Island dreams – a weekend away in the Isle of Man COMPLETED 7/15 - Page 10 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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What a great great room at the B&B. I especially like the bath! Great use of colors, well designed and decor! Some nice scenery in Douglas.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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Saturday 14 June – part twelve: getting the horse-drawn treatment around Douglas
We wandered along for a little way, not 100% sure where the tram stop was.
We saw one coming the other way, so crossed the road, and then Mark spotted the stop, so we waited there. We weren’t quite sure how this was going to work, given that the tram is in the middle of the road, with cars either side of it, but essentially the conductor stops the traffic for you to get on and off, which is a very good system.
It doesn’t go very far along the promenade, before it gets to Victoria Pier, which is its terminus, so we took it there…
… then watched as they turned all the seats around, and the horse was taken to the other end of the tram, so we could set off again.
At this point, we paid our £3 each single fare, which meant Mark wouldn’t be going home with his Manx money.
We headed back along the promenade and past our hotel – of course now, we can easily spot it!
I wasn’t sure where we were going to get off, but it became clear some people further up were getting off soon, so I figured we’d jump off wherever they did, and hopefully it wouldn’t be too far along for us to walk back.
Fortunately, it wasn’t. We got off, and I got some photos of our tram…
… before we headed over the road to this beautiful place, the Villa Marina Gardens.
Once we’d finished there, we headed over the road to see this memorial to the dead of the first two World Wars.
Then we wandered back along the promenade, which was lovely and wide, and pretty deserted. It was lovely to stroll along here in the sun, although I was having to be careful, having discovered I’d already managed to get burnt around my neck, so now the factor 50 was on.
We watched one of the regular ferries come in…
… and admired the sunken gardens along here…
I couldn’t resist getting a few shots of Mark while he was looking out and admiring the view.
I heard a lot of squawking from some birds, and eventually in the distance, I spotted who the culprits were…
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Saturday 14 June – part thirteen: you can’t pack up now!
We wandered back to the hotel…
… and had a little bit of down time in the room before we had to head out to meet Carole for dinner.
We headed out about 6:15pm, and got to the car, and the sat nav (GPS to you guys) wouldn’t start up. Ok, now what, because my phone’s not getting a signal here either, so I can’t use the map function on my phone. I tried Mark’s, but that was now refusing to find a network as well. We kept rebooting the sat nav, but with no joy, and in the end, with time ticking on, I suggested Mark park outside the hotel, and I’d ask them for directions. Fortunately, they knew exactly where I was talking about, and gave me directions, which didn’t sound too hard to follow.
We set off, found the left hand filter lane into the Broadway, the traffic lights with the church and gas station, and the mini roundabout, where you turn right and go up a hill. So far, so good. They told us we’d see the place as we drove along, but I have to confess I wasn’t expecting to drive so far. It felt as if we were leaving Douglas, and I was about to say that I thought we’d gone wrong, when I saw a sign for Governor’s Hill, and I knew that was the area of Douglas that Carole lived in, so we were in the right area. Sure enough, we saw the pub shortly afterwards on the right. Phew!
When we walked in, I wasn’t sure if I’d recognise her, and she was thinking the same thing, but we did recognise each other, and exchanged huge hugs. I wasn’t sure when I’d last seen her, but she came over here in 1990, so it had been 24 years.
We sat chatting away for some time, as if we’d only seen each other the week before, and then decided we really should order some food.
I went for the goat’s cheese and caramelised onion Panini…
… while Mark had the house burger, served with onion rings, mushrooms, cheese and fried egg. Look at the size of this thing! He did actually demolish the whole thing!
Once we were done with our main courses, again we sat there chatting for ages, before getting dessert. I went for the ice cream sundae, which was very good:
Mark had the sticky toffee pudding, and it was another whopping dish! It was cold when it came out, and Carole was having none of that, and took it straight back to get it heated up. If you’re getting the impression that she’s a no-nonsense character, you’d be spot on!
Eventually, about 9:00pm, we were both starting to flag, so we had to draw the evening to a close. Carole refused to let us pay, so settled up, with us telling her if we come back, we’ll definitely have to return the favour, and from what we’ve seen so far today, we would like to return. We heard that the bill came to £56 ($92), which we thought was excellent value for three of us, considering I’d had a glass of wine, and Carole had had three beers.
One other thing I should say here is that it’s called the Cat With No Tail (good name, huh? ) and for almost the whole meal, there was a cat sitting on the empty chair next to Carole, although this one did come with a tail.
The Cat With No Tail
Entrée 8 8
Dessert 8 8
Service 7½ 7½
Atmosphere 8½ 8½
Value for money 8½ 8½
Average score:
We headed outside, and got a photo done, and said our sad farewells. It had been so good to catch up with her again and I hope it’s not 24 years until the next time. :grouphug;
We headed back the route we’d come, which fortunately was pretty easy to remember, and wouldn’t you know it, as we drove back, the sav nat decided to perk back into life – typical!
It was lovely to be out after 9:00pm, and still have light. The sun was still catching some of the buildings as we drove along.
We found a parking space not too far away from our hotel, and I got a few final shots as we walked back.
I also got some shots of the view outside from the breakfast lounge, just in case it’s busy in there tomorrow morning.
With that, we went back to the room. England were playing their first match in the World Cup against Italy at 11:00pm, but there was no way we were going to stay up to watch that, and it’s probably just as well we didn’t, given that they lost so we headed to bed way before kick-off…
The weather today was warm and sunny with some cloud and temperatures in the mid 60s. The best thing today was the views at the Sound and seeing Carole again. The worst thing today was the sat nav packing up just as we were heading out to see Carole. The funniest thing today was “who goes there?”… “me!” Today we tried visiting Castle Rushen And the result was it was a beautiful place with some amazing views. The most magical moment today was seeing the seals off the Sound.
I just think all of the food photos are awesome. This is something I would like to do on our next trip to make my scrapbooking more interesting. We had a house on the water, but after many hurricanes with high waters and strong winds, we had to give it up, that said I love the photos of all the building right on the water, so is there any type of weather that might cause this island some wind and water damage??
I just think all of the food photos are awesome. This is something I would like to do on our next trip to make my scrapbooking more interesting. We had a house on the water, but after many hurricanes with high waters and strong winds, we had to give it up, that said I love the photos of all the building right on the water, so is there any type of weather that might cause this island some wind and water damage??
I'm sure any coastal building can be subject to damage if the weather's bad enough, but from everything we heard from Carole, they rarely to seem to get really bad weather, so if there is any damage, I think it's very unusual.
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Pixie Dust
Great use of colors, well designed and decor! 
Some nice scenery in Douglas.
PassPorter Guide Author
you can’t pack up now! 
. We have ferries around here but way smaller. The island is very beautiful indeed!!!!!
Ok, now what, because my phone’s not getting a signal here either, so I can’t use the map function on my phone. I tried Mark’s, but that was now refusing to find a network as well. 
. We had a house on the water, but after many hurricanes with high waters and strong winds, we had to give it up, that said I love the photos of all the building right on the water, so is there any type of weather that might cause this island some wind and water damage??
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