Scarborough 2013 day 1

We arrived in Scarborough and I was struck by the memory at parking at the exact same place when I'd come with my ex wife for the day. The seaside south beach was busy even as rain clouds chased over head for a few minutes here and there. I'd only put parking on for one hour and this gave us forty minutes playtime on this beach. But that was enough for my son to take to playing in rock pools and getting his trainers wet. We drove to our B+B for the evening which over looked the cricket ground. It had all we needed and more but the en suite was extra appreciated as I'd passed stand alone toilet rooms as we ascended the stairs. My son complained that he didn't want to go back out so soon but I needed to put a free car parking scratch card on the van. We walked one street away and saw the north  beach below us. 

We wound our way down a windy cliff path and sat out upstairs at a nice cafe to eat lunch. It felt later than 1pm by now and it had that wonderful feeling of freedom that we'd arrived. Once we had ate and drank I convinced my boy to walk towards the north beach and sand and shops area. We realised that we could probably walk to the Sea Life centre actually. We stopped on a patch of grass under some disused train pylons. I picked an inch of grass off to expose the soil beneath and told my son that it was only he and I who had ever looked upon this bit of soil. I said we'd claimed it as our own. Our new bit of land was only big enough for us both to lay a finger on together but it was a start. Within a minute we had grown possessive of our new find and covered it with plucked grass so no one else could muscle in on it. We walked ever closer to the Sea Life centre on a beautiful day. He ended up on my shoulders. Finally, £26 later, we were in the Sea Life centre looking at a whole array of water based animals that I realised I didn't care for. A children's programme called The Octonaughts had a character dressed up upstairs for the kids to stand with. There was no way of getting past this character without acknowledging it and having a photo with it. My son showed no real interest but went along with the idea. He was more interested at getting the sticker after. Upon walking past the character he smelt that something was up,"why isn't he talking?" He said. 

Outside the centre we boarded a mini railway to Peasholm Park which was dangerous fun. Once at the park we walked around the lake before locating the one bridge across to the middle as the dragon shaped boats peddled underneath it. We played ninjas as he found his way to the temple on top where he kept interrupting my 'inner peace' (Kung Fu Panda 2). As if we hadn't walked enough that day we walked further around some of the trails before heading back to the B+B. We played with figures for an hour (thank god I'd packed them) before setting off out to find tea. I didn't think we'd walk far but soon ended up through the town centre, down some winding cliff path and to the South Bay again where we shared fish and chips on the beach at 8pm, followed by an ice cream. Then we had to walk uphill back to the shop and back to the room. 

All in all a bloody lot of walking. Netflix streaming took us up to 9:30pm as we watched 'Goosebumps' which is like The Twilight Zone for kids. This seemed to spark his imagination (it was an episode about a cuckoo clock which turned time backwards). 

It's 1:42AM, I can't sleep. This isn't my bed or how I have it at home. I think I've had my allotted rest over the last few nights anyway. Tomorrow is my cooked breakfast which I've been excited about. In the afternoon I want to see the model battle on the lake too. I'd like to see the castle too if possible. 

Scarborough is brilliant. I will love coming back hopefully and it's a damn sight better than Blackpool.