Andrea and Tina at Kay’s Harrogate Weekend

Last weekend Tina and I went along to Kay’s Harrogate Weekend there are additional details here.

We hadn’t been able to get along to Sparkle back in January, so Tina came up with the idea of Harrogate.

We had a great time there.

For me preparations begin early Thursday evening with nail polish. A nice shade of red. Three coats. A day before it’s needed, but it’s nice to know that it’ll be dry and pretty scratch resistant by the time I need to use my hands again.

Later in the evening there’s packing to do. The suitcase is big enough to hold plenty of clothing for two weeks, so I hope that it will hold a couple of days of my girlie things.

Short dresses. Two black. One pink. One red.

Longer dresses.  One black with white spots. One floral. One a shade of purple. One blue.

Medium length skirts.  Blue denim. Black cotton.

Blouses. Two.

Shoes. Black heels. White heels. Black small heels. Grey small heels. Black flats. White trainers / sneakers.

Makeup and brushes. Lots.

Toiletries.

Bras, knickers, stockings, suspenders, tights.

You know how it goes.

It fits into the suitcase. I know it’s on the extravagant side for a weekend. But you never can tell.

Friday morning sees an all over trim and shower then I drive across to Tina’s. We’re driving as guys rather than girls. If we did the makeup thing it would take an extra hour and by the time we hit Harrogate we figure we’d have to take it all off and do it all over again.

I transfer my stuff to Tina’s car … well actually to Tina’s wife’s car and prepare for the journey.

“Have you got everything?” asks Tina.

“I hope so. I’m always afraid of forgetting something important. I could manage ok if I forgot some of the makeup – or even my boobs” (yes, Andrea has detachable boobs that are currently in the suitcase), “but if I left my hair behind I’d be in big trouble.”

“Oh”.

Tina heads back for the house explaining that her hair had been washed and hadn’t got so far as the car.

Tina and Andrea have detachable hair as well.

Tina re-appears complete with hair.

Wow.

That would have been a close shave.

The miles speed by.

We meet a few of Eddies girls along the way, and stop for coffee at Leicester Forest.

Eventually the traffic stops moving. An air ambulance appears, disappears into the distance and returns. The traffic flows again.

I’m reminded of a Chris While song, A Simple Twist of Fate that I said I liked a lot here.

You can listen to a bit of it here.

We arrive at the Cairn Hotel a little later than expected, but all is well.

We makeup – without ever having fallen out.

It’s a little slower than usual. Only one usable makeup mirror between two girls is a recipe for complexity.

We dance around each other applying touches of  foundation, powder, shadow, liner, mascara, rouge, lipstick and gloss. Oh, and boobs, hair and a short black dress. Black high heels.

A trip to the bar and a meal. Lovely people. Enjoyable conversation.

Saturday begins with makeup, a patterned dress and flat shoes. Soon followed by breakfast.

The food, people and hotel staff are great.

We stroll through the hotel grounds for a little while.

Andrea:

Tina:

Then back to the hotel entrance.

We take a look at some of the things on sale inside the hotel. Tina buys a handbag. Andrea buys a necklace and earrings.

A short walk to the town centre.

I suspect that Tina has a fetish and so we call in at the Winter Gardens, a J D Weatherspoons pub. To be fair though, it was me that suggested calling in as we passed by.

I definitely didn’t twist any arms though.

If you ever meet Tina, be sure to ask about J D Weatherspoons in Manchester.

A couple of hobgoblins keep us company for a while, but they don’t last too long.

On our way out we visit the ladies. It’s strange how a lot of Weatherspoons web sites feature pictures of washrooms. Here’s how it looks at the Winter Gardens, just in case you are interested. I’m not sure if it’s the ladies or the gents. I only visited the ladies, but my memory is unfortunately not photographic.

We drop by Debenhams and take a look at what’s on offer. Quite a lot of nice things but nothing especially takes our fancy.

I feel the after effects of the hobgoblins and discover what the ladies room at Debenhams looks like. A lot less chic than the Water Gardens version.

As we stroll through the park we hear wolf whistles. A small group of guys and girls seem to like the idea of whistling at us. I can’t make out what they are calling out, but it seems good natured.

Rather than seek the services of a policemen I wave and blow them a kiss.

