Mum & I raced around our stunning hotel room getting ready for the evening’s big dinner – it seemed that we’d totally lost track of time with all the bubbles and wine that we’d consumed at the awesome beach party. Although, thankfully, it turned out that we weren’t the only ones, and we ended up being the only two to arrive on time! Which worked out great for the blog, as it meant that I got to take some snaps of the beautifully decorated room before everyone else showed up.

I am so in love with those ^ blue glasses, and The Idle Rocks rope knots tied around the napkins.

Mum & I settled ourselves at the beautiful bar and ordered a round of cosmos.

^ Isn’t she a vision?

It wasn’t long before the other guests began to arrive and, following on from our afternoon of fun, it was smiles & laughs all round.

Oysters & champagne were the seaside pre-dinner fodder on offer.

Never have I tasted oysters like it… they went down far too easy, 1 – 2 – 3!

Once the room was buzzing & booze was flowing, a short speech was held by one of the guests to thank our lovely hosts.

Can we just take a moment to admire the dress, please?

In addition, a surprise gift was given in the form of live entertainment.

I can’t even tell you how talented this guy was. He did something called ‘looping’, which essentially involves you recording yourself live, playing the recording whilst singing the next verse, and recording them together to play during the next verse, and so on, constantly layering the music. It was fascinating to both hear and watch, as it requires a huge amount of energy and concentration to control the foot pedals that start & stop the recordings and playbacks, so as to introduce the right recording at the right time, etc. Essentially, one slip and the whole song is messed up! And the most impressive part… he played for 4 hours straight!

After much mingling, it was time to eat.

^ My kinda menu.

The crab ravioli might not look much, but I can assure you that it was utterly delicious. The ravioli was cooked wonderfully al dente and generously stuffed with fresh, meaty crab. The seafood bisque had great depth of flavour and had been liberally ladened on, which obviously made the sauce monster very happy!

I chose to have the beef for mains (there was never really any doubt) and, good Lord, was I glad that I did. It was hands down some of the best beef that I’ve ever had; even good enough to rival that which Michael and I ate at Galvin La Chapelle, which is really saying something. It was unbelievably tender, and complimented beyond belief by the flavours of the smoky bone marrow and roasted shallots. I have no shame in admitting that I requested extra sauce, as the miniature white jug that arrived was filled with a sensationally tasty red wine sauce, that must have been reducing for days to be so damn good.

The beef had a very good bath, shall we say.

The ‘salad’ of strawberries, strewn with crumbled shortbread and dollops of panna cotta, was the perfect light, satisfying finish to our epic meal.

Everyone was deep in conversation until a fantastic speech held the attention of the room.

After which the music got turned up a notch (or twenty), and we all put on our dancing shoes.

It’s fair to say that raucous behavior ensued with champagne poured in wellies, a snippet of nudity, and the fire alarm adding to the musical talent, to name but a few tales, all making for excellent breakfast gossip the following morning.

With rather sore heads and tired bodies, everyone still managed to make an appearance at breakfast at one point or another. By midday, all the troops had gathered, and we marched out into the slightly miserable weather to enjoy our walk through the Cornish countryside.

We went via the most unusual and beautiful church grounds I’ve ever seen. Seriously, I felt like I was in a scene of Lost or Jurassic Park.

The foliage is so tropical and jungle-like; I couldn’t believe we were in England (but then everything about St Mawes made me feel this way).

The church itself is classic & cute, made from stone with a medieval wooden door that is permanently framed with an array of fresh, colourful flowers.

Continuing onwards with our walk, I found my dream house:

And then it was into the lush fields with their incredible views.

The cutest gate, ever? I think so.

We made some friends along the way, too.

Before stumbling back into civilization, and being faced with St Mawes’ stunning castle.

Tranquil, rainy walk complete (and hair totally nuts), we piled into The Idle Rocks dining room for a proper Sunday lunch.

Unfortunately for mum & I, however, our VIP mode of transport was for a one-way ticket only, so we had to leave the lunch a little early to make our 6-hour train back to London.

Although we did manage to enjoy some light dishes before dashing off; the first being a lovely beetroot, rocket and goat’s cheese salad.

And the other being a squid & chorizo tomato stew, complete with leaves and pine nuts (the picture really doesn’t do it justice). It was actually very delicious – I could have done with ten times the portion!

But then it was time to get our skates on, with manic thank-yous and rushed goodbyes thrown in every direction.

It was with an incredibly heavy heart that I left St Mawes. I cannot thank David & Karen enough for their immense hospitality, the fond memories of which I will never forget. Their beautiful hotels are a true reflection of their personalities, and I am already planning my trip back to The Idle Rocks and St Mawes Hotel.