Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside...

Today, we took the kids over to Brighton to see the sights and to practice battling the crowds for a place on the sidewalk in preparation for tomorrow's journey to London.

FIL dropped us off at Angmering station this morning, and we took the train, in order to avoid parking in Brighton. I guess that, if you get stuck in the pricier parking lots, you aren't allowed to leave until you spin straw into gold. The trains are all so...shiny...compared to how they were when I lived here in the '80s. And automated. The doors slide shut without benefit of a guard to walk down the platform and slam each one like they used to. Of course, the old fashioned approach does prevent the mishap we witnessed today, when two mothers boarded with toddlers and strollers. Well, not the toddlers, actually. Somehow, the mothers boarded with their strollers and left the toddlers on the platform just long enough for the doors to slide shut and the train to glide away from the station. The next several minutes were memorable for all of us in the car, especially the guard, whose only comment was, "Strooth, strooth, strooth..."

Here we are at Brighton station. Quite a bit bigger than Angmering. The kids were impressed. They haven't seen London Victoria yet.

We visited the Brighton Pavilion. So, as I understand it, George IV (so we're talking beginning of the 19th century) was a bit of a party animal. He liked the scene at Brighton and bought a little house down there, so he could carouse out of sight of George III. One thing led to another, and he had an addition built onto the house, and then another, and then a couple more. The result was this.

His tastes ran to the exotic. I guess you could say this is the Taj Mahal of Sussex. The interior in incredible. I couldn't take my own pictures, of course, but I found some images.It actually is restored to its former glory, and the rooms really look like this. Here is a photo of the kitchen as it looks today. Even the kitchen got palm tree pillars. Loads of copperware in there. I was dazzled by the many pudding molds available to his majesty. The kids were even more impressed, though, as Simon told them that those were the king's sand toys.

His niece, Victoria, was not so stuck on Brighton. Whereas George IV liked to be out among the townspeople, Victoria thought that Brighton was somewhat trashy for a royal vacation spot. This is the only property of the crown ever to have been put on the real estate market. Can you imagine trying to sell the thing? Well, nowdays the Sultan of Dubai would buy it, but back then the only taker was the city of Brighton. So it was a hospital, a civic center, a tea house, etc... until it was a huge restoration challenge. Now a triumph, although there is always scaffolding to be found on some part of the building.

OK, down to the pier we go.

First, a moment of sympathy for the old west pier. I have been watching it slowly return to nature for years now. Soon, it will just topple into the sea.

The kids loved these dumb coin-push games. I don't know how to describe them, except to say that they are designed to give you just enough of a return on your coin input to keep you additively playing. I admit that I became caught up in the thrill myself.

But my big moment was playing the Diving Dolphin game. Years ago, when I worked at the carnival in Littlehampton, I ran a game almost totally identical to this, called the Kentucky Derby. You know the game where you roll balls up the ramp, they fall through holes and make your horse gallop across the booth? That was my summer job. Same thing here, only with dolphins. Well, and at five times the price it was in 1987. Sara and I payed two games. She kicked my ass both times.

I'd better not ramble on any more. Si was lurking for awhile, wanting the computer. Now he has turned out the light and gone to bed.We are off to London first thing in the morning. More photos when I get back. By the way, am I the only person who gets really frustrated when putting photos on my blog? Each one loads at the very top of the entry and has to be dragged into place. They should fix that. Humph.