Once more for old times' sake

Today Joanne and I had the chance to visit a few old haunts, just one more time.

The initial plan was to head out with my mum to Barton for a wander round and a look at the Humber Bridge, which is still quite an impressive feat of engineering, but a incident with a curb and a snapped sandal strap meant a detour from Barton to Grimsby town centre to (unsuccessfully) hunt out Merrell distributers.

One quick trip to a cobbler equipped with superglue meant we were back on track but by now the Humber Bridge was out of the question as it was time to pick Ellie up from school.

We had a plan to go out for tea together, the four of us, but it was way too early for that so we drove to the far end of Cleethorpes for a wander round the boating lake, a real blast from the past, and especially cute given the numerous goslings and ducklings around the place.

We also had time to drive by the pier too, for a quick photo. Who knows when they'll finally demolish it. I wanted a snap for old times' sake.

The tea plan was to appease Jo. One of her favourite places to eat in North East Lincs is a place called Steel's. Steel's Cornerhouse Restaurant to give it it's formal name. It was listed in the Egon Ronay Good Food Guide 1982 I'll have you know. And it serves fish and chips. Good fish and chips. In fact, according to Joanne it's the best fish and chips in the world.

Look at the size of that bit of fish there. Jumbo fish, chips and mushy peas, bread and butter, and a mug of tea. It doesn't get any better than that. Of course, I don't eat fish, but I can recognise quality. And this is quality.

Just don't you dare ask for cod. It's haddock. And only haddock. Cod is blasphemy in this neck of the woods. Really.

On the way home we took a detour via the docks. I wanted to take one more photo of Grimsby before I left. The dock tower is an iconic symbol of the town where I grew up. An image of my childhood.

Just like when we left from here almost two years ago, I don't know when I'll next be here. And it's a strange feeling.

I have enjoyed seeing my family so much and spending time with them. I'll see Dad & Marlene at Christmas and Mum in February hopefully, and those times will come round fast enough, but it's still different when you live on the other side of the world.