Out of the mix

When in England shopping is great yes but it is always a good idea to get out of the city proper and head for what the English quaintly call - The Seaside. And Brighton is the epitome of that. This is the typical English seaside, pebbles instead of sand, deck chairs, ample candy, lanes, shopping, fish & chips and all. Brighton is a sweet town full of old world touches. I really thought I was coming to dismal and dreary but the day was absolutely fabulous. Beautiful sunshine and what was that, did the ocean actually look like it had a hint of blue, clear water - could it be?? In England. Unbelievable!!! Yes folks the ocean was lovely and all the English were laid out on the pebbles, sunning and tanning their pale palours from all that rainy sunless weather. The seaside was packed and it was on. Not to mention that this was Gay Pride weekend so the crowds were more plentiful. The Lanes were crowded, the men's shirts were off and England was feeling a heatwave.

Brighton is great, one has to walk the Pier which is complete with amusment rides, lots of sweet shops, fish & chips - which everyone that comes to Brighton must try - and all this sits on a Pier that juts out into and over the ocean for about 1/2 mile, so any wrong moves - well you get the idea, you're all wet.

After walking and sitting on the pebbly beach it was time to go over to the famous Momma Cherri's for dinner - Soul Food cooking down in Brighton, a soul as it gets. Each person shelled out £16 and the choice of platters was for the taking - ribs, sweet potato wedges, jambalaya, fried chicken and all. Momma Cherri's is cute, it occupies a 3 storied building and seats not too many. The staff seems a little overwhelmed and Momma Cherri's daughter seems to do all the food service after the order has been taken and that's a good take on the place. Brighton is about 1hr drive away from the city so take that into account. A whole day is a good time to spend there to totally soak in and enjoy the city. The National Rail also runs there so you can shoot out of London and dodge the sometimes crippling British traffic and parking issues. Brighton seaside - really expect the unexpected!