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A Weekend Away In Vapeland
Posted by
Rusty
,
20 November 2011
·
292 views
The prospect of a weekend away from the children for only the second time in seven years - albeit less than a month after the first one - filled me with a sense of childish abandonment 
It was an opportunity to meet some 'old' friends and make some new ones and an opportunity to spend some quality time with Jessica.
We were attending two gatherings of ecig users in the North of England on consecutive nights - the first at a vegetarian cafe in Hull called the Zoo and the second at an OK Diner (a meat eaters paradise!) on the A19 near Elswick. The hotels and babysitters were booked and as I left for work on Friday morning, the sadness of leaving my little ones with Granny Grotbags, Auntie Nasty and Uncle Evil was tempered by the excitement of the weekend to come
The Friday weather was cold and miserable. A constant drizzle, a dull grey sky and a chill in the air. This coupled with 8 hours of trying to stay awake whilst learning how to sell stationery over the phone put me on a bit of a downer - However, I had the weekend to look forward to
At 5.30 pm, the claxon sounded and I had my 'Yabba Dabba Doo' moment
I rushed home to pick Jessica up and we were off 
The drive to Hull was fine despite the drizzle and we arrived at the Campanile Motel, booked in and got a taxi to the Zoo Cafe - or we would have done if the taxi driver had heard of it!!! Anyway, we got dropped off a the road it was supposed to be on, Jessica bought a couple of bottles of wine from the local Sainsburys and we went a-looking.
After walking up and down the street a couple of times, I heard the familiar voice of Neozero (Lyn) who also couldn't find the cafe, so two became three! Thanks to the miracle of the mobile telephone Lyn finally contacted the cafe and Scott came out to meet us and guide us down a side alley to the venue.
The cafe was small and cozy in a minimal sort of way and was already reassuringly full of vapour when we arrived. After the traditional first 30s of unease, the party was joined. Sid was there and so were Chris Clark, his girlfriend and Vapeman (Shane) who I met for the first time. During the night, liquids were swapped from one to another and devices compared as well as the odd imbibation of alcoholic beverage.
It was also great to see half a dozen other Hull vapers who do not inhabit our virtual world and the wonderful Paula from VaperWorld. The chat was progressing nicely when Jessica decided that we all should venture out to a pub to 'party'. The time was already past midnight and it had only seemed like we had been there a few minutes. We had a drink in a packed 'pulling joint' then retired to the comfort of a pizza, a taxi and the Campanile. A great night and a big thanks to Scott for aranging it
,,,zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,,,
Next morning we awoke nursing a slight hang-over and a thirst that made me think that I should have drank more the night before
, we headed for the coast via Driffield.
I wanted to show Jessica the BlueBell (TW vaping pub), but as we pulled up outside, her desire to get to Scarborough was greater than magnetic attraction to the pub, so we carried on. The weather was gloriously sunny and pleasantly mild, so I didn't complain.
The best part of the weekend was upon us. Fish and Chips in Scarborough followed by a stroll down the beach in bright hazy sunlight,,,,it was like travelling back in time to when we were just married,,,Blissssssssssssss
After a couple of hours basking in the peace of sun, sea and childlessness, we got back in the car and headed northwards. The journey on the coast road was breathtaking. Whitby is beautiful in any weather but on a warm Autumn's afternoon, it was stunning. The countryside around there and further northward, makes me proud to be a Yorkshireman,,,,,then just over the brow of a hill was ,,,,,, Middlesbrough!!!!! ,,,,omg - 'Industrial' comes to mind.
The trip through MBro was slow and frustrating, but we percy-vered and escaped through the other side to the more pastoral surroundings on the approach to the OK Diner and The Windmill Hotel - where we were to lay our weary heads for the night after the meet up.
After a quick wash and brush up, we entered a scene from a 1950's American road movie,,,although the Camel plains, Winston cigarettes and James Dean were replaced by Lavatubes, Darwins and DaveK
For me, the location seemed rather unusual for a meet up of this type but the staff at the OK Diner made us very welcome.
It was great to see so many familiar faces again (DaveK, Hifistud, Cat, Ron, Sav, Cliffy, Rawveg, Paula) plus meet and spend some time with people that we had only briefly met before at VapeFest (THJahar, Ben, Steffi, Jemima, Andy Roadhog) and others like Keith and Jemima's parents.
The entertainment was as you'd expect from Mr Dorn and the rest of the VTTV crew and we had a great time BUT we 'needed' a drink - so we said our goodbyes and retired to the bar of The Windmill. Having shown Nicky (from MBro) my ecig and let her toot on it behind the bar, we had the green light to vape and drink to our hearts' content. Jessica and I were joined by Paula and Big Tim (Rawveg),,,we drank for a while and then took carry outs back to our hotel room,,,to continue partying,,,,,
Next morning after breakfast, we came home full of the joys of being reunited with each other and looking forward to being reunited with our lads.
