Pub? Pub.

After settling in, we got back in the car to drive to the nearby village of West Stafford. The road there was extremely narrow, and there are no street lights to speak of. It could not have been any darker. The village itself was quite small with its main attraction being the pub. Coincidentally this was our destination as well. I ordered a beer called Butcombe Bitter, which was a bit of a dilemma. You see, I didn't want a lager or anything light. It was cold out and I wanted something heartier, but I wasn't sure how to pronounce Butcombe. Butt comb? Butt com? I asked for the bitter and the bartender understood.

Nicole had a steak and I had the fish n' chips. For the second time this trip, it was served with mashed peas. This is an aspect of the fish n' chips order that has not taken off in America and I'd be interested to know how exactly I'm supposed to eat them. Do I dip the fish in it? Do I eat it straight up? Are they for the chips? The world continues to surprise me. After a most hearty dinner, we slowly drove back in the pitch black night. The strong winds seem to have pushed a lot of the clouds out of the way, and we could see lots of stars. Unfortunately when we got back to the Yalbury cottage, the lights from their restaurant and the motion sensing lights in the car park proved to be too much light pollution for good star pictures. Nevertheless, we walked around to the street-side to make the best of it. There were some power lines that were unavoidable in our shots, but this was the end result . . .