Brighton

I've been going through beach withdrawals. Having lived near the ocean all my life, I really miss it. The Thames just doesn't give you the same vibe as crashing waves do, nor do you get the salty smell and feeling of vast openness.

So, bravely, B and I ventured south to Brighton via train. I wish to stress how much work it is traveling with a tiny baby. Definitely not something I want to do a lot, especially on public transport. Fortunately, he slept a lot.

I hadn't ever been to Brighton, and B was keen to show me around since he knows the town a little bit. Mostly he knows it because he's had to meet clients there or go to business affairs in the city.

The walk to the beach is a bit over a mile from the train station. Maybe more. But it's a nice walk, through narrow streets, some pedestrian-only, by little independent shops and boutiques etc. We ate a pub lunch (note: we tend to choose where we eat now based on whether it seems like a decent place to breastfeed/change the baby) and headed down to the pier.
It was so nice to stroll leisurely down the pier and look at all the things on sale. There was a great view over the water as well:

The gray thing in the distance is a burnt-out pier. It had apparently been out of use for awhile and was scheduled to be re-built when it was burned down.

At the end of the pier there are a bunch of amusement park style rides, with a roller-coaster, bumper cars, a carousel, and....
...some sort of tall crane-like thing that you'd never catch me on. It was hard enough watching it, with the people strapped in, let alone setting foot on the thing.

It was much more pleasant to just stroll down the pier and see the sights:


And Elijah liked the beach!