Sunshine again! While it didn’t last all day I did have sunshine for a good portion of the day today.

The bulk of today was sent at the castle and town of Dunster. About 40 minutes east of my lodging, Dunster is another very cute town definitely geared towards the tourist crowd. Parking is a bit scarce and while the castle does have a small amount of parking, I believe most folks visiting use the town’s pay lot. The nice part is that you get to walk through the downtown to get to the castle. The downside is you have to walk through downtown to get to the castle. Good luck getting by all of those shops if they’re already open!

There has been a fortification in Dunster since Saxon times. After the Normans invaded, the fortification was gifted to one of William’s friends who started the second round of multiple building cycles.

The fort changed from a wooden fort to a stone castle, then to a Jacobean manor castle, all the way up to a modern castle with indoor plumbing and modern kitchen.

Keep in mind, the whole place is on a hill. If you go to visit, you are going to have to hike up to see anything.

Lunch was at a delightful spot called Tessa’s Tea Shop. They have both indoor and outdoor seating. It was such a lovely day that I decided to sit outside. England has a sense of humor.

About a third of the way through my pie, it began to rain. Thankfully, I had chosen a table with an umbrella that kept most of the rain out until it started to come down harder. Some of the folks with no umbrella mad a dash for the interior dinning. The rest of us just toughed it out. It wasn’t too bad but it was on and off till I made it back to Lynton.

After lunch, I tried a drive through Exmoor but mostly I just saw the sides of hedges lining the road. When I finally got to the top of the hills, there really weren’t any good spots to pull off at and nothing much to see. So, I made my way back to Lynton to roam around the town and head down the cliffs to Lynmouth.

Supposedly, there is a perpetual argument between Cornwall and Devon as to how to properly dress your scone. Cornwall says jam first then cream and Devon says cream first then jam. I’m sorry Cornwall, your way just doesn’t make sense. If you put the jam on first the cream won’t stick to anything when yo try to spread. That being said I did destroy one half of the scone trying the spread the cream that had just come out of the fridge. Let it warm up first if you ever try this yourself.

Today was probably my best day so far! The castle was very interesting and the town was really nice to stroll through. Getting to see Lynmouth was a treat as well. I know there are probably a few more towns I would like to have seen along this part of the coast but tomorrow I move further east and leave the southwest of England behind.