South coast scooting in Eastbourne and Bexhill

I don’t know what we’re going to do with packing the car for camping and trying to fit in a bigger bike and a folded up scooter, but they’re certainly essentials for N when we go away for a break.  While he can walk quite a way, if he’s just with me and not distracted about the distance by friends then he moans like anything.  So taking his micro scooter and bike gives us options and means he’ll travel a lot further and be excited about it.

On our break this Easter, we went to Sussex on the south coast, and stayed in Eastbourne.  Given we live pretty much in the middle of the country we don’t see the seaside that frequently so I thought N would have been on the beach at the first chance he’d get.

With us staying just on the seafront at The Grand Hotel, and not able to get into our room until 3pm, it meant we had time to go straight to the seafront and get our bearings.  That’s always the bonus of staying near the beach, that any odd half hour we had spare, we could just nip there for a walk and scoot and make the most of the outdoors.

Most of the beaches are shingle which isn’t so great for N’s love of digging but we’d not remembered his bucket and spade anyway.  He turned his nose up at going to skim stones, but after our slight sinking into the mud at Weston-super-mare, I’m always wary of beaches when the sand is exposed after the tide is retreating.  Instead he just wanted to scoot along the promenade.

Eastbourne prom is brilliant for scooting or cycling along.  Going in March, even in school holidays, was empty of crowds so there was little danger of wild scooter riding crashing into people.  I expect it’d be harder in summer.

We were really lucky with the weather and all 3 days were warm and mostly sunny with bright blue skies.  Just the weather for a quick break away.  Even though we weren’t in peak summer season it was good to see plenty of seafront cafes and kiosks open for drinks and ice creams.

There’s also a lovely old Victorian bandstand.  Not like the bandstands you find in parks, but a bandstand area that’s a stage with seating where they have ticketed performances.  Presumably for the outdoor concerts they block off the upper promenade walkway to avoid any old pedestrians having a free performance, but I can imagine some of the accoustics and modern microphones would have you able to hear some performances from outside of the building.

N had a very delicious ice cream on the sea front – Kellys of Cornwall, thankfully he chose a normal flavour, strawberry unlike some of the totally mad but interesting sounding ones.

As well as daytime scooting in Eastbourne, we also enjoyed walking and scooting along the promenade in the evening, as we headed out for dinner.  While I love being in the countryside and having great access to road and cities in any direction, it would be lovely to live near the sea and be able to walk along the seafront every day.  I’d certainly be a lot fitter than I am now and be more keen to go out walking than I am to walk round the field and roads by us.

Our last morning we were up and packed early, so before heading off to see friends we were meeting, I managed to persuade N to have an early morning scoot to have a nosy at Eastbourne pier.  Really I just wanted to get some photos of the empty pier, and we did have it to ourselves before 9 in the morning, with just some cleaners leaving as we were walking on it.

The pier’s victorian, and is quite spectacular.  I don’t think I’ve ever been on one in any of the seaside towns I’ve visited!  It’s quite eerie walking on one when it’s so empty and all the stalls and shops were closed, but worth the walk for the view and photos.  N was bored and didn’t get it at all, but he was excited to be able to see the sea through some gaps in the floor.

As we left the pier it confirmed my guesswork around the gold car and customised gold minibus we’d seen outside one of the hotels on the sea front.  Yes, you may have supercars during April in London, but Eastbourne has one too.  I’m presuming owned by the sheik who owns the pier because the gold lions on the pier and on one hotel (plus gold flourishes on other hotels) matched the pier and the car.  Not what I expected for a little old fashioned seaside town in England, but good that someone is able to maintain a historic pier.

We then went on to meet up with an online friend of mine and her 2 children.  We’ve known each other through birth boards when we were pregnant but had never met so it was nice to finally meet and chat face to face.  We headed to Bexhill and spent the morning at the brilliant playground they have in the town, and then walking and cycling along the seafront.

It wasn’t the warmest at that point but the children enjoyed playing (even with N moaning he didn’t want to be there), using the exercise equipment at the park, and having a bit of a dig in the sandpit.  The rowing boats weren’t out on the mini lake given the season but I could imagine it’s a wonderful park with lots to do in the summer months.

On the sea front there was lots of space (and very few people)  for N to ride his bike and the other 2 to run along and enjoy the play equipment alongside the promenade.

There was almost a meltdown from N as he didn’t get to cycle back down the sea front when the other 2 children voted to go back via some playing fields.  But by the time we were back near the car again he’d cheered up.

We’re usually all on our own on holiday so it’s nice for N to have some other children to play with especially when older children take him under their wing, and for me to get some adult conversation.  After a lovely morning, we then headed off via Lewes towards home.

Considering our short time away, being near the sea and enjoying walks along the prom really makes you feel revived and ready to take on the world again back at home.

Do you love the sea? How often do you visit the coast?

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