One summer’s night stay in Blackpool

Last month we headed across to the West Coast to visit Blackpool. Not my favourite coastal town I must admit but now that we have family living there it makes sense to tie in a visit every so often.

We were booked to stay at The Royal Boston on the outskirts of Blackpool not too far from my mother-in-laws house. So after our long drive over we parked up by the hotel. It was warm but cloudy and unfortunately extremely windy with a hint of drizzle. The ultimate combination of weather that can’t make its mind up!

We planned to walk the couple of miles in to Blackpool along the beach, visit the amusements, have a wander and maybe even stop for a picnic! It was windy by the sea but the walk was nice and scenic.

We stopped partway along the coastal path for a picnic on the benches. It was perhaps a little too windy for a picnic but sometimes (especially when you have a toddler) you just need to stop and eat where you can. Luckily it was warm enough and every so often the sun would poke out of the clouds and say hello.

After our picnic we wandered in to the town centre and up and down the Piers. I used to love going on the waltzers with friends and as a kid I found all of the lights and noises so exciting! I think Blackpool is very appealing for kids, like a knock off Disneyland. All I can see now is a UK version of Benidorm with a hint of Vegas! But hey, at least it has it’s own Eiffel Tower..

We headed for the amusements first as our daughter, Hilda has only really seen these as a baby and she wasn’t old enough to join in. This time we gave her a pot of 2ps and she had so much fun putting them in the machines. Of course we overspent and won nothing.. The usual! But it’s the taking part that counts, right? It was really fun watching Hilda going from not knowing how to pop the 2ps in the machine to being a seasoned pro within a matter of minutes.

No visit to Blackpool is complete without a trip to Coral Island! I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been in here. It’s far more exciting than any other amusement arcade because it is Pirate themed, houses Captain Jack’s and even has a pirate ship ride inside!

Of course we couldn’t come here without letting our 2 year old have a little ride! I was on pram duty and waved from below as she rode with daddy and grandma.

After Coral Island we headed to some alternative rock bars I knew of in the centre. I absolutely love that Blackpool has such a great rock scene. I knew of two on the same street so we figured we’d see which one we liked the look of most once we got there. I’ve been to Scream & Shake Horror Bar before when I visited to see Bowling for Soup a couple of years ago. Glad to see the bar is still thriving so we popped in during the day. The great thing about this place is they allow children and don’t just serve alcohol. The menu is full of all sorts of concoctions like milkshakes, mocktails/cocktails and everything you’d find in a cafe but with great value prices!

Two cocktails for £10 ordered and I was loving life in my happy environment. Drinking good drinks, listening to good music and surrounded by horror memorabilia – As a big horror movie buff, I can’t complain.

After our pit stop we headed for the hotel to check-in. We really needed our 2 year old to nap or risk a very cranky toddler at dinner time. At this point it was nearing 5pm so way past usual nap time. As we walked the 40 minutes back to the hotel she cried the majority of the journey, it was starting to seem like our evening plans would be unlikely!

We reached The Royal Boston and were faced with a thriving lobby full of guests ready to get their drink on and enjoy the entertainment Blackpool is famous for. We were booked in to a family suite and were happy to find plenty of space for the three of us. The room was very hot so we opened all the windows and hoped for the best! After a little play in the room we got changed and ready to head out for my favourite part of the day – Dinner time! Still no nap from Hilda at this point so I was a little apprehensive about going.

We got in the car and headed out on a short drive to The Gurkha. This was a Chinese restaurant at the other side of Blackpool recommended by one of my best friends. She raves about this place every time she visits the town so I had high hopes. I must admit… I was not disappointed!

In fact, I was very impressed. The food here was amazing!! I can’t recommend this restaurant enough. We were 15 minutes late for our table after already pushing it back by 30 minutes (life with a toddler) but the staff were so friendly and accommodating. We sat at our table and hoped with all our might that Hilda wouldn’t decide to have an overtired tantrum.

Chinese, Indian and Thai food combined with a selection of desserts and a great value extensive drinks menu. We were really chuffed with this place. I chose bits from the starters section to begin with and was impressed with the level of spice offered on the spicy chicken chow mein and chips. It’s so hard to find restaurants that actually do spice right!

I moved on to mains and was shocked to find Thai Massaman Curry. I don’t find this dish many places and I fell in love with it on my travels around Thailand over a decade ago. It’s my absolute favourite curry so I was buzzing! I ate so much food, it’s safe to say I had to stop before I made myself sick – Definitely got my moneys worth! We were all happy to be here. Even Hilda behaved herself (probably because of the countless desserts and ice cream).

Heading back to the hotel, The Royal Boston, later than planned we assumed Hilda would be fast asleep very quickly. It was gone 9pm by the time she finally did then unfortunately she woke up again after 11pm. The music downstairs was booming through the floor despite us being on the highest floor (Heaven knows how bad it was if we were any lower). The heat in the room I believe was causing her to feel uncomfortable so we all struggled. Waking up every hour, it was not a good nights sleep and we were up for good before 6am. Bright and early we got everything packed and ready for breakfast. The less said about this disappointing display the better..

My blog is honest. I don’t get paid for any of my writing so I choose to write about what I want, the nitty gritty, the good AND the bad. That’s the good thing about not being sponsored to lie about how great a place is because you have to. All the views in this post are that of my own. I don’t always mention where I’ve been, especially if it’s terrible but sometimes I like to feature the things that are real and be able to look back on things we did or places we went. Not everything is rosy and perfect in our life and i’d hate anyone to think that! Blackpool was tiring, we didn’t sleep properly, our hotel was a little poop but hey – That’s life.

After breakfast we headed in to central Blackpool before popping to our family’s for lunch. So bright and early we had booked in for The Gruffalo & Friends Clubhouse. Stay tuned for my post all about this experience coming soon..

Blackpool is definitely unique and I believe it is Marmite. You love it or you hate it. I will leave you to guess whether I like Marmite or not. How do you feel about Blackpool?