On one of the first absolutely gorgeous days England had to offer over a weekend this spring/summer there was no way I was staying in London. Sure it would have been great maybe to hit one of the bigger greens (Hampstead Heath or Hyde Park for example) but there is no nicer way to spend such a beautiful day than by the seaside. I managed to convince Chicken to come with so off to the seaside it was.

Brighton is an EASY 45 minute (or an hour if you don’t catch the express) train from London (or more specifically Clapham Junction) and it was clear a lot of other Londoners had the same idea as us. We hadn’t really planned what we were going to do when we got there except that I knew I wanted to check out the Sand Sculpting Festival. Just on the verge of opening the sculptures were still in the process of getting completed so it was a good day to see some of the artists in action. We sort of mis-timed it though as when we actually got to the festival the artists were on lunch! Still, it was pretty amazing to see what can be made simply from sand and water. This year’s theme is Roman so when the sculpting is completed you’ll see, according to the website, “the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Trajan’s Column and many other historical images of ancient Rome”. It was pretty cool but I’m not sure £6 entry for adults was a fair price. Note also that some of the sculptures were actually fairly adult in nature as they depicted some of the scenes of debauchery from that time so kids beware.

When the sand sculpting is not on there is still plenty to do in Brighton. There is Brighton Pier with all your arcade/sideshow alley games and rides. Fairly expensive but fun all the same, even to just walk around and watch everyone else go crazy. There is a great ride there called the Booster but I wasn’t game to get on it. Not that I’m afraid of rides like that but more afraid that something was going to go wrong and me and my seat were going to go flying off into the sea. Chicken was also able to find her 2-penny machines. Heaps of fun when the pennies come tumbling down. The key is to hopefully get someone who has been plying their money into the machine and when they hop off the machine in frustration you swoop! Heh heh. There is also laying around on the beach and this we did in spades. I think we lay around on about five different patches of beach. It was fabulous. I guess I haven’t mentioned it but Brighton does not have sand on its beaches. I think its actually a great idea because then you can walk around and lay around without getting sand in all those uncomfortable places (I’ve never seen so many fully dressed people on a beach!) Its amazingly comfortable to lay on and would actually make a great bed I reckon. Also, its great for burying people, though it is a bit of hard work. And for those game enough there is a Naturist Beach near the Marina. That had us giggling for ages. Its actually fairly discrete as it sits sort of behind a high hill. Not to my surprise most of the people who were actually stripped down were men.

There seems to be heaps to see as you walk along the seaside. You can indulge in a quick game of Crazy Golf (and you’ll find that an ice cream goes down very well afterwards), grab a quick snack or lunch of seafood (nothing gourmet), and even check out some art. But definitely the highlight of the day was just lazing on the pebbles. Great stuff and great opportunity to get some colour. A great day!

HINT: If you’re looking forward to a good meal of seafood or whatever do some basic research before you get to Brighton as although there are a plethora of choices we did find it difficult to settle on a place and we were a bit disappointed not to find Mama Cherri’s Soul Food Shack. A map and the correct address probably would have helped. 🙂