Gym & Tonic

After shutting down both the laptops yesterday morning, Phil& I jumped in the car and went to the Gym & Tonic health club in the hotel grounds. And yes. you do read me right, the gym building is in a complex which would entail only a 10 minute walk but our gym kit bags are heavy and we intended to go off site after our workout so it made sense to the car. It was easy to get a title for my blog posting today and my photo explains why. The gym complex has got some very negative reviews on the Trip advisor website and on first appearance, it is obvious that the building, that houses both the gym and the pool, was built some time in the 60's. The equipment is similar to what you might exect to find in a secondary school, basic and very outdated, as is the interior of the gym and the changing rooms. It is certainly old fashioned and very tired looking but in a weird kind a way, it was quite quaint and rather endearing. And thats me saying that, me that is used to state of the arc equipment from years of using at David Lloyd and DW.

Phil managed to do 2k on the rowing machine and 30 minutes of weights and I did a 3k run. True, the gym hall was hot because there was no air con and neither was there any flat screen TV's with built in audio sound. But hey ho, at least we got a workout, in fact we had the workout hall to ourselves. And we also had the jacuzzi to ourselves for a while. We had a little plunge in the pool and then we finished off in the steam room. There is a steam in the sauna in both the ladies and mens changing rooms so we couldn't steam together which was a shame. The changing rooms were basic but had everything you needed, hot water and hairdryers, the staff were friendly and I really can't understand some of the negative feedback that I’ve read on the internet. It certainly gave us a chance to work off our breakfast, although we're on a mini-break I can't let Phil step off the diet wagon for one single minute, he's worked so hard to get this far and so have I!

Yesterday was another glorious day and after we'd showered and changed, we got in the car and drove to the church in the village to look around the graveyard. Phil's ancestors on his mum's side of the family originated from Lincolnshire and he wanted to see if he could find any gravestones belonging to his family. Before we lived together, Phil spent thousands of hours researching his family tree but he's hasn't done any work on it for years, which is a shame but there just hasn't been the time, been too busy building up our property portfolio. Anyway, we spent an hour in Stoke grave yard and Phil found one grave stone that he thinks belonged to his mum's family. I was bored after 10 minutes, grave yards are not really my thing and after nearly an hour of hanging around, I finally managed to prise Phil away.

We went back to the room to dump our bags and I got changed into a summer dress. When I was ready, we got back into the car and headed for the A1 to fill up with petrol. We hoped that the garage would have an ATM machine but no such luck and we ended up having to drive into Grantham to get some cash. In the end, Phil got cash out from an ATM in Sainsbury’s. These rural village are very beautiful but they have f**k all facilities. Grantham and the A1 were really busy; we were hoping to stumble across a little village pub for lunch, but we didn't fine any watering holes, despite driving around little lanes for nearly an hour. In the end, we heading back to Rochford Hall and went to the bar for a snack. We just about made it in time because the bistro closed at 2pm. Phil went for the salmon fishcake and I choose the ploughman's but Phil didn't like his fish cake so I had to swap, so in the end we had a smedley of both dishes.

The day was glorious, after lunch Phil retreated to our room while I loitered in the front entrance grounds because there was a wedding and I wanted to see the bride and the bridesmaids. I got to see both, but alas, the bride wasn't particularly beautiful and neither was her dress. But hey, I shouldn't be such a bitch, the venue was stunning and as long as the bride felt the same and enjoyed her day, that's all that matters. It was a civil ceremony which took place in the conservatory and I saw her walk down and meet her husband-to-be. It was funny the wedding march song was 'Some Like You' by Adele from the album 21. This is my favourite record at the moment and I play it all the time in my new car. But I thought it was a bit of a weird choice because Adele is singing about a long lost past love and the lyrics are about all about heartbreak and regret'. Still, each to his own.

Phil wanted to write some more of his book which was fine but I couldn't bear to stay in our cold, uncharismatic room on such a glorious day so I changed into my denim shorts, grabbed a magazine and went out on the front lawns to sunbathe. I felt a little out of place as I was all by myself and the front of Rochford Hall is so amazing and when you think of all its history, it seemed almost disrespectable to be half naked on lawns with signs that told you not to walk on the grass. Hey ho, I did an hour, read the Times, read my magazine, phoned Harriet and listened to the bagpipes at the wedding drinks reception. I had a lovely time.

I went back to the room and Phil was so deeply engrossed in his writing, he hardly noticed my return. I didn't mind, I had my laptop and a high speed internet connection. Phil was so cold that at 5pm he had to go for a walk around the grounds to warm himself up. Honestly, you wouldn't believe how cold it is in room 36. While he was out, he spotted 2 pheasants in the memorial garden trying to get it on and he also heard the bagpipes man as he played the wedding party into the reception. When he got back, we drank some wine, watched a bit of telly then at 6'ish we got ready for dinner.

As lunch wasn't really spectacular, standard pub grub really with slightly slow service but that was probably due to the wedding party, I can't say I had a high expectations for dinner. But I was pleasantly surprised; when you think we've only paid £120 for our stay which includes 2 nights accommodation, 2 breakfasts and a 3 course dinner in a spectacular location, its begging a lot expect 5 star. But the food was really good, not spectacular, as was the service. We had a drink out on the terrace before dinner.

All things considerd we've had a great little mini break. Its nice doing something a little bit out of the ordinairy and stepping aside from our normal routine. Rochford Hall certainly doesn't deserve the slagging off its gets on the net. We would probably come again but perhaps I would try and stay mid week and try and get upgrade to a Mansion room. Its been well worth the money. Now I must pack our bags and get ready to head home.