While DD was off exploring Normandy with others from her school, DH and I went off for a weekend away on our own. When DH and I met back in late 1990, he was a single parent with two children, I was just me! (well me and two cats). Unbeknown to me at the time DH is allergic to cats but he took the whole package. I was allergic to kids, but I too took the whole package! LOL Although this was all great what it did mean was that time alone, especially in those early days were quite limited. We did have every other weekend when the children visited their Mother, but that was unpredictable and likely to change at a moments notice, so planning anything was tricky. Both of his children are grown and left home now, the eldest is 30 years old and has her own three children. However at the point where they considered leaving home we had by then our own child who is now 14. Both our Mothers have died and so sitters are tricky to find. We are quiet people who don't mix much so don't have that contact list of people willing to sit, so we just haven't gone out much, unless it was somewhere our daughter could come too. Now she is at secondary school there have been one or two trips away which have mean't we have been able to go away for the occasional overnight. This latest occasion we dropped her off at school at the ungodly hour of 3.30am, along with other bleary eyed students and parents. We waved a fond farewell as they drove off into the night becoming the morning and retreated back to the house. As we had already showered and dressed, returning back to bed seemed stupid so we busied ourselves getting sorted out and by 6.30am we were off on an adventure of our own.
We didn't go far, to the East Coast. A place that I grew up and as an adult love more now than I ever did as a child. I love the open feel, the sea, the sound of the wind as it travels across the beach. The friendliness of the people, the relaxed feeling, the feeling like you are on the edge of something (I know its the East coast, but all the same). We booked a nice comfortable hotel, nothing too grand, I can't stand being somewhere where you don't feel comfortable. I have stayed in hotels where everytime you move a porter jumps to attention and asks if they can help, thats fine if you enjoy that sort of thing, but its not my style I'm afraid. I feel very uncomfortable if people have to wait on me. DH says I am a closet Socialist LOL
We arrived at Felixstowe Ferry after a couple of stops to have a cup of coffee to keep us bright eyed and bushy tailed. It was a glorious day, the sun shining and the beach was practically deserted. Just to spend those few hours walking hand in hand along the beach with someone who means the world to you is a feeling that money can't buy. I know I am a very lucky person, lots of things have happened along the way, and those things just make me the person I am today. It is more important to me that I like myself than worry about what others think of me. I spent far too long trying to get people to like me and losing sight of the fact that as a result I didn't much like myself anymore.
Old Felixstowe Beach, looking across to Bawdsey Manor. A lovely beach which gets quite busy at the weekends as we discovered on the Saturday. Dead quiet on a Thursday though.
This is the Ferry boat that takes you across the River Deben, for the princely sum of £2.50 return each.
Felixstowe Ferry is to many I am sure a backwater, too far from anywhere, not a Starbucks in sight. There is a tiny ferry that takes you across the river to Bawdsey, where we walked along a deserted beach, then called in at the cafe for home made smoked mackerel pate and olives with crusty bread. Most people we came across were school children on a school trip or people who were retired, so we felt like we were playing hookey, but it was great. Tired but happy we checked into the hotel. DH had organised Champagne to be delivered to the room along with lovely chocolates chilling in the small refridgerator. I was so tired that part way through dinner I had to ask for a coffee to help keep me awake as by then we had been up for so long and added to that the sea air, I was done in, not to mention sun burned, despite my best efforts not to be. I was however environmentally unfriendly grateful for the air conditioning in the room.
One of four remaining Tide Mills in the UK, the Woodbridge one being one of the finest examples. A nice friendly town, with a small but busy high street.
Friday, saw us visiting Woodbridge, where I would love to move to when we are able to, and then Aldeburgh. I love nearby Aldeburgh too and fish and chips eaten on the beach from the paper they are wrapped in is the best meal in the whole world in my opinion.
One of the two fish and chip shops in Aldeburgh. It always amuses us that there appears to be a longer queue at one than the other. Both are owned and run by the same people but if you don't know that then you are in for a long wait. The queues can be really long in the height of summer, reaching far down the road. People will get a pint of beer from the pub next door and drink it while they wait in the queue.
We have holidayed in Aldeburgh for the past couple of summers, and the place is wonderful, but call in there in the midst of December and most of the houses are closed up. They are bought up by people who live in other parts of the country, bought years ago when prices were cheap, and now the locals can no longer afford to live there. I would move there, but having to put up with these rude ill mannered people who visit at the weekends and badly park their giant cars would drive me insane. Manners are free and can make a huge difference. People used to hold open a door for another person, if you passed someone while walking alone a path or the beach you would say good morning to them, now they eye you as if you are planning to mug them, or the weekenders who look down their noses to see if there are any visible well known labels about your person before considering if you are worth replying to LOL, if only they knew how ignorant they come across. Despite all this, which you get in any seaside town where there are people with more money than sense, Aldeburgh is a lovely town, without the dreaded amusements and endless ice cream and candyfloss stands.
Here you can see the town of Aldeburgh is almost on the beach. During the winter and the Spring High tides the town can flood. In fact parts of the town have been lost to flooding, which is a shame. We wondered if it is possible to get insurance for the houses there given the high probability of flooding. Francis Drake had his ships built, including the Cutty Sark at the once famous shipbuilders that were to be found in the Aldeburgh and Woodbridge area. It must have been a hive of activity at one time.
The boats are hauled up on to the beach. The fishermen go day fishing, so the fish for sale is always very fresh and extremely popular. They are used to the day trippers who buy their fish and need it packed in ice to survive the journey back to London or further down the coast into Essex.
Saturday we went back to Felixstowe Ferry to sit on the beach and watch the sailing boats go by. Unfortunately we hadn't factored in the jet skis and the speed boats zipping around dragging behind them huge inflateables with screaming teenagers attached LOL. It was amusing if nothing else. It struck me though that wherever there is a place of solitude where you might like to sit and watch the world go by, someone will turn up with their jet ski and whizz back and forth through your world!!
