Seaside Days

We had our holiday in Robin Hood's Bay last week. We were there
for a whole week and, as in every stay and every visit, we were
 very happy and we had the loveliest time.

We did all the usual things: building sand castles, beach combing,
exploring rock pools, fossil hunting and paddling in the sea. All
simple but full of fun.

We also did some new things this time. We had a barbecue one
 evening near the top of the village looking out to the sea and we
 walked as far as Boggle Hole at the southern end of the bay.
We've never been before and were quite delighted by the old
 smugglers cove and the newly refurbished youth hostel there, particularly the cafe. I also managed a spot of crochet in
the sunshine, working on the first two rows of another
Honeycomb Lace shawl. 

There was one afternoon when it was too wet and windy to be outdoors

and we stayed in. Our holiday cottage was a cozy home away from home. But mostly when it rained it wasn't too bad.  With wellies and anoraks, we carried on as usual by the shore.

No holiday in the coast is complete without a trip to Whitby and
we went a couple of times. We parked near the Abbey and walked
 down the 199 steps to the Shambles.

Wandering down a little street we found the best smoked kippers
 in town. We love a breakfast with eggs and kippers on seaside
 holidays and these were fantastic. And the girls were brilliant walking
down and up again on those many steps to the Abbey. I was very impressed with them actually.

We really loved this holiday by the sea. Our days were easy and
 carefree, and we were able to relax. I don't think we'll ever tire of
going to this part of the Yorkshire Coast.

 The village in Robin Hood's Bay is only small but its higgledy
 piggledy lanes and old stone cottages are lovely and charming.
The beach and the surrounding countryside are beautiful too.
 The bay's history (it's smugglers and shipwrecks galore) as well
as the geography make it a place we're interested in and
we're happy to be at for days and weeks.

Maybe when the kids are older we'll travel farther for holidays,
maybe even go abroad. For now though we're just happy to keep
going back to the same place year after year.

We didn't go on family vacations when I was a child so I really
treasure these holidays I'm able to have now with my own family.
 And I feel lucky that we've found somewhere to go back to every year,
 a sort of home away from home where we can relive happy memories
every time we return. We're not planning yet when we'll go back
but we know that sometime over the next twelve months we'll be
in Robin Hood's Bay again. We'll be doing the usual things and
 for sure it will be another lovely holiday.

Beach Treasures

We love beachcombing and these were the little treasures we collected
on our recent holiday in Robin Hood's Bay - seashells, stones, a small
piece of drift wood, a broken tile, a fossil. The seashells, particularly
the ones in the first photo, were plentiful and easily found. The stones
were chosen for the colours and shapes. The small white stone (lower
left in the photo) reminded us of Bonting, Alfie's pet stone in the Shirley
Hughes story. I think the bigger, yellow stone is a meteorite. My husband
found the fossil further along the beach near the cliffs. It does look
like a fossil, although exactly what it is we don't know. I'm none the
wiser about the shells either which has made me want to have a
good seashell identification book because I'd love for us to learn more.
That will be something to look out for the next time I'm in a charity or
second hand bookshop, or even in car boot sales.

I've cleaned all our beach finds and I'm planning to store them in a
tin labelled with the date and beach where we found them. Previously we've just kept whatever beach things we've brought back from the seaside in plastic bags and forgot all about them as soon as we got
home. Mrs.Tiggywinkle has inspired me to look after them better.
They are part of our holiday memories and we really should keep them well. I hope we'll have many more tins full of beach treasures
after this first one.

By the Sea

We spent a very happy afternoon in Robin Hood's Bay last weekend.
We've had a soft spot for this little fishing village on the Yorkshire
Coast ever since we first came here three years ago. It's just perfect
for the sort of family holidays that we like and we're always happy
to come back even for just half a day.

We parked at the top of the village and made our way down to the

bay, past little shops, cafes, holiday cottages and Dollies, a sweet

shop, and the life boat museum right on the beach front.

Then we were on the beach!

We couldn't have timed it better. The tide had just gone out and we

had this whole stretch of sand waiting for us. It was warm and sunny
 and we had beautiful blue skies too. It was the perfect day to be
 by the sea.

After days of being poorly our girls were finally feeling better and it was

 lovely to see them playing in the warm sunshine. We collected shells
 and stones, built sand castles, and explored the rock pools together. 

We had so much fun.

When we left the tide was beginning to come in and we had two
tired but happy girls.  We've had a great time and we know that
next year we'll be back here again, maybe in spring or in the summer.

We then spent the rest of our weekend in Whitby where we had another
lovely day by the sea. Hope to be back with a post about that soon.

'Oh! We do like to be beside the seaside.
We do like to be beside the sea!..'