THROWBACK THURSDAY: Gallivanting At The Coast

The main part of my 50th birthday week (in 2016) was spent at The Gallivant, a lovely dog-friendly hotel at Camber Sands, on the South Coast.

Because we were celebrating my special day, the hotel gave us a complimentary room upgrade, along with a bottle of champers.

Although we'd brought Alice's bed from home, the hotel had provided her with her own bed, but she preferred to share our massive (and extremely comfortable) bed.

We were all rather taken with the sliding partitions that allowed the bath to be part of the main bedroom, meaning - if one so desired - it was possible to take a bath and watch the room's big screen TV!

We arrived on my birthday, and after we'd settled into the room, Rachel had arranged for me to have a relaxing, hour-long, massage, after which we took Alice for a walk to a pub down the road - The Owl - where we had a table booked for dinner.

After dinner, and a couple of free drinks with the landlord, we returned to our hotel room to watch The Martian on DVD (borrowed from the hotel's extensive DVD library).

On Thursday we took Alice for a walk on the beach at Camber Sands - during a howling gale! The poor puppy nearly got blown over as we battled against the wind and bullet-like rain. It was a struggle, but wonderfully atmospheric and oh so British!

That afternoon, we drove to Rye and treated ourselves to a meal in The Globe Inn Marsh, another very dog-friendly pub.

Alice was a big hit wherever we went, with people doting on her, giving her treats and cuddles, and she lapped it up. Although, I think, she was a bit bemused by the constantly changing environment, and all the new sights, sounds, and smells, she seemed to relish all the love and attention.

We should definitely return to The Gallivant.

It was a bit windy on the beach...

Alice doing her famous "floating head" trick as Rachel takes a picture of me taking a picture...