Last weekend I was lucky enough to head off to the seaside with my family for a few days. It’s actually been three years since I’ve been away with them, and almost seven years since I’ve been down in Devon despite virtually twice-annual visits as a child – so it was a lovely chance to see how things have changed and spend some quality time together!
We spent the Friday wandering round Babbacombe; a quiet seaside town with a scarily steep incline down to the seafront. We were a little lazy and only walked down; there’d been a huge thunderstorm at home the night before, so a four-hour drive coupled with little sleep left us all a little worse for wear! Being lazy did have its advantages though as both my sister and dad faced their fear of heights and used the Cliff Railway with us…with the bribe of fish and chips at the top! Delicious fish and chips too, from a shop that supposedly came second in the country in some kind of competition.
We stayed in a chalet on
Devon Valley Holiday Park - believe it or not this was actually a Daily Mail holiday, so we paid £15 each for the three nights…and then a £30 supplement to take the dog! Definitely good value, and our accommodation was much better than expected. We’d booked a minimum of a one-bedroom place, but ended up with two good sized bedrooms, a lovely living space, and a clean if bright (lime green!) bathroom. The park itself was quiet, but with just enough to keep any kids busy. Me and my sister made use of the indoor pool a few times, and also visited the two-penny slots every night! The views of the river were also pretty spectacular, as was the surround lanes.
On the Saturday we visited what is perhaps my favorite British beach. Parking in a rather secluded carpark, we proceeded through a damp and dingy tunnel in the cliff face before coming to a lovely cove. Ness Beach allows dogs all year round, but its pretty quiet compared to other beaches. A little pebbly (most Devon beaches are!) with plenty of seaweed for someone to roll in, it was picturesque and just lovely. After getting a little burnt we headed back through the tunnel and towards lunch at
The Ness – I have a separate post planned for this!
Sunday was a bit of a mixture. We first headed to the dog-friendly beach in Teignmouth. We didn’t find this particularly dog friendly as it was ram-packed with families; my dog finds children quite stressful so after an unsuccessful swimming lesson (he will not, unbribed, get more than his paws wet!) we headed to Dawlish. Dawlish is a lovely little town; a little like a mini Bournemouth. A lovely lunch consisted of a slice of mustardy Chicken & Ham Pie from Gay’s Creamery, followed by an ice-cream (one scoop peanut butter, one scoop snickers) from Sticky Fingers. Pretty immature of me, but I did giggle at those neighbouring shop names! We wandered around the gardens trying to get a decent picture of the black swans, getting distracted by how photogenic my dog is, and then wandering along the sea front. More sunburn followed Sunday!
Sunday also saw us purchasing a bargain take-away Cream Tea (from Gay’s). Four scones, four portions of jam and a tub of clotted cream for £3.50 was great value, although we did go and buy our own jam (raspberry over strawberry any day!). We found this excellent, with the scones being some of the best I’ve eaten. Yum yum!
Whilst we had to be out of the accommodation by 10am on Monday, we decided to still make the most of our break! We traveled along the coast to Sidmouth, to pay a visit to the Donkeys. Again, I’ve not been here for many years – it was lovely to see how many donkeys have joined since my last visit, and also the new stables. We then traveled onto Seaton; not a typical tourist town, but one we know well from annual March visits due to the Grizzly! To be honest I actually didn’t recognize the area as so much has changed since I was last there; but the scampi & chips, and lemon meringue ice cream, were all pretty good!
A chaotic journey home followed, with iced tea split all over the car (oops), driving off motorway services with the boot open, and hanging heads on the car door (double oops). But it was a lovely weekend, wonderful to spend time with my family and I hope its not as long until we head away again!
Have you been away anywhere nice?
