Parents' Staycation

His parents took the kids for 2 nights, so rather than sneak away for a weekend we decided to staycation it and just go to the pub. We cabbed it over to Macclesfield and went to The Castle – a beautiful, very old real ale pub set back from an old cobbled street. According to the Wikipedia entry it was originally built as houses in the late 18th century and converted to a pub in the 19th century. It’s stunning, no pretence. Just really good beer and lots of locals and dogs just stopping for a chat and a fire.

We sat in the snug at the front. Me, him, our friends Leonie and Dave and their friend Smoky Pete and one more table of people who we didn’t know when we arrived but were laughing with like old friends when they left.

Smoky Pete isn’t called Smoky Pete because he smokes. He’s called Smoky Pete because he smokes cheese. In fact, he’s such a foodie that when Darren and I said we were hungry, he ran out of the pub, went into the fully booked tapas restaurant opposite (which he knew and had told us made incredible food), and because everyone knows and loves Smoky Pete, managed to wangle a table for Darren and I sitting in pride of place at the bar so we could eat our tapas there whilst chatting to the waiters about which dishes we should try. It was such a lovely evening. 

Honestly, if you live near Macclesfield or you want a weekend away, I can’t recommend it highly enough as an early doors escapade. The best bit was that we cabbed it back to Leek and were home by 10pm.

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