A Seaside Retreat in Aldeburgh England

Raise your hand if you have been to England but not to the ocean. I know, right? It’s this tiny little island and yet the coast seems so far away, at least to us without a vehicle or sense of direction.
But when a soul needs water, you do whatever is necessary to get there.

I gave Ben a choice, there are two common destinations for Cambridge residence: Wells-next-to-the-sea (not sure how that fits on a passport), with it’s quaint colourful seaside cottages and sandy beaches.

Aldeburgh.
It has pebble beaches, boasts of “famous” fish and chips and is home to the late Benjamin Britten, one of Britain’s most celebrated composers.

Guess which he chose.

Ben and I specialize in choosing vacation spots that are Geriatric favourites. Aldeburgh is no different, but in all honesty, we love it. It’s less busy, often cheaper and quite frankly, when you have a little boy whose face lights up at even the mention of throwing rocks into the water, a pebble beach is the way to go. It was absolutely beautiful and just what we needed.

Do you see the size of rock Ella is throwing: What’s that about low muscle tone?

The Beach.

On a whim we booked on Thursday for Friday night at the only hotel that could accommodate us on such short notice: The Wentworth Hotel. It was amazing! We arrived to find a luxury suite with a King sized bed and view of the ocean.

Ella and Ben in front of our hotel

Dinner and Breakfast were included with the special so after some time “at the seaside”, as Jakob would say, some ice cream and a little walk around town, we fed the kids and put them to bed. Then get this! We had reception listen through the phone service (like a baby monitor), while we went to the dining room and had dinner. Three courses, alone, you know? Like a DATE! What a treat and something we were not expecting at all!

At the Aldeburgh Bookshop

The next morning Ella woke early (4:30am), as usual and decided to climb out of the travel cot. So it was into the family bed. When the sky started to fill with light however, I let Daddy take over and I went for a walk.

…until I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore and went back to the hotel only to discovered I was locked out. Luckily, we were on the ground floor, and of course, the kids were awake.
Once dressed and ready it was straight to the seaside first and then to breakfast.

Reading the morning paper.

From there, we went to see where Benjamin Britten and his partner Peter Pears were buried. I always wonder why we visit the graves of famous people (we did the same the first time we went to Paris and had to see Chopin’s grave in the Central Cemetery.) It just seems a little odd since we don’t believe in prayers for the dead. But Ben assures me it is just for historical significance.

We strolled through town and got some tea and scones at The Cragg Sister’s Tea Room. This was probably our best tea and scone experience since being in England.

Earl Grey tea in a blue willow tea cup, fruit scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam.
I could do it all over, right now.

After tea, we walked back up the beach to where we planned on meeting friends for fish and chips. I stood in the queue (line-up) which wrapped around the building for a good half hour and got into the building just as said friends were arriving. When I emerged, the line-up was twice as long. We headed down to the beach and ate, played and laughed. It was really nice.

And while the fish and chips were the best we have had in England, the jury is still out as to whether they are better than Pajo’s.

Two of Jakob’s friends from school: Another blond half-asian from Australia and a Turkish/Mexican from Texas.
We support inter-ratial marriages: making the world more beautiful one half-breed at time.

Aldeburgh, who knew? It was exactly what we needed.