10-15 Back to the seaside

Yesterday’s walk to Rottingdean was so nice that we decided to walk the seafront in the opposite direction towards Hove. It was a lovely sunny day with brisk temperatures and a lovely breeze and it was a Sunday, so the promenade was filled with families and dog walkers.

There were lovely sights along the way and the beautiful weather seemed to fill everyone with a happy feeling.

Geodesic domes for when it's too windy on the beach:

Charming little beach huts:

We walked and walked and started to feel quite hungry. Happily, there was a restaurant ahead, right after the little quick bite stands whose names I loved.

Rockwater turned out to be just wonderful!

(I loved this wall at Rockwater)

I ordered a pear and cucumber spritz which was refreshing and not overly sweet. Bruce opted for a Spicy Margarita.

Bruce had fish and chips which was enormous with the best mushy peas he'd ever had, and I chose the Crab Benedict. It was perfection. The Devon crab had a beautiful assertive flavor that wasn’t lost under the eggs and hollandaise. I could eat that every day.

Hard as it was to leave that lovely spot, we walked to the main road and caught the #700 bus into Hove. Bruce had a tiny historic bar to check out, The Hole in the Wall. I chose to walk to the seafront and ended up finding a little stand with the most delicious ice cream. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t take a photo of the stand, but trust me, I will find it again! I had a scoop of honey and stem ginger ice cream that had lots of chunks of candied ginger. Gorgeous! I walked up to meet Bruce at the Hole in the Wall and we decided to try to find the Brighton Cocktail Bar which had been recommended by Ian and Inger at Madame Jennifer’s. Naturally, it was a very long walk up a very steep hill. (Do all the streets go uphill?)

We passed the smallest art gallery ever along the way.

I have to admit that since our experience in San Francisco at Pacific Cocktail Haven we have been completely spoiled. Their cocktails there were on another level entirely. Where else would you find cocktails made with blue cheese or pandan? Cocktails like that with such sophistication, make any other cocktails pale by comparison. That said, though it’s hard to wipe those memories from one’s brain when tasting other cocktails, one has to try. I ordered a chocolate Old Fashioned made with chocolate bitters instead of angostura bitters and Bruce chose “A View Tequila”. Both were lovely.

The bartender brought us a bowl of truffle popcorn, a perfect foil to the cocktails. We figured “in for a penny, in for a pound” and went for a dessert round. Bruce chose “Gin and Berry it” which was bursting with fresh berries. I went with an espresso martini which was rich and full of coffee and chocolate flavors. Yum!

Happily, the road to the bus home was downhill. Along the way we passed an old railway bridge. I'm not sure if it's still in use, but there's a wire train on top, just in case. There was also a sign that took me back to my roots.

The bus, however proved problematic. There are two buses we can take to get to our digs and an app that tells you where on the route your bus is. There are also digital signs telling when your bus is due to arrive at the bus shelter. Of course, that doesn’t always mean that the buses will adhere to their schedule and on this early evening, there was no sign of either of our buses, so we decided to walk to the next stop, then the next. etc. We got about three quarters of the way home when the bus got to our stop, but since it was cold and windy, we rode the rest of the way so I wouldn’t become a cranky old lady.

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