We sit and chat in the shade on a bench along Montpellier Hill, the young men and ladies leave us alone.

After a while we walk slowly back towards the hotel, enjoying the afternoon sun. Stopping for pictures at Crescent Road.

 

 

At the hotel there’s time for a little drink and then we change for cocktails and the Gala dinner.

Again the food, service and company is excellent. I meet Sally and chat with her as we eat.

After dining there is a chance to dance and, for the brave or foolish, there is karaoke.

Tina and I don’t drink anywhere near enough wine to be tempted by the karaoke. But it’s fun watching the others. It ranges from the sublime to the … not-s0-sublime.

It’s a warm evening, but we do dance a bit.

At about midnight we drift back towards the bar and get a drink and sit and chat with Rita and her wife.

And then its makeup removal time, sleep, breakfast and the journey home.

As I said, we had a great time. So thanks to Kay for all the hard work that she put into it.

Fantastic!

Sparkle 2010 – Friday Evening – Restaurants, Clubs and Pubs

The makeup is still intact from the afternoon, so only minor touch-ups are needed.

And a change of clothing.

Knock, knock.

Laura and Billie arrive and we head out.

It’s a short walk to the Red Chilli restaurant – highly recommended by my daughter, Sarah.

We take seats and browse through the menu. The food is great.

Tina and Billie:

Laura and myself:

Later we head along to a bar along Canal Street.

“A half of Fosters, please.” I say.

A pint of Fosters arrives.

Oh well. I can cope. The weather is hot, the beer is cold.

“Do you have a Crunch Card?”

“Pardon?”

“Do you have a Crunch Card?”

Having no idea what a Crunch Card is or why I might have one, I admit that I don’t have one.

“That’s £2.50 then please.”

“Here you go … you can use mine.” offers a guy standing close by.

After a short discussion I get to use the Crunch Card.

“That’s £2.00 then, please.”

I head outside to phone home.

“Where are you?” asks Sally.

I look around and see a sign … “The Crunch Bar on Canal Street” I say. The penny drops and in a moment of enlightenment I figure out what a Crunch Card is.

Next we head for Eden. Just a little way down the road from the Crunch Bar and across the other side of the Canal.

We discover that they even serve Black Sheep at Eden.

Black Sheep is actually a beer, rather than a troublesome kind of person.

But maybe they server troublesome Black Sheep as well.

Billie and Laura head out on a voyage of discovery whilst Tina and I deal with the Black Sheep. They say just cross the bridge, turn right and we’ll be in whatever bar is first on the left.

We set off in search … calling in every bar on the left.

Eventually I get my phone out.

“We’re at a bar called ….” says Laura.

“What?”

“…”

“Pardon?”

Eventually we manage to translate … the place is called Via.

We sit outside with a drink. You can see the Crunch Club in the background.

At about 11:00 pm we notice the tables and chairs disappearing around us.

“Sorry ladies … we need your furniture.”

It seems that after 11:00 pm there is no alcohol on the street.

We head inside and discover the Via bar is not all that it seems from the outside.

There are three bars, a dance floor and a whole mini labyrinth of interconnecting staircases and passageways. 

Like many of the bars on Canal Street, the Via bar looks as though it used to be a Cotton Mill at some point in its history.

The decor is quite quaint … parts of the furnishings looking as though they could once have been a part of a Church at some time or other.

We sit at a table beside a chair that looks like a min throne.

Here’s the chair.

Laura and myself …

 

And we all take a turn in the chair.

 

 

Time passes and we head for the Weatherspoons pub on Oxford Road … just round the corner from the hotel.

On the way there's a bar that

seems to have come up with an interesting mechanism for allowing people outside to smoke cigarettes and yet stop people passing by from sneaking inside. It’s a little like walking past a cage.

 

The inmates seem quite tame.

We’re the only trannie’s in Weatherspoons, but no one minds.

After a short while, a girl with her partner wanders over with two small bottles of perfume and asks us which we prefer … blue or yellow.

Laura tries the yellow:

 

And the blue:

 

And recovers:

 

Whilst Tina and I watch:

 

On the whole, the blue wins.

At 1:00 am it’s time to go.

A short walk back to the hotel.

Makeup removal.

Sleep.