Seaside holiday

Spent the long weekend up at the Norfolk coast. My traveling companions:

And our gracious host: Cromer is a very English seaside resort town. They have fish & chips, arcades (the machines deal in real money, unlike the ones I grew up with down at the Jersey shore, where you only get tokens or tickets), sweet shops galore, and sandy beaches.

In the arcade, the 2p coin-pushing machines were my favorite. They look like this:

Change a pound coin and you're set for the evening.

The fish & chips at Mary Jane's Fish Bar were worth the long line, and the guys working there were friendly. I learned two things about fish & chips:

1. The mushy peas should go on the side so that they don't make the fish soggy.

2. You need more salt and vinegar than you think you do.

We also learned something about Cromer: Eat your fish and get out of town. Before it gets dark. Cromer at night is like a bad zombie movie, only instead of grotesque undead people with limbs dropping off, the streets are heaving with grotesque drunk people who look like they want to pull your limbs off.

We had a lovely motorboat ride in the Norfolk Broads. You rent a boat (it was £40 for four of us for three hours), a guy gives you a quick driving lesson, and away you go. We took turns driving.

It's worth a trip to Sheringham for the steam train. And more arcades.

Food: Aside from the aforementioned fish & chips, which were delightful, there was plenty of seafood around. Everywhere you go there are stands selling cups of fresh cockles (tiny clams), crab, eel, mussels, and other goodies. The better ones provide a range of seasonings, like salt, vinegar, Tobasco, etc.

There was a good Indian in North Walsham called Lebone (or Labone; I forgot to take the card). It's slightly pricier than our regular curry place, but the chicken jalfrezi was very good.

We also indulged heavily in sweets. Candy shops everywhere sell all manner of fudge, chocolates, cotton candy, ice cream, swirly chewy things, licorice, and even a few treats for the homesick American, including Nerds, Jelly Belly beans, and Hershey's Kisses.

Norfolk isn't the most reliable place to go if you want to plant your umbrella, slather yourself with Coppertone, and work on your tan. It's the North Sea coast, so the water is Cold. We had a lot of wind and rain. The sun came out in the afternoons and warmed things up a bit, and we saw a few little kids splashing around (how come little kids are impervious to cold water?). We had a thoroughly enjoyable evening digging our toes into the wet sand and tossing the ball around on the beach. But that's about as beachy as it gets. Rather than lazing on hot sand and catching up on summer reading, this seaside is for wandering, exploring, playing, and eating.

Listen to John's podcast for more highlights.