Monday 5th to Thursday 15th July 2021
Southwold seems to be becoming an annual event now that we have a motorhome/campervan and, despite the rise in the number of people wishing to holiday in the UK this year, having booked well in advance, we had two pitches at our disposal and had the pleasure of a range of different people staying at varying times. John and Belinda and Clare and Roger had also booked their own pitches for part of the stay. [See Selfie of the day.]
Our first visitors were Graham and Dee and there seemed to be some confusion about the best position for their van and awning but fortunately this was eventually resolved. High winds overnight meant that both awnings had to be taken down the following morning.
It was a real pleasure to have Graham and Dee join us for a few days at the start of the holiday particularly as . . .
. . . this coincided with her birthday. It was great to catch up after such a long time and all the limitations of lockdown.
There are wide open views back across the flat Suffolk landscape towards the town from the campsite.
After Graham and Dee left our daughters both came, each bringing a friend. Although the weather was not as hot as we had hoped, Jaime and Sophie found the DryRobes came in useful for keeping warm.
We were sorry to see that Covid restrictions meant that our favourite seat had been removed.
Jaime also brought our dog Ralf who, after a few attempts and a lot of encouragement, learnt how to climb the steps into the motorhome and enjoyed walking along the dunes. He is not keen on the sea however and resisted going onto the beach.
As a post lockdown treat, Clare, Matilda, Ruth and Eleanor had booked themselves onto the Adnam’s Gin Making Experience. The distillery tour was curtailed due to Covid restrictions but we spent a happy two and a half hours in the Gin Lab [which has great views of the lighthouse] selecting our own botanicals then . . .
. . . distilling and naming our individual gins as well as sampling several of Adnam’s own spirits. Matilda was particularly pleased to be able to use the mini copper still which was her namesake.
Everyone is provided with a bottle of tonic and an Adnam’s gin glass as well as their own bottle of gin. We were a little disappointed to discover that rather than taking them back to the campsite to sample instantly we had to wait for a fortnight for the flavours to develop.
This did, however, give us all the excuse to arrange to meet in about two weeks’ time so we could sample each other’s creations. You are also provided with a record of your own recipe so that, if you wish, you can order bespoke bottles in future.
Video of the day:
Selfie of the day:
Dish of the day:
