At the weekend, we visited our lovely friends, who moved away and (let us use their house for a few weeks ) at their new home in Weymouth. We’d been meaning to visit them since February half-term, but, actually, I’m glad we waited because a) the seaside looks a whole lot better in summer and b) it gave them chance to transform their house and get it looking fabulous.
And I realised something about my family. We never stay with friends (I guess because three kids and staying with friends just doesn’t work, who has room to accommodate five people?) – we go on holiday and we stay at my mother-in-law’s, and that’s it. And I realised something else. There are no better friends to stay with. Because we all have a friend in their family – the two mums, the two dads, the two younger boys, and my eldest and their daughter. Only my daughter is on her own, but she fits in fine with the younger boys and, as my friend’s son pointed out, she is also my friend’s god-daughter, so my friend is always very happy to see her.
Our family loves the great outdoors, but our friends love it far more than we do – the countryside, the beach, the sea, hills, forests, they love them all. And with just over 24 hours in their company, they wanted to share it all with us. I’ve never been to Weymouth before, or even Dorset (apart from a performance with a horrible elitist teenage theatre group in Poole when I was 15), so I was excited to see it all. I thought Weymouth was a beautiful place – a bit more urban than Cornish towns, but still with a very ‘seaside’ feel to it – and the views are stunning!
We started off with a long trek into town, which included a walk along a very pebbly beach. From there, my husband and two boys had their greatest adventure of the weekend – a fishing trip (my daughter gets seasick so the ladies just wandered around the town). Just as their trip was coming to an end, my eldest, the wannabe fisherman, caught not one, not two, but THREE mackerel – all at the same time. That experience will have made not just his day, but his whole year. As a vegetarian, he wasn’t keen on the concept of them being killed, gutted and eaten, but that’s exactly what happened. Apparently they were delicious (as a vegetarian myself, I can’t comment).
The next morning we went a short walk up the hill, where we could see the sea all around us. It must be amazing to have that right on your doorstep.
Then it was a quick trip in the car to Portland, where the Olympic sailing took place. I was fascinated by the drive over there – by Chesil Beach and The Fleet – a long strip of sand which forms almost a bridge. I literally had no idea these things existed (geography has never been my strong point). The views from the hill by the Olympic rings were absolutely stunning.
Finally we headed to Portland Bill (anyone else remember the kids’ TV programme of the same name? I never realised it was a place!), where the rocks are rugged, the wind is strong and the views are stunning. The kids scrambled over rocks and ate chips. It was a really beautiful place to spend some time, have a walk and get lots of fresh air.
We loved our little stay in Weymouth and will definitely be visiting for A LOT longer next time!
Linking with The Gallery at Sticky Fingers. Pop over to see how others have interpreted ‘The great outdoors’.
July 9, 2014
It looks like a really beautiful place to visit and sounds like your friends have settled in really nicely in their new home. Did you get tempted to maybe move there one day too? 🙂
July 9, 2014
Not quite! We’re not the sort of people to do that sort of thing (especially now we’ve got a fantastic house), but I’m really pleased for them, it suits them perfectly. We will definitely be visiting for longer next time 🙂
July 9, 2014
Looks like you had a great time. I love seaside and miss living in Sydney. I haven’t explored seaside in the UK since we have moved here …almost 10 years ago… I wish I could live by the sea again.
July 10, 2014
Wow, you need to get to the seaside, you can’t beat it! I’m always jealous of people who live near the sea, but it’s always a treat to visit 🙂
July 9, 2014
Glad you had a lovely time with plenty of outdoor fun. Mackerel are delicious, especially on the BBQ, I hadn’t realised you were a vegetarian before. #TheGallery
July 10, 2014
It was fantastic, thanks. My husband and younger son certainly enjoyed the mackerel. You didn’t see my Tshirt on day 2 of Britmums Live, then?
July 9, 2014
Even though I used to live in Bournemouth (and briefly in Poole) I have never been to Weymouth either. I have been through it and stayed at a nearby holiday park but not actually been there. It looks rather nice actually! Glad you had a lovely time. x
July 10, 2014
It was really lovely! I would think it’s strange you’d never been there when you lived nearby, but there’s plenty of places near me I haven’t visited either!
July 9, 2014
Hubby went to college in Weymouth & i visited as a child so we often pop down for the evening for supper. Portland is a must at least once a year, ideally when the weather is rough but you have to watch for the siren – deafening!
Great series of pics!
July 10, 2014
I saw the warning sign up about the siren! My friends told me about watching the sea from Portland last autumn/ winter when there were all the floods. It sounded scary and exciting.
July 9, 2014
Come visit us some time – we have room! Also, I am racking my brains to remember a trip to Poole when we were 15 – was it with the production of Anne Frank (because I wasn’t in that one)?
July 10, 2014
Ha ha, bit further to you! Yep, it was Anne Frank!
July 9, 2014
Aww how absolutely lovely. Although that final photo with someone perched on the end of a cliff . . . ask them to step away won’t you? Making me all nervous!
July 10, 2014
Ha ha, he was scaring his sister! He was so desperate for me to take a pic of him because it looked cool!
July 9, 2014
I love the seaside , the colours are amazing , I like how you daunter has picked her outfit to match the light house . I adore light house.
July 9, 2014
Always lovely meeting up with friends. I used to love living by the sea as I found it very calming x
July 9, 2014
You’ve just reminded me how much I love Weymouth…Lovely pics of the sea.
July 9, 2014
Wow it is really pretty! Like Greece! Its .. im speechless to how marvelous it is =) #TheGallery
July 10, 2014
Lovely photos! Looks like a fantastic place to be!
July 11, 2014
Your photographs are amazing, I love Weymouth, such a gorgeous place.
#PoCoLo
July 11, 2014
Great pictures, I visited Weymouth many years ago, would love to go back one day and see how it looks since the Olympics. #PoCoLo
July 11, 2014
I’ve never been here, it looks lovely.
Glad you had a fun time, great pictures 🙂
Thanks for linking up to the weekend blog hop 🙂
July 11, 2014
It really is lovely! I would definitely go again. It’s a long way for you though. Was far enough for us!
July 11, 2014
I haven’t been to Weymouth for many years but I did love our holidays there. I remember visiting Portland Bill and Chesil Beach. Nothing like a bit of seaside air.
July 11, 2014
You can’t beat it! It was my first visit to Dorset, but we’ll definitely go back 🙂
July 11, 2014
I love the sea, beautiful photos! #PoCoLo
July 11, 2014
Looks like you had a great trip away! Gorgeous photos x
July 12, 2014
Oh I do love Weymouth. I used holiday there as a child, and then when we moved closer, was great for family days out. We loved Chesil beach with all the very smooth pebbles, which is great for door stops, and then Portland bill…. lots of family photos with it t=in the background. Glad you enjoyed it too. And even better with friends.
#countrykids
July 12, 2014
I’ve never been to Weymouth but sounds lovely. Great photos. X
July 12, 2014
My husband has many happy memories of childhood holidays in that part of the world. Looks lovely and so glad you enjoyed catching up with friends too.
July 15, 2014
This looks beautiful x