Brighton Was A Scream!

The drive was pleasant enough. My housemates (well, mot of them) and I left for Hampton Court to meet with one other co-worker and have a quick pint in the Kings' Arms before taking off. (Mine was the Diet Coke because I was the designated driver. We made good time with only one flub in the drive, being that I got on the M25 headed west instead of east. Once that was sorted out (at the next junction) we were headed in the correct direction and the journey passed without incident.

Well, I say that it passed without incident. The peanut gallery in the back seat kept saying that I was going too fast but I got us there in one piece and did not get any speeding tickets along the way, so I guess I did okay.

Once there, I headed immediately for the Crazy Mouse. I love this ride. It is good enough the I went twice! Too bad I couldn't get any of my coworkers to join me. Oh well. At least I could get Martin to use my camera to take some pictures of me riding the roller coaster.

After spending an hour-or-so playing carnival games, riding the roller coasters and taking pictures, we headed into town to see what if anything there was to see.

There was a bit of shopping, but everything there is so expensive that there was nothing anyone wanted to buy. We then set-off in search of a bite to eat. Every public house we entered, however, was completely packed to standing-room only. After trying about five, we decided to head up the coast on a drive and then in-land to Lewes to see the Lewes Castle. If we saw something that struck our fancy for dinner, we'd stop and eat.

The drive was nice and scenic! I love that part of this country. The water, the cliffs, the beaches, the rolling hills. It is just lovely.

We arrived in Lewes in good time and by dint of following the signs, were almost entirely unlucky in finding the actual castle. We passed it twice and had to double back to try and find it. (Okay, yes! We finally asked someone.)

When one of us spotted the sign showing the way to the actual castle (right below a sign marking the road as being a dead end) I turned into the lane and headed up. I was beginning to doubt that I was still on a road as we drove through the portico of the castle, but the pavement still had appropriate road markings on it and there were "no parking" signs at the end of the road so I guess we were on a valid thoroughfare.

After walking around the castle a bit (and I do mean "around" it. It was either closed or the entrance was so well obscured that none of us spotted it) we set-off in search of sustenance. We all were incredibly unadventurous having the cheeseburger and chips offered by the local pub.

The drive back was equally uneventful. (Except that I kept killing the car by hitting third when I wanted first. I am having trouble getting used to shifting with my left hand!) but we went dropped Martin at his hotel. I then returned my housemates and the car to the house, got my bike, and headed down to the pub. After all that driving (with no beer) I was ready for a pint or three.

I hope that wherever you are today you've had fun!

Don Bergquist - 12-February-2006 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, United Kingdom