Wednesday 21st August is Sarah’s 50th birthday and to celebrate this landmark occasion we decided to spend the time at Caernarfon.

Tuesday evening

We drove over to Caernarfon after finishing work on the Tuesday evening. After dropping our stuff off at Caernarfon Travelodge we started by taking an evening stroll around the town.

We began by walking around Doc Fictoria, the newly renovated Victoria Docks Marina.

  

  

We then wandered in to walled town and ended up at the Black Boy Inn. This is a charming 15th century inn with plenty of character. Since it was a lovely summer evening, we bought a couple of drinks and sat outside and watched the world go by (something that would be a bit of theme over the next few days)

Sarah’s 50th Birthday – Wednesday morning

This was the big day – Sarah’s 50th Birthday. Happy birthday Sarah!

It began of course in traditional fashion with the opening of birthday cards.

Outside it was raining. Thankfully this didn’t last too long.

Heading in to Caernarfon there is a little church built in to the fortified town walls. It was open so we decided to take a look. St Mary’s Church was built in 1307 by Henry de Ellerton as a church for the garrison. We were greeted warmly and it is a little gem of a place.

  

Next we took a short stroll along the harbour.

  

We visited Calley’s Cafe for a cup of tea and cake. Or at least – I had some cake, sadly there wasn’t a gluten-free option for Sarah

Sarah’s 50th Birthday – Wednesday afternoon

Next it was time to visit Caernarfon’s most famous tourist attraction – Caernarfon Castle.

Built by King Edward I, Caernarfon is a large and imposing structure, and one of Wales’s most impressive castles.

By the time we had walked around the castle we were quite tired. Time for another cup of tea and to watch the world go by. This time at Scoops, who make some truly wonderful pancakes! Very naughty indeed.

  

Next we continued our walk around Caernarfon promenade.

  

We ended up back at Doc Fictoria where we stopped off at Yr Harbwr and enjoyed another drink, this time of the alcoholic variety. Funnily enough, the idea of enjoying a drink at this venue overlooking the marina whilst watching the world go by had been the appeal for why Sarah had wanted to come to Caernarfon (we had originally passed through Caernarfon on one of our rides on our club cycling weekend last year). Sometimes it is these smallest of memories that can give the impetus for the best plans.

Sarah’s 50th Birthday – Wednesday evening

In the evening we went back to the Black Boy Inn for a celebratory evening meal. The Inn is an extremely popular eating establishment and we had to wait for awhile before a table became available. In fact they almost forgot about us and due to problems in the kitchen had stopped serving meals. When we pointed out how long we had been waiting before being informed of this, they quickly agreed to provide meals for us.

Anyway, apart from the above hiccup, we can say that the Black Boy Inn provides some fantastic meals and is well worth visiting. Indeed, once we had managed to order the meals they were served very quickly indeed. It provided an enjoyable and fitting climax to an excellent 50th birthday for Sarah.

Sadly, all too soon Sarah’s 50th birthday was over and it was time to go back to the hotel. Tomorrow it is Sarah’s 50th birthday + 1 day …