Today we drove to the beach! Amity has been stuck inside our house for 14 days due to being in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid and today she could finally go out again so I dragged my family off to the seaside. I have been missing the beach and really needed a good dose of nature. We drove to a place called Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve which is actually the site for my first ever overnight school trip when I was about 8. I loved it then, and I loved it now. It was so beautiful and vast and wild. The air felt cleaner (although a little stinky in places) and the ground was boggy and wet.
It took us ages to get there because we got stuck behind a tractor so it took about 30 minutes longer than it should have and when we showed up we realised we needed to pay for parking with coins! I don't think I've been anywhere in England in the last 5 years where you couldn't pay for the parking with your phone or a card but alas we had no change in the car with us. The girls stood by the payment machine while Phil and I scoured the car for money. I was feeling rather sad as it took us almost 2 hours to get there and now we couldn't even enjoy it. A lovely man overheard me telling the girls we'd have to go somewhere else as we didn't have any cash for the parking. He kindly gave us £2 so we could park. It was such a simple thing but it was greatly appreciated.
It's not what I think of when I think of proper ocean as there was no waves and the sea goes out for literally miles leaving all these rivulets behind. Amity couldn't resist taking her shoes and socks off and wading through the freezing water. Both girls ended up walking barefoot all the way back to the car. We drove home across the stunning Lincolnshire countryside, through farmlands and fields of broccoli, curly kale, cauliflower and cabbages.
It was a perfect day and I'm sitting here with a cup of peppermint tea and a generous square of dark chocolate.
My quote for today is “To walk into nature is to witness a thousand miracles.” Mary Davis
My photo for today is a selfie of Phil and I on the beach.