lake and all it has to offer on our doorstep. And yes, I would go again, despite the distance. But it did get me thinking, couldn’t I have just stayed in Devon and had just as an exciting break.
We have boutique hotels (I wouldn’t need one as I live here) fancy restaurants and a fabulous coastline to rival any lake. Also, no long car journey, although having said that going to North Devon can have its challenges!
In my younger days, we had a full car, the rear seats occupied by restless kids asking, “Are we there yet?” The secret was keeping their minds occupied. I am sure you have all played games in the car, to take your/their minds off the traffic jams or the stuffy hot interior. What were your favourites? Well, here’s few I remember and to be honest you do not have to be in a car to play them.
The Categories Game is the one where you start by choosing a category such as famous people, Torquay United players, or animals and then take turns to name something from that category. If you cannot think of something then you are out.
I sometime play this if I can’t get to sleep at night. The there is the old favourite, I-Spy, this one is not much fun if you are on your own in a darkened room trying to drop off. It is good with kids, it can take them ages in a car, especially if what you were thinking of had been passed, some miles earlier.
We always used to prepare CDs for the car especially for our holiday and we often play a game of Name That Song. This game can have numerous versions as well. You can take turns singing the lyrics to a song. Everyone else then tries to guess the name or artist of the song!
I’m told that this game works great for people of all ages, but if like me the only lyric you can recall is the title it can prove a bit tricky. You could of course play a short clip of a song using the car stereo and then everyone must guess the song as fast as possible.
If you need some inspiration you could have listen to Tuesday Night Tunes (I’m on that one) or one of the other great shows on Torbay Hospital Radio, where there is more often than not a theme and use it for your own collection of the best road trip songs! You can listen online, via your smart speaker or via torbayhospitalradio.com and we broadcast 24 hours a day.
So, what are the best road trips songs? Well, I’ll be showing my age now, Summer Holiday was a good one, I even know some of the lyrics to that one or anything by The Beatles. More recently Shania Twain, used to get the car rocking and I guess Oasis or maybe Taylor Swift. I hope you’ve had a good holiday this year and if you’re about to go, I-spy with my little eye…..
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