Although we felt better we didn’t feel up to the walk into Padstow so, after a good Brunnehilda breakfast we headed into town and parked in the top car park to walk down the hill in time for the noon opening of the Festival.
When we were over in Rock yesterday, a very nice lady serving us in the Beach House coffee shop told us about a special secret - she said it’s not publicised but go to the Sharps Rock Brewery tent and ask to go on the Sharps Experience. She said they don’t like people to talk about what goes on but it’s great fun and memorable - even if you don’t like beer.
We arrived at 11.50, mentioned the Sharps Experience and were booked on as the last 2 places of 6. Turns out the only do about 5 a day so can only accommodate 30. And the cafe lady was correct- it was amazing! It involved the 6 of us squeezing into a very tight dark place with a host / barman. He served us 5 different beers with 5 different food items - all done by local chefs in the area. Doesn’t sound much but it was awesome- the host told us all about the beer and food and was like a very unpretentious tasting session. The weirdest thing was that for 40 mins we had this exclusive session where we were sitting only 2 yards from thousands of people who literally knew nothing about what was going on!
After that the Festival seemed a bit of an anti-climax. Don’t get me wrong there was a wide variety of food, drink and other vendors (Kim bought a very very nice cotton throw) but it was ramming and a little samey ( but a lot smaller) than say the Portmeirion fair.
We popped out the other end at about 1.30 and decided we should go over the water and thank the coffee shop lady. Also one of the dishes we were served in the Sharps Experience were Mussels by local chef Paul Ainsworth and he has a pub in Rock called The Mariners - that sounded good for lunch. Oh, and one other reason, Kim saw a nice coat in the Quba sale which they didn't have in her size at Padstow - they had one in the Rock store!
So that’s what we did - had a nice lunch at The Mariners (I had the mussels as we looked over the bay at where they were farmed), walked 20 mins up the hill to Quba, had a coffee from the Beach House and thanked the nice lady and caught the last ferry back to Padstow at 4.30.
When we got back the Festival was winding down so we just headed back to Brunnehilda. The walk back up the steps to the car park was quiet a challenge and a gentle reminder that 100% had not yet been re-reached!
After a bit of battery charging - phones and selves - we headed back for tea at Rick Steins fish and chip shop. Kim had the obvious and I went for the curry - a mistake, it wasn’t great. A visit to Tesco on the way home and back safely in Brunnehilda by 9 as the weather started to change and a really gale was brewing.
3 or 4 Modern Family episodes on Prime then off to bed! A good day. A Sharp Experience day. Not one that I’ll forget in a hurry!
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