This time of year, when the temperature is in the 30s, there is only one place I want to be. And that’s by the sea. Lucky then that we had a weekend in Worthing booked last week, even if the temperatures dropped just as we were putting out the towels.
But the seaside is also where I like to be in the depths of December, apparently, as there was a trip to Bournemouth between Christmas and New Year that I never got round to blogging about…probably because of VK somewhat inconveniently breaking her ankle on the way home from that trip.
So I figured I’d conflate the two and share my “Seaside with Teenagers” highlights, whether that’s Dorset in December or Sussex in July.
First thing on my agenda is always to attempt a swim, obviously. But this was also a bit of a fail both times. In Worthing, the beach was lowish tide during the afternoon so however far we walked out it was still only knee-deep. The kids and I managed a kind of sea-wallowing tho, which was still better than we achieved at Leigh-on-Sea. In Bournemouth, as tempted as I was by a paddle, we stuck to the swimming pool at the hotel. It was sunny but there is actual frost on the ground here:
But even if we don’t enter the sea, there is still plenty of scope for bracing seaside walks and inhaling all that wholesome sea air (pre ankle breakage obvs):
In Bournemouth, we stayed at the Queens Hotel and Spa, which was walkable to the city centre but not super close (and being clifftop, there were some gradients involved). In Worthing, we were staying in an AirBnB outside the town so it was a drive into the town and parking up for the day at the Buckingham Road multi storey. Which had great views, incidentally:
Another important factor in any seaside trip is chips. In Worthing, I’m not sure we ate much else as we went to the Arcades Fish and Chip Restaurant for lunch on the Saturday and then a pub dinner on the Saturday evening, which also involved chips.
When we met up with church friends on the Sunday afternoon, they wanted yet more chips so we put in a bulk order at Chipwick’s and sent the menfolk off to collect it. In Bournemouth we had done similar with Harry Ramsdens – ordered online and then fumbled around the beach in the dark trying to figure out where to pick it up. All the chips I’ve eaten at all these places have been excellent – tho Chipwick’s needed ketchup – and everywhere we ate in Worthing also offered battered halloumi, so VK was in heaven.
Whenever Savage and I go on our own seaside mini-breaks, we always play mini-golf, so I have somehow become convinced that this is an essential part of the trip, despite me being really bad at mini-golf. When I floated the idea in Bournemouth, there was mild enthusiasm though VK was much much enthusiastic about the prospect of staying in bed. So Roo and I went in search of competitive sports and found Mulligans, which was an indoor Junkyard Golf-type venue. Don’t judge us for not playing outside…it might have been sunny but it was still chilly. The challenge with these set ups is, much like Harry Ramsdens, figuring out where you’re meant to go next:
Luckily another mother of teens just in front of us had it figured out, so we just followed her instructions. Otherwise we might have still been there on New Year’s Day, trying to work out where hole number 14 was. Sadly we didn’t get time to play mini-golf in Worthing but I’m sure the children will forgive me for that.
Curiously, both seaside trips have also involved a cinema trip – “Wicked 2” in Bournemouth and “Toy Story 5” in Worthing (turns out VK is too young for “The Odyssey” but shamefully I had to wait for Nathan to point that out). Cinema might not seem like the obvious seaside activity but it’s a good way to be out without too much exertion, which is pretty vital for VK. It was raining on Sunday morning in Worthing, we had to leave the AirBnB by 11 and we weren’t meeting friends until late afternoon…so a film seemed like a perfect time filler. And look how gorgeous the Dome Cinema is! A proper Art Deco treat
(Yes, it had stopped raining by the time we got there. British Summer gonna British Summer)
One surprising thing on this trip to Worthing was that the beach next the pier was now covered in fairground attractions, which I swear weren’t there on my 2022 trip. Even more surprising was that VK seemed to now be open to the idea of them, despite always hating adrenaline rides. So I gave the pair of teens some cash and they skipped off quite happily while I had a nap on the beach. It’s definitely better not to watch your precious babies on these boneshakers, especially when one of them is constantly citing “Ride the Cyclone”. Post Chipwick’s though, we had little choice but to watch them as they implored us for one last ride before we got back in the car. I was fully expecting one of them to be sick but they defied my expectations yet again.
Another unexpected hit was the Bournemouth Oceanarium, which wasn’t huge but VK made us go round it all twice. Everyone loved the penguins, especially the adorable same-sex couple Diego and Zorro.
We were….divided on the subject of sharks and moray eels but, as you can guess, VK thought they were cute. I wouldn’t let her buy a cuddly moray eel to take home though, as IMO it is the stuff of nightmares.
There were much nicer views to be seen from the cafe:
But also there were adorable otters as well as jellyfish and clown fish:
We also found the Pause cat cafe in Bournemouth, which was a favourite of both kids, even if Nathan and I were downing anti-histamines to try and avoid a reaction. The coffees were super cute:
And we had a good (if somewhat insensitive) game of “Exploding Kittens” while waiting for the kitties to warm up to us. Roo and VK did get some cat cuddles in, which was good. I kept a bit of a distance but nothing personal, you must understand.
So we managed to keep ourselves amused for two days in Worthing and three days in Bournemouth with very little thinking and a lot of lounging around as well. It’s so good for the soul to see the sea, even when it’s too cold to go in (and I am fairly hardcore about cold water swimming but I’m also not an idiot. Water safety comes first!). I could be happy just wandering about and taking in these views all day:
And taking photos of the “majestic seagulls” as VK calls them:
She managed to score a cuddly seagull on the Worthing trip, from a cute little shop called Inspired. And talking of cute shops, both kids loved Trove in Bournemouth, where VK bought some fancy sleeves and Roo bought a wizards hat:
Today’s outing is to The Strand rather then Der Strand, and I feel it might be less heatwave-friendly than last week’s jaunt so I’m feeling a slight twinge of regret looking at these pics but it won’t be long before we go on actual holiday. Just a bit of Central London sweating to do first….
