Another beautiful Abbey...Whitby

In the 16th century, Henry the VIII enacted the Dissolution of the Monastaries Act.  This forced churches, Abbeys, and other Catholic places of worship to close - and turn their profits over to the monarchy.  Who knew that such an arcane law -  that was revolutionary for the time - could create these beautiful Abbey ruins to visit 500 years later!

Last weekend we took a day trip to Whitby - on the eastern coast of North Yorkshire.  It's a small fishing village on the North Sea.  Whitby is famous as the setting for scenes of Dracula and was the inspiration for Robert Stoker many moons ago.  We climbed the same 199 stairs that the Black Dog in Dracula so famously climbed...but I did the stairs with a white fluffy dog in my arms (Alfie is too little to climb that many stairs!).

If you're going to Whitby, I would offer a few tips: (1) Fish and chips are fresh and famous in Whitby, caught the same day!; (2) Make sure to map out parking when you drive, it's kind of a bear; and (3) If you can, drive about 15 minutes south and visit Robin Hood's Bay...quite the site.  Here are a few photos of our day:

Fishing boats in Whitby.  The Abbey is up on the top of the hill:

Beautiful weather for family photos at the Abbey:

The front of Whitby Abbey with a lovely reflection on the pond:

A good sense of the size and amazing scale of the Abbey...P is the figure on the left:

Alfie takes it all in

Robinhood's Bay:

Alfie LOVED the beach and raced around it until he dropped:

Air Alfie

We had a great day...and one of us slept the whole car ride home: