Off to the Beach

Okay I admit, I find planning activities here very stressful. Every week I face the decision of what we should do or where we should go, and every week I feel totally overwhelmed. The problem is that there are so many things to see here and so many places that I am dying to visit that picking one means not picking potentially something better. I know that I have many weekends and will undoubtedly will get to see everything that I want to but as it is still all very new it can sometimes be a little daunting. But this time it was all clear, the sun was shining, not a cloud to be seen and the forecast was as optimist as the view from my window, we needed to get to a beach. We asked around and looked online and discovered a place called Bournemouth, and from everything we learned this was the beach for us. So Saturday morning bright and early we got up and headed off in hopes that we could beat the rush and find our own patch of sand to claim as our own.

If you get a chance you really should check out the Bournemouth tourist page, it will show you pictures of the beach and city, inform you about surf lessons and give you a rather amusing comparison of Bournemouth and California. Having visited both places I can see why they feel they can compare the two places, both have long sandy shorelines, both have green cliffs that can line the beach side, both are full of surfers and paddle boarders, both are beautiful. I can't say knowing that Bournemouth is only two hours away doesn't make me long for the beaches of California less but it is a pretty good place to spend some time and I will certainly go back.

The stretch of beach goes on for seven miles, I am told and as far as I can tell there was not one section not at least somewhat populated but anything around the piers was densely so. Around the two piers is where the restaurants are located, where you would find someone to teach you to surf, and any shopping to be found by the beach is also found here, which is of course the reason for the crowds. As the two piers are quite a distance from each other they provide a little train to take you between the two, for a fee of course but having walked between them I can see the appeal of using the moving transportation.

Also running along the cliffs and nestled neatly facing the coastline are these tiny cottages that you can rent, inside they have a camp stove and chairs and some small amenities that make a day at the beach enjoyable. They also offer something that the rest of the seven miles of coast doesn't, shade, so again you could see the appeal of shelling out the cash to secure one for yourself.

We spent a glorious day basking in the sunlight, splashing in the frigid water, well the kids did as it was far too cold for me, and walking the coast and planning our next visit. We got burnt and tired and came home full of all our adventures.