Once a Jersey girl, always a Jersey girl, and when the first few days of October throw out some serious heat what is one to do but go to the beach? For most of my childhood, Mom-Mom and my late grandfather lived in Ventnor, just south of Atlantic City, a block off of the boardwalk. I used every opportunity to visit them and spend hours in the sun, with snacks Mom-Mom packed me in cooler bags and the promise of something delicious for dinner upon my return to the house. It's been a long time since the Ventnor beach house, and since living in the UK I haven't had the opportunity of guaranteed sun and heat to warrant a trip to an English beach. But this crazy atypical autumn heatwave was a golden opportunity. I asked around my office for some suggestions of places to go and the one most mentioned was Camber Sands on the East Sussex coast near Rye, and an easy 1.5 hour train journey from Kings Cross. So I packed up my beach bag, applied some factor 30, and after the rugby The Irishman and I were on our way to the sea.
As you can see, the beach was absolutely jam packed but that didn't stop me from basking in the sun, reading a Grazia and a book, and wading into the ocean up to my waist. The Irishman isn't really a beach person but he was flexible for me and snoozed contentedly because I promised him a special treat: fish and chips. Post beach, we headed straight to the nearest chippy (with a line out the door) for cod, chips, and battered sausages. The bag our food came in had this lovely exhortation:
Post grease, we strolled through town and admired the old buildings; Rye seems to have a lot of history and The Irishman and I agreed that we would definitely return for more exploration. After a pint in a cozy pub, we headed back to steamy London to sweat the rest of the weekend.
If you go:
The high-speed train from London Kings Cross to Ashford takes about an hour; transfer there to the train to Rye, approximately 25 minutes. The 100 bus outside of the station goes to the beach once an hour. Train fare was £30 pp and bus fare £3.90 - both return.
