Day 8: Robin Hoods Bay to Scarborough

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Today was probably the toughest day for me. My muscles were aching from the somewhat unexpected ascents and descents on yesterday's long day of cliff walking; today was equally long and the elevation changes continued. I became a zombie, almost indifferent to the unfolding landscape. (But without the eating brains part.)

Still, it was all pretty spectacular for the first part of the day:

We stopped for lunch...

We encountered more and more people walking the trail (day trippers!), and eventually descended into the northern suburbs of Scarborough. We stopped for drinks at the first pub we saw, thinking we could see the end in sight.

It turned out, however, that we were about 3 miles away from our final destination. It took us a while to figure that out, but we had a nice walk along the water. As we began climbing up again, we saw Scarborough Castle:

After descending again into the heart of Scarborough, it turned out to be a tourist-heavy boardwalk town complete with beachgoers and sand sculptures. My favorite was the Sand Dalek:

We saw Coney Island en route:

A lift took us up again to the top of the town and walked around to the furthest bay where our hotel was.

We stumbled upon a bar which had recently re-opened its kitchen and was offering a one-day promotion: a full turkey or vegetarian dinner, with Yorkshire pudding, for £ 2.00. Yes, we couldn't believe it either. But there was no catch. It was delicious as well as economical, and we dined on the terrace overlooking the sea.

To be honest, much of Scarborough felt depressingly industrial - so far removed from the natural beauty of the rest of the walk, including the towns and villages we'd stayed at or passed through - and this made the 3 miles through town seem much longer than it was. But the neighborhood we stayed in was refreshingly "old school" with gracious Victorian homes and lovely views. The neighborhood had seen better days, perhaps, but the buildings are well-built and hold promise for restoration when people are ready to breathe new life into them.

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