Whitstable, England

Actual date of this event: 8 August

Let's take a break from winter for a moment, shall we? This past weekend, Luke and I took a break from traveling! And by break I mean that we haven't had four weeks in London since February. Woah! It was a VERY nice weekend, so we took advantage of being outside! On Saturday, we hopped on the train for a day trip to Whitstable. Located in Kent and at the mouth of the River Thames, Whitstable is a small fishing town known for its oysters and beaches. We brought the blanket and wore our swim suits (aka swim costumes in British speak), so we could enjoy some sun on the beach.

The train journey was about 1 hour 25 minutes, so we arrived at noon just in time for lunch. We took a walk to the harbor where there were plenty of places to get fresh oysters and fish. We were pretty bad, and instead of oysters, we got fish and chips - oops. We faced the sun during lunch, so out skin ended up being a pretty bright shade of red at the end of the day.

 {notice the sign on that little shop up there}

After lunch, we went straight to the beach front. The tide was out, so there was plenty of sand to walk around on before reaching the water. As with most beaches in England (and Europe), the majority of the beach was rocky which was quite painful to walk on barefoot and not easy to walk on with sandals. It was very windy, but the sun was bright and shining making it warmer than it could have been. We found a spot, laid out the blanket, and enjoyed the sun. I dipped my feet in at one point and was surprised to find the water was pretty warm! Last year when we went to Brighton, the water was freezing, but that was also a month and a half earlier in the season, so I guess it makes sense.

I just love these little beach sheds! The ones we saw weren't as colorful as ones I have seen in pictures, but they are just adorable! They aren't very big, so they are really only used to hold beach supplies.

When we were done with the sun, we noticed how quickly the tide was coming in. The peninsula of sand that loads of people were out on earlier was almost non-existent. Crazy how fast that happens!

We walked a little bit further down the beach, and then up the hill where we could see down the coast.

We walked back to the train station to catch the train back to London, but not without picking up a few local beers to enjoy on the journey back.

Whitstable apparently also has a castle, and a few other things to see and do, but the beach was pretty much all we cared about. It was a nice alternative to going to Brighton!

RANDOM FACT:
The Whitstable Oyster Festival is held annually from late-July to early-August.