We took a bus to a place called Castletown. It used to be the capital of Isle of Man. There a big castle called Castle Rushen. One of the first things we saw as we entered was a cannon. We walked up a drawbridge and through two portcullises. Then we walked into a room where there was an introduction to the castle tour. I did the 360° tablet, where I could see a complete view of each room.
Charlotte:
One of the funny things about the castle was when Sam was walking into a room, he freaked out. I asked him what it was, and then he said, “There’s a mannequin in there!” The mannequins looked real.
I also think it was really cool that I could sit down at a dinner table with mannequins. Back when the castle was made, they ate soup and chicken and peacock. They sewed the skin and feathers back on the peacock after they cooked it to make it look fancy and royal.
The castle was made hundreds of years ago. It started off as a castle, then became a jail, and now it’s a museum.
We went up seven floors. We saw a kitchen, dining halls, bathrooms, bedrooms, the throne room, we even went in the dungeon. There were different types of windows: some for muskets, some for bows, and some for looking through. We also got to walk on the ramparts.
We went around the town and shopped a bit. Lots of things had the three legs symbol on them. They kind of look like a Frisbee to me. I saw a fan that I wanted because it worked really well. I also really wanted a Manx cat stuffy. They are so cute!
We got baguettes and Manx cheese for lunch. We also had jelly donuts and chocolates called Munchies. We ate them on the bus going to the Rushen Abbey. When we got there, we were soaked! We learned about monks, what they wore, what their medicines were, why they were always silent, and what they ate. While we were walking around there was a really loud noise that my mom thought was a gun and Dad thought was fireworks, but it was really a huge tree falling down right between us! It was super scary!
We went back to Douglas on the bus and went for dinner at Jak’s. We got Fling Whippy dessert, which is a make your own ice cream sundae with candies and sauces. Then we went to a cool park near the beach and after that we went to the beach. I looked for lucky rocks.
Sam:
The beach was very rocky and had lots of seaweed. The tide was mostly in, so the beach wasn’t that wide. We collected a lot of rocks.
We wanted to travel a little further out from Douglas today, so we opted for the bus rather than one of the historical trains. We headed south to Castletown, the ancient capital of the island, to explore Castle Rushen. 
We spent a good couple of hours here, checking out the various rooms and staircases, hidden nooks and crannies, and walking the ramparts. The kids were a little scared when we went into the very dark dungeon.
I absolutely love living in Canada, but I also love being surrounded by castles and ancient ruins, not to mention having a view of the sea from almost every window. There’s something about a medieval castle that makes me want to curl up on a blanket in the courtyard with a good book.
After practically dragging ourselves from the castle, we spent some time wandering the town and enjoying the quaint cobblestone streets and the townsquare.
We grabbed a quick lunch of baguettes and Manx cheddar from a little grocery store and ate it in the bus to a nearby hamlet called Ballasalla. Our next stop was Rushen Abbey to learn more about the monks who originally settled here. The rain has become more persistent, so we were trying to get from the bus stop to the Abbey quickly. Of course our GPS was a little off and we took the long way around the entire grounds, leaving us soaked by the time we arrived.
Luckily, there was a child-friendly museum inside the main structure, so we could dry off and have fun learning at the same time. There were great interactive displays, quizzes, and a dress-up area. Sam and Charlotte couldn’t believe how thick and uncomfortable the monks’ clothing was and it was funny to see their reactions when they learned that monks didn’t wear underwear. They were also not very impressed to learn that monks took a vow of silence, only ate once a day, and spent about 8 hours in prayer daily. Charlotte did think it was cool that they “got to” sleep in a dormitory with all of the other monks.
We decided it was time to go back inside when a large tree crashed to the ground right between us!
After a snack, we took the bus back into Douglas for dinner. We took a walk along the promenade back to the hotel. We stopped at a war memorial and found several Kinrades (my maiden name). Grandma took the kids back to the room and gave Dad and I time for an evening out. We went to a bar by the coast and had a couple of drinks all by ourselves. What a treat!
Sam and Charlotte take on the world! 