A Weekend In The Peak District

2018 is a big year for my family as it is my brother's 18th, my 21st, my dad's 50th and my parent's 25th wedding anniversary. So instead of having separate parties or events, we figured that we would celebrate them all together and go away for a weekend!

I have never been to the Peak District so it was nice exploring a new part of our own country, especially since we were quite lucky with the weather. 

On the first day we got to our hotel in the early evening as it was around a 4 hour drive from where we live, so we just went for a little walk around the grounds and took Sammy (our dog) out for a bit to let off some steam before going back to our rooms to have a glass of Prosecco and get ready for dinner. The hotel and restaurant was quite posh so I was surprised they allowed dogs at all, but everyone brought them in to the main bar area and had a laugh which was nice. 

Makenay Hall Hotel

The dinner was lovely; it was one of those limited menus that you would find in a high end restaurant which is full of dishes that you don't really know but recognise one thing you like so decide to go for it haha. So I started with paté, then a pork main with mustard mash and finished with a sticky toffee pudding. We then had a few drinks in the bar before heading to bed.

The next day we drove for about an hour as we were going to visit Chatsworth House. It is home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and was an absolutely magnificent day out; full of history and photo opportunities haha. We spent a lot of the time walking round the gardens before going into the house itself. What I liked is the fact that the parts of the house that were open to the public were left as close to what they would have been like all those years ago as they could, so you could really understand how people lived back then, which made it all the more interesting. 

 The house is full of artwork, so much that even the ceilings were covered in huge paintings or patterns. I also loved the fact that people have collected so many different things from different types of wood to crystals and rocks. There was even a cabinet of things found under the floorboards etc when the house was being renovated - kind of like a time capsule haha. 

 We then had a bit of lunch in the stables which was just what I needed. We all just went with a sandwich, cake and crisps as it was already about 4pm. As we were eating, I realised that half of my photos had come out blurry or were way too bright as I had had the camera on the wrong setting.....woops! So me and Luke ran down to the gardens before it closed and had just enough time to have a little photoshoot before we left, and to be honest I am very glad we did as I love how this set of photos came out...

 We then headed back to the car and drove back to the hotel where we played a few games in our rooms, had more Prosecco and got ready for dinner; not before we went out to climb a few trees though! 

By then Sammy was absolutely shattered and just passed out in the room as we went to have dinner. It was a slightly different menu but I stuck with the paté and then had steak as my main which was very nice. I opted out of dessert though as I was way too full. We then went into the lounge area again, had a few drinks and played a few rounds of our quiz game before going back to our rooms to bed. 
The next day we were leaving, so we packed up all of our things and headed for a nearby town to go up in a cable car and explore the Heights of Abraham. We grabbed a bit of lunch first which was fish and chips as none of us had had anything to eat and it was also a good dodge from the rain. After we had finished stuffing our faces, we made our way up to the cable cars.
Getting Sammy onto a moving cable car was so funny to watch because she definitely wasn't sure about it but she seemed to enjoy it once she settled down. 

It was a bit drizzly compared to the other days but we still had a good look round and picked up a few things in the gift shop before heading for the mines. 

We learned a lot more history here too. I couldn't believe that people used to work so far underground with only a tiny candle as lighting! It was just so interesting and it was my first time going into a mine as well so it was a good experience. 
We then headed back down to the car and made our way home. Overall it was a lovely little getaway for us all to celebrate our milestones together and I thought it was a nice touch that Sammy could come with us as well, as after all, she is part of the family. 

xx
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