Sunday, February 19, 2012

Coastal Getaway

This weekend, Jay and I decided to take a little mini-getaway to the coast. We decided to check out Bournemouth - a little coastal town pretty much due south of us, just under 2hrs away. We arrived on Friday afternoon to a sweet little B&B we had found online. We met the owner, got settled into our room and then headed out for a lovely stroll along the ocean. Bournemouth is beautifully laid out for walking - there's a large pathway along the edge of the sand as well as lovely pathways along the top of the cliffs that overlook the ocean. The weather was quite mild and we walked for hours, enjoying the scenery and stopping off to check out a cafe and the Boscombe pier.

View of Fisherman's Walk from the cliff
Lunch with a view at Urban Reef

Boscombe Pier


After our long walk, we headed back to the inn to shower and change for dinner. We ate a little pub just down the road and then treated ourselves to an early night reading in bed (all that walking certainly wore us out!).

On Saturday, we awoke early for breakfast in the B&B's gorgeous breakfast area overlooking the ocean. Then we packed and headed off to explore a bit more of Bournemouth - which has 7 miles of coastline! We drove down to Boscombe pier, where we had left off the day before, and continued on. We came to Bournemouth Pier where we enjoyed some time playing in the arcade, exploring the aquarium (called the Oceanarium) and having some delicious seaside fish and chips.

Beach Huts along the boardwalk

Turtle popping up to say hello at the Oceanarium


On the way home, we decided to stop by Stonehenge, as it was more or less on the way. Though it was quite cold, windy and damp, we enjoyed having a walk around - a first for us both. We didn't stay too long though, as the weather was not ideal, and we look forward to visiting again when the weather cooperates a bit more.

Stonehenge

Me looking really cold at Stonehenge


All in all, a fantastic little getaway! Bournemouth might be one of my new favorite places on Earth - we'll definitely be going back again soon!!