The Island at war

Each year we happen to arrive when the island holds events to remember its participation in WW2.  Parts of the island were used as internment camps and the airport in Jurby was used to land fighter jets for the allies.

Port Erin was buzzing with all sorts of activities.

Lovely old tunes being belted out!

Once we settled in to our cottage for our stay, we walked down to the beach in Port St. Mary.  It was a very windy day, so the surf was up and waves crashed over the stones!

Our cottage is on this promenade

Time for dinner....Just around the bay at Gansey, there is lovely hotel,  The Shore, which has a wonderful dining room.

Warm goat cheese salad

Lamb Shanks

Creme brule

 This is the view of Gansey from my earlier walk

A visit with the cats tomorrow.

IOM - the first few days

During the first week of the Classic TT, the practice laps are only run in the evening, leaving us time to visit the island during the day.

Every year the village of Port Erin holds a commemorative day to honour those who fought in the two World Wars.  These  lovely ladies were singing all the old war time songs.

 Everyone watching sang along and you could see the glint of memory in the eyes of the more senior attendees.

We went back to our old haunt, The Station Pub for a bite of lunch to try out their new menu.

My chicken wings were quite good, but many were missing in action.

Ken tried their open faced club sandwich

....tasted pretty good according to him!

It has been particularly foggy over the past few days, which is not unusual for the island, but offered some interesting photo ops!

The sky also offered a pretty dramatic tableau

With practice cancelled, the only thing left to do was go back to the cottage and and give some loving to the resident kitties!

Yes, his father was Manx, so only half a tail!

 Let's hope for some better weather soon!

Isle of Man, Here we come!

It is that time of year again, for our annual pilgrimage to  

The Isle of Man to enjoy the island and spectate at 

the Classic TT and Festival of Motorcycling!

First stop, dinner at the airport before embarking on our 24 hour journey

We had to get in our last Canadian fix....poutine

 ...and a cheeseburger

We arrived to a rainy, cloudy day!

and were greeted by "Barbie' having a bath.....

....at our favourite B and B: West Lodge in Port Erin for the night.

We had a fabulous view of Bradda Head

We headed to our favourite Restaurant, The Station for dinner.  Ken had his favourite, 'The Station Stack'; chicken, bacon and pineapple all topped off with cheese

I opted for the special; linguine with seafood and garlic bread

Port Erin was a favourite holiday spot at the turn of the century

The next day we headed to the cottage we rented, in Port St. Mary.

The Bay was lively with the waves crashing up on the promenade.

We are looking forward to exploring more of the island...... 

 

Drag Races

Each year the town of Ramsey hosts the 'sprints', also known as drag racing.

Before heading out to watch the action, we stopped in the park at Mooragh Lake to take in another collection of vintage bikes

This guy wasn't going to let a disability stop him from going fast

Some of the bikes even had names......

.....and so did some cars!

The sprints take place on a public road bordering the ocean.
The drag bikes had to make sure their tires were good
and hot to get the best traction. 

This guy was rocking his bike back and forth for maximum speed!

A little live taste....

I still needed my 'Glen' fix, so headed to the base of Lhergy Frissel, 

to climb the steep embankment of Elfin Glen.

My objective was to get to the top to visit Albert Tower,
which has breathtaking views of Ramsey

The paths were not very well marked, so we did manage to lose our way a bit

It was difficult to decide which paths to follow, so we tried this one with a cute gate

I am disheartened to report we never found the right path so headed back with promises of trying again next year

We took solace in our defeat by joining our friends, the Drinkwaters, and our cottage mates for dinner at The Station in Port Erin.  You must know where this is leading and you are right.....Lamb Shanks!!!!

Stay tuned for our last day of racing.....

Beach Motocross & ATV races

We started our annual pilgrimage to the 'Isle of Man' from Toronto,

 with a hearty dinner (full of fat) at the airport.

Grilled Chicken & bacon

The clouds were so fluffy and picturesque

After 28 hours of traveling, we finally arrived! 

No visit to Port Erin is complete without a meal at our favourite place, The Station!

Grilled gammon steak with egg, mushy peas (had too) and chips

After dinner we were treated to fast paced Beach Motocross in Port  Erin

An they are off!

Can you imagine this happening at Sandbanks Provincial Park?

As there can be marine mishaps, the island relies heavily on the efforts of the 

'Royal National Lifeboat Institution' to provide rescues at sea.

Their mascot joined in the fun, to the delight of all the children!

A wonderful first day, then off for much needed sleep!