Our digs this week were in Broadstone, Dorset, a short ride from Poole. We took the bus into Poole to do a little sightseeing (Bethany) and pub crawling (Bruce). From the bus station you have to walk through the shopping mall to get down to the high street and the seaside, decorated for Christmas. The temperatures were frigid, so I was happy that the Poole Museum wasn't a very long walk. It's housed in a building with a very modern facade, but parts of it date to the 15th or

The closest town to our digs in North Devon was Barnstaple, so we hopped on the bus for a look around. As Bruce headed out to find old pubs, my first stop was the Barnstaple Museum. The ground floor is devoted to the life of the town over the years, from the prehistoric animals which roamed the area to the town's industries and the North Devon Yeomanry's participation in the wars. It was the sort of thing one often finds in small town museums. I was surprised to learn, howev

We were staying in North Devon for the first time, so Bruce booked a special experience for me at the Exmoor Zoo. Let me backtrack a bit here. I have strong feelings about wildlife and support a number of wildlife charities. Visiting Kenya two years ago and seeing elephants, giraffes, lions, etc. in the wild was thrilling and reinforced my feelings that animals deserve to remain in their native habitats. Now, I realize the idea behind zoos is to expose people to wildlife, th