Thinking about having a day out
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It’s all Brighton beautiful by sea
BRIGHTON is a "whatever the weather" destination. OK, yes, in an ideal world you'd want the sun to be shining so you could sit on the pebble beach with a 99 ice cream and possibly go for a paddle.
But as a recent trip proved, it holds its own for a day out, even when it's pelting with rain.
The drive from Southampton to Brighton is a bit of a pain with many slow roads, but when you get there it's definitely worth it.
It boasts all the traditional attractions of a British seaside resort but with an air of edgy cool, making it a magnet for all ages and tastes.
Among the more cultural attractions are a host of cool bars and restaurants, a decent museum, the gaudy but fascinating former home of George IV: the Pavilion, an aquarium, endless quirky shops in the Lanes and North Lanes and more.
But we were on a mission to have a good old British bucket and spade sort of day so there was only one place to head for lunch - a fish and chip shop on the front for a slap-up feed.
Then it was off to the Pier to take in the sea air and, more importantly, prove ourselves in the arcades. This meant spending a small fortune in order to actually win something on the toy grab machines. I'm now the proud' owner of a toy lion which looks like it was made as a joke by someone who had their eyes closed.
There was further fun to be had placing 10p bets on mechanical horse races and developing claw hand from playing too much air hockey.
The only downside to the Pier is that the rides are a bit on the expensive side so we passed on the potential pleasures of the ghost train, log flume, roller coaster and so on.
Continuing the slightly tacky theme, we entertained ourselves trying to find the lamest thing on sale at the seafront shops. A particularly tasteless fridge magnet featuring a pig in a bikini won, by the way.
Browsing through brightly coloured beach toys, souvenirs and sticks of rock really takes you back to your childhood as well as offering shelter if the weather's bad.
A trip to Brighton wouldn't be complete without a walk on the famous pebble beach. Luckily it stopped raining long enough for us to venture to the shoreline and get slightly damp from sitting on the pebbles.
After that it was back into an arcade - this time the Old Penny Arcade Museum in the King's Road Arches. The old machines are fascinating and great fun to have a play on, and as you get 240 old pennies for £1 it's a real bargain. You can get your fortune read (although I can't vouch for how reliable it is), play an extremely old version of table hockey and more.
There was just time to buy a couple of sticks of rock before heading home.
The sun hadn't come out all day and it didn't matter one bit.
4:17pm Friday 9th May 2008
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Thinking about having a day out
