MARGATE DAY TRIP 0 Comments

So, the reason I'm sharing all this with you is so that you ask yourself this:
WHEN DID YOU LAST GO OUT FOR THE DAY AND SEE SOMETHING NEW? WHEN DID YOU LAST STRAY FROM YOUR REGULAR ROUTINE AND DO SOMETHING THAT MAKES NO SENSE?

Grab a car, or get the train and go and break the mold. Take a day off midweek and go see something different. Right in the middle of my father getting his cancer diagnosis and then him being rushed to hospital and when everything we thought we knew was turning upside down, I made an impromptu trip to Margate. I was restless at work, unable to rest at home and unable to sleep so a new town was a welcome diversion. I'd not visited since I was about 10. It was a great day out and one which became 2 quite by accident. Having mooched about the seafront, jealous of their sandy beach eaten great pizza, peeked inside the Turner gallery and then driven out to the Walpole Bay Tidal Pool, to marvel at its majestic simplicity, we stopped for a cream tea at the 1920s throwback The Walpole Bay Hotel, and as I was dreading heading home and facing the reality of my father's illness, we booked in for the night. No change of clothes or toothbrush! What a weirdly wonderful and perplexing joy! Every fibre of my body curdled at the dizzying array of clutter and late 20th century antiquities, and yet, there was such a wonderful warmth about the hotel, a feeling that Miss Marple would exit the lift in the foyer straight after breakfast, all was forgiven. It's a favourite haunt of Tracy Emin and I can see why. Swathes of Axminster carpet, large measures of booze and a sea view from every room, it's no wonder she returns every year.

                           The majestic tidal pool at Walpole Bay, Margate

                       Terrace in front of the Turner Contemporary Gallery

           Go giddying around on the giant teacups ride at Dreamland Margate

A cream tea at 4pm turned into an overnight stay at The Walpole Bay Hotel.I spent way too much time worrying about whether I "ought" to stay overnight, the money, the distance etc etc, but then an overwhelming desire to do something out of the ordinary, because life's just too short, came into sharp focus and the decision was made. Toothbrush be damned.

TAKE A TRIP. MAKE A PLAN. DON'T WAIT. LIFE IS SHORT.