Our neighbor, Steve, has insisted for a while that he must take us to the proper English seaside before we leave. I went over last night for some reason, and he surprised me with the idea of going today.
We planned to take the 11:12am train as his car couldn't hold the five of us and he and his girlfriend Rebecca. Unfortunately, after a slightly late start to the station, a slow ticket printing machine, and a scary episode involving Tim getting stuck in the ticket gate, we arrived at platform 6 just as the train started to pull away. The driver gave me a "sorry about that" kind of look as he shrugged his shoulders. Fortunately, I was able to get a quick a refund, and Steve was able to borrow a truck from his ex-wife, so with his car we had two cars to transport the seven of us. We ended up getting to the seaside about the same time we would have arrived by train.
We had a great time. We pic-nicked on Limoncello delicacies---bread, cheese, olives, Italian meats, sun-dried tomatoes, and cupcakes and other sweets. The kids climbed around on large rocks arranged along the shore, played in the sand, and splashed in the water. The water was cold at first, but felt nice after a bit.
The wind was strong enough and constant enough that I played frisbee with myself, throwing it up into the wind so that it came back to me.
Then Steve joined me and we had fun playing catch. It was particularly fun to dive for a slicing throw when you just land in the sand!We finished off the trip at the amusements area a bit further down from the beach. They had a Karaoke bar, indoor golf, and a hall with lots of video games and slot machines (we didn't play these). They also had the kid-favorite 2p machines (which the proprietors referred to as "the two-Ps"). These are games in which you drop 2p coins through a slot, and the coin rolls amidst a flat pile of other 2p coins just in front of a mechanical sweeper that pushes them toward the front of the machine. The hope is to drop a coin in front of the sweeper so that it induces the whole pile to be pushed forward enough that heaps of coins fall into a collection tray below. They place toys on top of the pile, too, as an added enticement. All the kids were quickly addicted and spending into their allowance to play!
We arrived back in time for me to help the kids get ready for bed and then go to Steve's to watch the USA-Brazil soccer match. It was the final of the FIFA Confederation Cup, a World Cup warm-up. The USA shocked Spain last Wednesday to reach the final, and shocked Brazil by putting up a 2-0 halftime lead. But the Brazilians stormed back and won it 3-2. Despite the loss, it was a good match. And we had the reasonable consolation of some good curry, from our favorite take-away place Kismet Tandoori, to eat while watching the match.A fun-filled day, to be sure!
No comments:
Post a Comment