Rachel and John's Travel Blog: Beach Day

Friday was an absolutely wonderful day with the fam. Dave cooked us a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast with delicious, proper English tea. We decided to not push things too early since we were pooped and they don't have a particular fondness for mornings, we decided 11am was a decent leisurely morning together before setting out. Dave & Julie took us to a bustling beach town called Cromer, and Sam and his girlfriend AJ joined us for the journey. After several bus and train rides, we disembarked into the glorious sunshine, deciding lunch was in order before we made our way through the tangley town of Brits with their babes. We had traditional pies and mash in a little Mum & Pop kind of place called Shelley's Pie & Mash, and it was fantastic. I had the chicken and spring onion pie with plain mash & gravy while John tried the steak and mushroom pie, plain mash with liquor sauce (which is a really yummy sauce made with eel stock, parsley, spices and onions) and minty mashed peas. It was really nice to have a comforting meal with family away from home. I can be a bit of a traditionalist, believing that meals with family are one of the most important and bonding of all human rituals. After a friendly goodbye to the shop keepers, we meandered along the cobblestones (which are everywhere here) to the beaches where the North Sea kisses the sands. We all took off our shoes and let ourselves just enjoy the water's mild temperature and the sand between our toes. I asked the beach to reveal some rocks that I might take home as a link to this land, a place of other roots in my lineage, and several seemed to catch my eye. AJ had brought her bathing suit so she went for nice summer swim, even taking a waterproof camera to get some selfies among the waves! The big thing on this beach is crabbing. People get nets and buckets and chase tiny crabs to fetch from the waters and delight in the chase. It sounded like people just catch & release them since they are too tiny to eat, but the kids like to scoop them into the clear crabbing buckets and watch them. They even had those cool buckets shaped like castles for filling with sand, tipping over and making sand castles. I might need to buy one of those and do that at home! We strolled up and down the pier, watching the waves and seagulls and loads of people with their kids and dogs, stopping of course to shower the dogs with attention. Sam & AJ then bought us all ice cream cones (whippy's as they were called) and it was a lovely topper to the experience.

We boarded the train home, then the bus, then Julie took us for a stroll in a park that was so thick and lush and far from the roadside noises and even hid a burbling stream. The park leads to her mum's house, Patricia is her name (same as my mum!), and she was so sweet and funny, fixing us a light supper of sandwiches, coleslaw, beets, cheeses, salad and loads of little cakes, and AJ had made delicious lemon cake, and we had tea and gabbed and listened to Dave and Patricia tease each other. Patricia takes care of people's dogs, so the dogs come to stay at her place while the people are away. She is caring for a darling white labrodoodle called Bella who was clearly relishing all the attention we lavished upon her. We hung out looking at photos and talking until Bella let us know it was her bedtime by laying her head on Patricia's lap and her sweet, tired eyes telling us she wanted to stretch out on her little blankie. Sam gave us a ride home, where we stayed up chatting over tea until we finally decided we had better turn in. Sam and AJ were to pick us up early next morning to make the 3 1/2 hour drive to York.

Coming together for a simple day of family, fun, food, putting our feet in the North Sea, watching kids catch and release crabs, having ice cream cones and listening to the waves crash the shore and the seagulls squealing to rival the noise, and sharing meals with wonderfully kind and generous people...that did my soul so much good. It was the kind of day I have craved for a long time.

Sam & AJ