Easter in Southwold

I have been nagging Rob to take me to Southwold for months now. I had heard great things about the unique, seaside town and I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. This year I had some time off work that coincided with the Easter bank holidays. Rob booked a hotel just outside Southwold last minute and we headed up early Saturday morning. 

We drove straight to the sea front at Southwold and headed to the pier for a much needed cuppa after our journey. This was our view from the tea shop on the pier....

We were blown away! The tea was lovely and we also shared a posh sausage roll whilst waiting for the lunch menu to open up. The pier wasn't like the usual seaside pier. The cafe we had our tea on was very sweet and quaint. There was also a fish restaurant on pier, traditional fish and chips and some sweet homeware/clothes shops. After our lunch of tasty paninis, we headed down to the beach to check it out. 

The beach was huge! We spent some time watching lots of sweet doggies play on the sand. We noticed that the people of Southwold really liked their terriers and Labradors. It certainly made us miss our little Nell, although she was being taken good care of back home by my family. We also ran around in the long beach grass until we tired ourselves out.  

Whilst walking we stopped and oogled the amazing beach huts. If I lived near the beach I would just have to get a beach huts. The Southwold huts are certainly on the high end side of beach huts. 

After some time walking we reached a little fishing harbour. There were several restaurants and shacks selling the most fresh fish . 

Rob opted for the mussels (because he doesn't have any of his own hehe). We sat and ate them by the harbour. The mussels didn't tempt me. However, the whippy ice creams certainly did. 

After all that food, it was time to work it off. We went back to the pier to have some fun in the arcade. We also went back on the pier to a room with some frankly, weird amusements. Rob and I had a good laugh in a photo booth that moved around and shone bright lights in our eyes. 

We also stumbled across a mini show! Lots of traditional minis showed up and they were certainly our favourites. My favourite was a little green mini. The owners displayed a picture of a couple when they first got the mini - which must have been in the 60s or 70s. The car looked just as amazing that day. 

We also visited Southwold High Street and popped into the Adnams Brewery. We picked up a couple of bottles of ale for Dad. There was an amazing vintage shop and I wanted to buy everything. In the end I settled for a vintage measuring glass, which is now on display in our downstairs bathroom. It was a busy day and walked for miles.

We headed to our hotel to freshen up, before going back to Southwold High Street for dinner. After checking reviews, we chose an Italian place called Enzos. I had been craving fresh pizza for weeks and the reviews were amazing. The restaurant was a small, intimate restaurant, which is normally lovely. However, when a family of devil spawn and pissed, unhappy adults that never get out of the house (one of which has the most grating American accent) are seated in the middle of the restaurant it kind of kills the vibe. The service was also bordering on rude several times. The food however was lovely.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel for pudding and drinks. After a few games of cards we were ready to retire for the night. All that fresh air tired us out!

We were up early for a nice breakfast the following day in the hotel. We wanted to make the most of the weekend so decided to head to Aldburgh. 

After browsing the second hand book shops we settled down for a cup of strong coffee. We also picked up some yummy sweets - apple and custards for me. There wasn't really much else in Aldeburgh. Lots of shops were closed due to the bank holiday and it was far to cold to sit on the beach. Instead, we hopped back into the car and onto our next destination - Felixstowe!

Felixstowe is the opposite of Southwold. Southwold is all about independent, quirky, but pricey shops. Felixstowe is cheap and cheerful and pretty chavy, but in the best way! The beach isn't as nice so we opted for a game of mini golf - Rob's favourite.

We both had a lot of fun playing mini golf. After we had a little play in the arcade and won a few tokens on the basketball game.

We decided on fish and chips for lunch (of course!), from a restaurant that was highly recommended. The fish and chips were amazing. But we did have to queue for 45 minutes to get them and by that time anything would have tasted good. 

After our chips we were ready to head back home to our girl. It was a lovely weekend and I am glad we fitted so much into it. I am really grateful for Rob for suggesting that we get away and booking the fabulous hotel. 

Returning to the Kent coast

Canterbury, and more specifically the coast running from Tankerton to Whitstable is my happy place. Whilst we were studying at university we took many trips to Tankerton and Whitstable. We would sit on the beach, play frisbee and listen to the waves - absolute bliss! I haven't been able to find another place makes me feel so relaxed so quickly. I don't tend to think twice when I get an invitation to get back to the Kent Coast so when Vicki mentioned meeting her at the beach we packed up Rob's car and headed back to our little place of calm.

We wrapped up warm as it was so windy on the beach front. Nelli certainly needed her lined coat. 

We had originally planned to meet Vicki, James and Ted but only Vicki was available in the end as James had to work and little Teddy the Border Collie puppy was sick. 

After a walk next to the beach huts and then along the beach, we headed to Tankerton High Street. As it was a Sunday it was very quiet. We used to do a lot of charity shop shopping along the high street. It was a shamed that they were closed. We noticed that there were a few new shops that looked lovely including a wine shop. There were also a few new cafes that we will definitely try on our return. However, we knew exactly what we fancied for lunch to warm us  up - proper English Seaside fish and chips! 

We headed to Ossie's Fish Bar - which is at the top end of the High Street. They have a restuarant and a takeaway. The resturant was very busy so we knew that the chips would be good. We sat outside with Nelli. I had sausage in batter, chips and curry sauce. Rob had Cod. It was all amazing! The food was lovely and fresh and it was some of the best fish and chips we had for a while. Nelli certainly approved. 

After our chips Vicki had to head back to look after her sick puppy. We gave her a big hug and then we took a short drive to Whitsable. Whitstable is another beautiful little High Street. There were lots of lovely independent cafes but as we were with Nelli we couldn't go in. In the end we opted for Costa coffee - they do the best decaf Americanos!

Before we left we popped into Sugar Boy Sweet Shop. We used to live round the corner to one in Canterbury. Rob chose Black Jacks and I chose strawberry Bon Bons. The Bon Bons were scale but the Black Jacks were good. 

We jumped back in the car and headed home after not too long as our girl was so sleepy. She certainly got comfy in the back of the car. 

Frinton on Sea

Last weekend we took Nelli for her first beach adventure. It rained all morning but we were determined to brave the weather and head to the beach. We actually timed our walk perfectly, it didn't rain at all and then it poured down on the way home. 

We didn't know how Nelli would take to the beach. I hoped she would enjoy it but she loved it more than I could have imagined. 

We let her off the lead as there went any other dogs about due to the weather and we were quite far from the road. The moment she realised she could run around off the lead her expression just lit up her face. I have never seen her so happy! I wish we could let her off the lead more but her racing instint is still really strong so it's just not a possibility. 

Nelli ran round in big circles which included sprints through the water. She was covered in sand and sea water within minutes. 

After we took a few pictures and family selfies we walked into the high street and loaded up with pastries and cakes to warm us up. We also took home a cake and olive loaf. 

Nelli was really patient whilst we ate our lunch and browsed the homewares in the charity shops. As soon as we got back to the car she completey conked out in her bed and slept the entire way home.

When we got we made spag Bol, ate our olive loaf and cuddled up with Nell on the sofa.