Ad-we were invited to Teesside Park for a festive day out
Sunday morning and for once we were up out of the house early to take a trip to Teesside Park in Stockton-on-Tees. This large retail & leisure park is somewhere we have passed loads of times on the way down the A19 but have never stopped off. The journey took just over an hour from our home in Gosforth so not far at all & made a nice change to our local retail parks.
There’s a huge range of stores arranged around a large central car park including big retailers such as M&S, Clarks, Boots, River Island, Schuh & Asda home. There is also a large Morrisons & a leisure area with Hollywood Bowl & a Showcase Cinema. As we were there early we found a parking spot pretty easy but as the day got on the park got more and busier! Think the Christmas shopping rush is well & truly here!
In the pop-up Marks & Spencer Christmas store, Abigail spied this little tree for a £5 for her room, which she is going to decorate with some baubles when we get our tree down from the loft! The store was really lovely with some gorgeous decorations & gift sets!
Project Elf
To get everyone in the festive mood Teesside Park is running ‘Project Elf’ during the weekends & if you snap a photo with the elves there’s a chance to win £250 in shopping vouchers.
Abigail found the elves who were flipping hilarious! They made Abigail work for her candy cane by doing some star jumps. Poor Imogen is a typical tween & wasn’t too keen to get involved but they kindly gave her the candy cane anyway, after Abigail did more star jumps in return!
In the middle section of the shops is a Christmas Bratwurst Stall & Yorkshire Pudding Truck, which were pretty busy & smelled good as we walked past! Other options for food at Teesside Park include Nando’s, Pizza Express, TGI Friday’s, Chiquito, Frankie & Benny’s and Pizza Hut so plenty of choices.
Hollywood Bowl at Teesside Park
The next stop on our day out was a game of bowling at Hollywood bowl which is a really modern, clean & well-organised bowling alley. We don’t go bowling that often and as I bent over to take off my boots the girl at the desk said you don’t need to wear the comedy bowling shoes anymore. Mind is blown!
As we entered the names on the board we loved the option to take a selfie which flashed up when it was your turn. It was great that the kids could automatically get the bumpers up, whereas Alan and I chose to attempt without. As you can see from the scores I think we probably could have done with the bumpers!
We really loved this bowling alley & would definitely come back. The place had a nice busy atmosphere & party tunes & fancy lighting on the lanes gave it a party vibe.
When the final result came in the winner was… Abigail. Followed by Alan and Imogen in joint second place.
Nandos at Teesside Park
Our last stop on our day out at Teesside Park was a trip to Nando’s which was bustling but big enough so that we got a seat straight away.
I love how each Nandos interior is different. They aren’t all carbon copies of each other. This one had a cool scaffolding plank / graffiti wall.
We sampled the jumbo platter which included two chicken (one spicy and one plain for the girls) and a range of sides. The creamy mash was lush! Alan soaked the whole thing in hot sauce and mopped it up with the chips. The girls really enjoyed it too. I always think of fillet burgers at Nandos but think the rotisserie-style chicken was lovely for our alternative Sunday lunch.
We ended our day starting our Christmas shopping in ‘Hotel Chocolat’ (essential) and Boots for Imogen’s posh benefit make-up on her list! We had a really lovely few hours spending time as a family & would not hesitate to make the trip back down to Teesside Park.
Additional Information
Address: Teesside Park, Goodwood Square, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 7BW
Project Elf: Taking place on the following dates:
- Saturday 23rd November
- Sunday 24th November
- Saturday 30th November
- Sunday 1st December
- Saturday 7th December
- Sunday 8Th December
- Saturday 14th December
- Sunday 15th December
- Saturday 21st December
- Sunday 22nd December
Opening Hours:
Every Day: Monday to Friday 9am-8pm, Saturday 9am-7pm and Sunday 11am-5pm
Parking: Free parking in the large car park.
Website: https://www.teessideshopping.co.uk/
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