oh I do like to be beside the seaside


Weymouth
Originally uploaded by JP1984.

Yesterday I travelled to Weymouth and enjoyed a quality day with friends in this rather attractive Dorset resort.

My camera is terrible and so the photos aren't particularly representative, but suffice to say that for much of the day the sun was shining (the weather was sweet, yeah). So much so, in fact, that I was secretly rather pleased with the fact I might have come away with something resembling a sun-tan. Vain, moi?

It was so good to see Stan and Josh again, having not seen them for ages and we enjoyed delicious fish and chips for lunch, a stroll to a coastal fort, a walk along the quaint quay, a trip across the harbour in a rowing boat and an ice-cream on the beach. We also encountered the best example of a Dorset accent I think I've ever heard. I'd only been to Weymouth once before when I was younger, and certainly I was really taken with it when I went yesterday. The quayside is lovely, with a good few places to eat and drink, and a mixture of classy yachts and fishing trawlers moored up. Unsurprisingly, the presence of a (sadly seemingly un-used) railway line running through the street was a highlight for me, but keep that to yourself. I really liked the beach as well; the sand had a nice texture to it, and the sea was warm (though I didn't swim, alas).

Going back to my attempts at photography for a minute, does anyone know what feathering means? The problem with using jargon on this sort of sign is that one might contravene it inadvertently. Apologies to all involved if you saw me feathering yesterday, it was unintentional. I suspect, however that the looks I got yesterday were due to the fact that I did at one point take my shirt off*. Either that or the fact that I had trouble pronouncing "that's lovely, thanks"; I think the girl in the ice-cream 'hut' (?) thought that I was so happy with the ice-cream she'd just served me (which was very nice) that I'd just declared my undying love for her.

As ever when I'm in such company there were many classic quotes which emerged from the day. My favourite, however, came not from Stan or Josh, but from the Punch and Judy show I caught a few minutes of.

"It's like Morris Dancing, only there are people watching".


*Don't judge me, I'm not that offensive. Certainly not as much as the guy outside at the cafe who'd rolled his shorts/boxers up in to something resembling Speedos.

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