A Day At The Seaside

What a pleasant surprise!

Drawing on my limited knowledge of Brighton gleaned from cheeky postcards, Graham Green's "Brighton Rock" and The Who's "Quadrophenia", I expected the traditional view of a British seaside town.  Stony beaches, soggy tea and cakes, and Brits wearing sandles with socks and hankies on their heads.  There's no escaping it ~ Bondi Beach it's not!.  Any Miss Marple murder set on the Brighton seafront will provide you with an accurate depiction, however this is not just a seaside town.

Disembarking at Brighton station and its soaring blue steel canopy, you encounter a pianist sitting at a bright community piano belting out jolly tunes.  Holiday-makers mill about checking the time of their return ride before emerging at the top of the street and descending into a maze of alleys.  Packed Brighton and Hove buses named after comedians dislodge customers too pooped to walk.  Surprisingly, Brighton is quite large and built on hills packed with colourful terrace houses.  Taking a lead from Andy, We wandered off gawking like greenhorns.  All we needed was Erin holding a flag labelled "Muller Tours"!.

Tea shops, mod emporiums, arty agents and confectionary stores crowd the lanes and alleys that hide behind the hotel lined seafront.  Lunchtime had arrived however, and sustenance more ribald that that available at Chockwockydoodah was required.  Indicating the refreshment on offer just inside a number of the pubs and bars, Erin said that a quick tipple was possible, but that Andy's holiday attractions app indicated something more satisfying approached.  "Follow me", He said as we headed off  through the lush gardens that enclosed Brighton's Pavilion.

Andy had done his research.  Away from the maddening crowd, we entered the Basketmaker's Arms on the corner at Cheltenham Place.  Fabulous!  Wow, I love this.  An atmosphere redolent of the track resonated with members tickets adorning celebratory pint glasses.  The Basketmaker's offered an extensive range of beverages including many cask conditioned ales from the George Gale Co. Brewery.  I kicked off with a Horndean Special Brew on the recommendation of mine hostess Fiona.  With such a range on offer, I enquired of the expert as to what we should sample in the second round.  Having consulted, Fiona placed two pint glasses under separate spigots and ambidextrously tapped those kegs simultaneously.  Now that's a good trick!

As for the food, Fabulous!.  Fish, chips and mushy peas with a homemade tartare that kept you coming back for more.  A generous fillet of locally sourced pollock coated in a HSB beer batter ensured the flesh remained piping hot.  Erin's delayed order of arancini balls came with a half pint to compensate.  Andy and I sampled another pint ach as we weren't driving ~ We'll leave that to the train driver!

Brighton Rocks!