A fantastic weekend away and I would heartily recommend that everyone gives this type of event a go,,,,,,it is well worth the effort!!!
It was an opportunity to meet some 'old' friends and make some new ones and an opportunity to spend some quality time with Jessica.We were attending two gatherings of ecig users in the North of England on consecutive nights - the first at a vegetarian cafe in Hull called the Zoo and the second at an OK Diner (a meat eaters paradise!) on the A19 near Elswick. The hotels and babysitters were booked and as I left for work on Friday morning, the sadness of leaving my little ones with Granny Grotbags, Auntie Nasty and Uncle Evil was tempered by the excitement of the weekend to come
The Friday weather was cold and miserable. A constant drizzle, a dull grey sky and a chill in the air. This coupled with 8 hours of trying to stay awake whilst learning how to sell stationery over the phone put me on a bit of a downer - However, I had the weekend to look forward to
At 5.30 pm, the claxon sounded and I had my 'Yabba Dabba Doo' moment
I rushed home to pick Jessica up and we were off The drive to Hull was fine despite the drizzle and we arrived at the Campanile Motel, booked in and got a taxi to the Zoo Cafe - or we would have done if the taxi driver had heard of it!!! Anyway, we got dropped off a the road it was supposed to be on, Jessica bought a couple of bottles of wine from the local Sainsburys and we went a-looking.After walking up and down the street a couple of times, I heard the familiar voice of Neozero (Lyn) who also couldn't find the cafe, so two became three! Thanks to the miracle of the mobile telephone Lyn finally contacted the cafe and Scott came out to meet us and guide us down a side alley to the venue.
The cafe was small and cozy in a minimal sort of way and was already reassuringly full of vapour when we arrived. After the traditional first 30s of unease, the party was joined. Sid was there and so were Chris Clark, his girlfriend and Vapeman (Shane) who I met for the first time. During the night, liquids were swapped from one to another and devices compared as well as the odd imbibation of alcoholic beverage.
It was also great to see half a dozen other Hull vapers who do not inhabit our virtual world and the wonderful Paula from VaperWorld. The chat was progressing nicely when Jessica decided that we all should venture out to a pub to 'party'. The time was already past midnight and it had only seemed like we had been there a few minutes. We had a drink in a packed 'pulling joint' then retired to the comfort of a pizza, a taxi and the Campanile. A great night and a big thanks to Scott for aranging it
,,,zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,,,
Next morning we awoke nursing a slight hang-over and a thirst that made me think that I should have drank more the night before
, we headed for the coast via Driffield.I wanted to show Jessica the BlueBell (TW vaping pub), but as we pulled up outside, her desire to get to Scarborough was greater than magnetic attraction to the pub, so we carried on. The weather was gloriously sunny and pleasantly mild, so I didn't complain.
The best part of the weekend was upon us. Fish and Chips in Scarborough followed by a stroll down the beach in bright hazy sunlight,,,,it was like travelling back in time to when we were just married,,,Blissssssssssssss
After a couple of hours basking in the peace of sun, sea and childlessness, we got back in the car and headed northwards. The journey on the coast road was breathtaking. Whitby is beautiful in any weather but on a warm Autumn's afternoon, it was stunning. The countryside around there and further northward, makes me proud to be a Yorkshireman,,,,,then just over the brow of a hill was ,,,,,, Middlesbrough!!!!! ,,,,omg - 'Industrial' comes to mind.
The trip through MBro was slow and frustrating, but we percy-vered and escaped through the other side to the more pastoral surroundings on the approach to the OK Diner and The Windmill Hotel - where we were to lay our weary heads for the night after the meet up.
After a quick wash and brush up, we entered a scene from a 1950's American road movie,,,although the Camel plains, Winston cigarettes and James Dean were replaced by Lavatubes, Darwins and DaveK
For me, the location seemed rather unusual for a meet up of this type but the staff at the OK Diner made us very welcome.It was great to see so many familiar faces again (DaveK, Hifistud, Cat, Ron, Sav, Cliffy, Rawveg, Paula) plus meet and spend some time with people that we had only briefly met before at VapeFest (THJahar, Ben, Steffi, Jemima, Andy Roadhog) and others like Keith and Jemima's parents.
The entertainment was as you'd expect from Mr Dorn and the rest of the VTTV crew and we had a great time BUT we 'needed' a drink - so we said our goodbyes and retired to the bar of The Windmill. Having shown Nicky (from MBro) my ecig and let her toot on it behind the bar, we had the green light to vape and drink to our hearts' content. Jessica and I were joined by Paula and Big Tim (Rawveg),,,we drank for a while and then took carry outs back to our hotel room,,,to continue partying,,,,,
Next morning after breakfast, we came home full of the joys of being reunited with each other and looking forward to being reunited with our lads.
A fantastic weekend away and I would heartily recommend that everyone gives this type of event a go,,,,,,it is well worth the effort!!!
