Beachy Day, Brighton

Yep that's right. One month, and two days out at the beach and my main thought on repeat is "Have we found the cure for Covid"? If Brighton was anything to go by, the response would be “What is Covid?”.

To my knowledge, I haven’t had about Covid and yes the beach is outdoors which feels a lot safer than being in a confined space with many (many) maskless people. What I mean is for the first time since March 2020, it felt like the past year or so had been a dream and life was going back to what it was.  

There was a nice summer vibe and although I did keep thinking, “Why is everyone behaving like normal and why stand so close to me in the fish and chip queue?”.  

I eventually loosened up to enjoy a very British summer day. If you are not familiar with these they are few and far in between, so when you get one you better bloody enjoy it when one shows up.

There were three of us and the car journey felt really long. Once the first leg of our road trip ended, I was glad to be out of the car and breathing in some fresh sea air. As I had been to Margate a few weeks before it felt nice to be doing something similar again after months of not being able to be out anywhere. As I wasn’t going to be jetting out of the UK anytime soon I would be making the most out of day trips and any staycations.

I haven't explored as much of the UK. This is for more than one reason when I deep dive into it. The main one is that I feel more like I am going somewhere when I travel even if it's just Easy-Jet Setting to Europe. 

I went on my first flight, which was to Dominica for a family trip when I was seventeen. I had my first passport and I didn't really consider travelling to other places in the UK  unless it was for a specific reason. I was only interested in international travel. That hasn’t changed much and I can’t wait to get back on a plane and travel again. However, I do want to take more trips the UK. Not that I have had much choice recently.

Growing up we did a few day trips out of London as a family and a weekend camping trip - 30 minutes away. When I say as a family I mean my whole entire family on my Mum’s side - which is big.  

When I was around 10 we had our first UK break in Somerset for our immediate family. I was probably unaware of the vast amount of open green space outside of the concrete city we lived in. That we were probably the first Black family that the residents of Yorkshire had ever seen in person or, at least that is what it felt like by their shocked expressions and stares is another reason that I have felt more comfortable exploring European cities than other places closer to home that are a road trip away. I can still feel them looking at me right now when I think about this.

Anyway, back to Brighton and it's a hive of activity. There was so much going on and everyone was in a good mood. I decided to go along with it and hoped to keep my covid free record intact. 

Everyone looked happy and I probably did too.  It felt like everyone needed to have a good day and the great weather was helping immensely. There was even a silent disco going up and down the seafront. They were going for it. It looked like so much fun and they didn't seem like they had a care in the world. I was passed a leaflet with details of the sessions. Maybe next time.

After a walk up the seafront we settled down on the beach. The sun was hot and if I squinted, really really hard, you could be somewhere in the Mediterranean. Ok, I did say it could be. To be fair, one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to was in Cornwall. I still can't believe that we have beaches like that in the UK but it was on a freezing cold day. Another reason for more staycations.

Brighton seafront does have an old feel about it. It could benefit from having some regeneration although I know a few people who are now considering a move out of London up here. It's nice but for tourists outside of the UK, it may not be on your wishlist.  

For those of us who haven't travelled, which is everyone,  it would more than do for a day out. I didn't take many photos to share. Don't worry that will change the more I post. But for now, my words will have to take you on a visual experience.

We started off with ice cream. The old-fashioned kind from an ice cream truck was the best way to get started. A 99 with strawberry sauce and sunbathing, this was the current good life. The sun felt amazing, and it was so good to be out and around people and hear parts of everyone's conversations. Everything seemed to melt into everything, the sun, the sea and the people.  

My friend went into the sea as she wanted to ground and it reminded me that I hadn't done any grounding since the retreat. It's good to see someone staying consistent at something. After a couple of hours of sunning, relaxing and chatting we went to check out the food offering. We had stopped off for bagels on the way up and were now ready for lunch. Yep, you guessed it - Fish and Chips x 3 and a cheeky glass of wine for me. I was on holiday after all. If you try fish and chips for the first time visiting the UK this is the type of place you should do it as fish and chips are not as good as they used to be in London.

Who knew there would be an art exhibition on the actual beach!! It’s great to see art popping in another unexpected place. This seems to be a current trend that is here to stay. Titled 'Our City' it featured the work of Brighton and Hove camera club members. I really need to improve my iPhone photography skills as the photography was amazing and they captured such amazing shots. We stayed here for quite a while making our way around the various different pieces.

There was definitely a theme - Protest. It was great to see stills of people getting active in 2020 in Brighton during the Black Lives Matter protest. I liked that everyone had to walk past the exhibition with most people stopping to take a look. The black and white photos and the simplicity of this exhibition and that everyone on their beach day would have had to walk past and observe it in some way. Although everyone needed a nice day out I was glad that the urgency of the fight against anti-black racism was still visible for all to see, hopefully keeping it at the forefront of everyone's minds.

The above was my favourite image. Photography is such a great skill.  I didn't record the name of the artist but whoever captured this moment got it perfectly. There were many others which were great also - actually all of them were. Whenever I see a piece of art exhibited I think of how proud the artist must feel for their work to be seen.    

After walking up towards the pier and back again we passed the silent not so silent ravers. This was such a great idea and if I wasn’t so self-conscious I may have joined them. The host of the group whose name I can't remember (something Guru) had the right business model post-lockdown. I wish I knew what songs they were dancing to.  

The day went by so quickly and before we knew it it was time to head home. The drive back to London was so long as there was so much traffic. I tried not to fall asleep as that is never fair on the driver although I am sure I nodded off a few times. I am not one for long drives and gave up driving and gave up on my car years ago. Uber and my love of walking were game-changing for me. I would only drive again if I found myself having to be a getaway-away driver or driving for Uber. I would love to make a proper road trip though in a VW camper van. Important to add that someone else would need to drive. I would cover short breaks only.  

The Sun, Sea, Art, Ice Cream, Friends & Fish and Chips - what more could you want from a day trip? I knew I would have a great sleep that night.  The sea air does something to your lungs. It actually puts fresh air into them!!  Beachy Brighton was cool.  

I knew it would be a good day. It had to be. You have to grab on to your good days when you can at the moment.