So What’s Been Happening Recently? #28
DAY 1: Let’s Get Out of Here!
23rd July
Just after 6 am we get up and get ready to leave our home for a few days. The wife needed some time away from the everyday life. A different place to maybe help with her anxiety. To clear her head. To be honest I sort of needed it myself. So instead of being at home. Monging on the sofa or in the bedroom watching tele relaxing. We are going to the same thing, in a hotel room with a sea view. Sounds like fun!
A couple of weeks before we spent a few hours searching the web for a quick, cheap holiday. Which was fine by me as the wife said she’d pay for it. We were looking at a chalet site in Walton on the Naze. Until we found out the booking was for just a bedroom in the chalet. Not the whole chalet which is the norm.
We then found a hotel in Folkestone. The Best Western. A Grand hotel, near the seafront. For around £150 for three nights. It looked nice. To me anyway. It was a bit, old style, fancy. The missus didn’t really like it. I pulled up google maps for a street view. And she loved the look of the area plus the band stand. So this was where we were going. But then we found a seafront hotel just a street further up the road. For £122 for three nights. It’s a hotel/ B’n’B. Breakfast is £7.95 each. Which was ideal for us. Especially with the view we were going to get. The place we chose is called The Southcliff Hotel.
About 11.15 am the father in law showed up and we headed to Lakeside shopping centre to pick up some medication and provisions. A couple of minutes later the missus wasn’t sure if she had locked the door so we went back to check. It was, of course, fine. So we went back off to Lakeside.
We also had to pop in to Halfords as the fuse had blown on the DC socket charger for the cool box.
12.31 pm finally leaving Halfords and starting our journey to Folkestone. I set the GPS to our destination. And sat back while the father in law complained about how the bloody things was sending them about forty miles away out of our way. So in the end I just told if he knew a better route the go for it. He calmed down after that.
During our journey. Which was about an hour. We met some stairs charging down the motorway.
01.37pm Folkstone. I am inside you.
01.39pm I just saw the Beano cafe. OMG yes!
01.45 pm we have arrived at the hotel.
We were a little disappointed believing we were going go get a room with a balcony but ended up with a room above them with just a window view. But it was still nice. Should have looked into this a bit more. My fault. We got settled in and after a little while we went for walk to the beach.
Finding a path down to the beach was hard to find as most routes were closed off. The wife however did what does best. Talking to people, asked someone. The lady babysitting a pug. Told us that it was a bit further up and noticing our cameras that we would enjoy the walk down. And we did!
It was one hell of a trek but it was worth it. The long winding path going down was long. I dreaded the way back later. The path you go down is on the side of a cliff. If you have a problem with heights it might not be for you.
The Caves and rock formation, built up everywhere were pretty cool. Shame it was all mostly man made. The ‘cool’ people had already made there presence felt with the graffiti. But the woodland mixed with the stone walls and caves were something out of several fantasy stories.
There was also a small area with columns. Which I assumed was for open air plays. There was also made out of the grass area sitting. Like the old colosseums.
Leading all the way down to the beach which was still an achievement on our part. We still had to search for an entrance to get on to the beach. Which I eventually found under a bridge. If you do come down be aware signs tend to be at the location when you find it not before hand. Which is not helpful.
Settling down in a small area on the pebbled beach. We relaxed for a while. The wife wanted to dip her toes in. Talking about how she wants be spontaneous. Then continued to talk about dipping her toes. In which I then told her the meaning of spontaneity. This was her cue to get the confidence to do it. Complaining as she went about stepping on the pebbles bare foot. Asking why I didn’t want to do it before hand.
When we were ready we took a slow walk back, knowing the climb that was coming. Trying to find a place with the shortest distance and ended up knackering ourselves, climbing the stairs to the top.
Walking back after the stairs we came across a memorial area with a giant arch. Along the railings, we had found some earlier. They are crocheted poppies. Different colours but mainly red.
Back in the room the toilet flush button broke. So I popped downstairs as there isn’t a phone in the rooms. Someone came up and fixed it for the time being. The rest of the night was spent relaxing as much as we could on a pretty crap bed. Which is two singles put together. The room itself was small but homely.
