As I had informed you, the original plan was to walk. At 8p.m. however Jan decided it was much too dark to do so. And I agreed with him. There are no street lamps out here and without a torch it’s a challenge for your eyes to even begin to adjust. A 15 minute car ride took us into Spreyton where we parked and made our way to Tom Cobley’s front door. I took a photograph of Daniel at the entrance and noticed our camera’s sim card had been left in our bedroom. Ah well, we’ll be back.
Fourteen different kinds of brew on tap! So many choices! Since I know extremely little about beer, an example being that Daniel asked me if I wanted an ale to which I replied, “What does that mean?” I chose my first beer after the bar tender gave us two samples. Following that, I chose by name. Incidentally I choose my wine bottles by the pretty labels. Notice a trend? I’m going to do my best to remember all the kinds we had. Some of you already know and some may be learning that I love a good list. So here is another:
Black Boar - Legend - Otter - Cotleigh Tawny - Cornish Knocker - Doom Bar - Old Bitter
These are the ones Daniel and I can recall. It’s good to share and with three of us we really were able to make the rounds in tasting. Each brew we tried, we liked. Which must be why Tom Cobley Tavern won National Pub of the year [2006]. None of these flavors are too strong and in fact the last one that Daniel had, Doom Bar, was a favorite of him and Jan. I thought it tasted like a nice morning tea. The tavern frequently changes the beers they have on tap so we’ll have another chance to sample good English barley pop. We ordered a bowl of chips and cheese as well. They were probably the largest chips [fries] I’ve ever seen. And they were quite good. You know we eat them with mayonnaise, right? We ordered ketchup too!
Jan cracks me up. He is such an honest person and one of my favorite parts of the night occurred when Daniel was saying something and started to trail off on his thought. He paused and Jan said, “That’s right. Think.” It was beautiful. How often do people give you the space and encourage you to really gather your ideas? Another time when Daniel was ordering a round for the table Jan and I talked of all of our accents. Jan says it sounds like Daniel is from Rhode Island or Massachusetts, meaning he’s at least getting closer to this country. I said, “Hmm, I’ve probably only made it to Utah.” According to Jan my accent is completely understandable. The only time he says “Pardon?” to me is when he actually can not hear me. He assures me it is only because I have a soft voice. About every five years someone says this to me. Obviously with a theatre background I know how to speak loudly, I just have a personal preference that I speak at a volume which is necessary.
One of my favorite things about this pub was the ladies restroom. I know that’s a bit odd, however if you saw the tiny door you had to squeeze through to get there, you’d love it too. I had to duck, that’s right, me! At five three! There was a paper sign reading, “Mind Your Head”. In the bathroom, however, was a framed chain letter saying that anyone who reads it must not break it. Something about packaging up and sending your husband to the first name on the list then adding your name to the bottom of the list. When your time comes around you shall receive 16,378 men from other ladies and that one of them should at least be better than your current partner. 16,378 - Yes I remember the number. How can I make millions from this figure recall talent? I have to say, I found this letter off putting. I’m so confused when wifes complain about their husbands in this way. Obviously from time to time Daniel and I annoy each other, but to think of wishing I had someone “better” is completely foreign to me. After thirteen and a half years together I can honestly say that my partner still surprises me, makes me laugh, and rubs my back every time I ask. And sometimes when I don’t. My advice is for you to marry someone who wants to change with you. Even as kids -I understand we were kids when we married- we agreed to always encourage each other’s personal growth.
Just call me the tangent queen. It’s nice to read about love though, right? At any rate I met a dog in the pub last night. A black and white boxer called Nina. Her owner told me the joke about finding a girl just like his mother. Cooked like her, looked like her, laughed like her; brought her home and his father didn’t like her. I said, “Ah yeah” and made my “Buh Dum Ching” drum and symbol noise at him which he loved. He told me I must have come to that pub before since I’d already heard the joke. I thought that was funny. Also, I totally faked an accent with him and he didn’t notice! Or he was drunk. [He was].
All in all we had a splendid night and I’m looking forward to this afternoon when Jan gives us a guided tour of our grounds.
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