It shames me to tell you that I have only seen the sea twice this year, the first time was in March for a Hen Weekend. I have withdrawl symptoms if I don’t hear the waves crashing in on a regular basis. It was March when I last saw the sea and there is a good reason why I don’t see the coast more often – my dog Violet. See, most beaches won’t allow you to take a dog on the beach from May to the end of September and so it makes it very difficult to find a nice day to venture down for the day.
But after a summer of bad weather this past Saturday was going to be nice (read: not wet) and I hunted for a beach to take Violet. And of course I had criteria: I wanted sand, and somewhere to get something for lunch. This website is wonderful for finding a suitable beach for a dog in the UK.
We chose Highcliffe on the south coast, and this was a lovely beach. The sea was calm and it was quiet too. It wasn’t the clearest of days but you can make out The Needles on the coast of the Isle of Wight.
A long walk along the promenade and up a zig-zaggy path and we stopped for tea and cake at Highcliffe Castle. This is such a pretty 18th Century Castle and the next time we visit I want to spend more time exploring.
We went for a little drive to nowhere and then went to Mudeford which may be my favourite beach (although my heart will always belong to summer holidays as a kid at Burton Bradstock in Dorset). Mudeford was busier than Highcliffe but not in an arcade and bucket and spade way. There were beach huts (Mudeford is famous for selling a beach hut for £170,000) with couples sitting with cups of tea or Pimms and sunbathing, and a great little cafe where we had toasted sandwiches and chips. The ice cream was also very, very good too.
This was a wonderful day out, and I didn’t take many photos as I was having too much fun!
~ Pru
Perfecting Pru 
I feel the same way about the ocean. I need to be near it. We went to Maine every summer when I was a child and I used to lie on an upholstered swing on the screened porch with a book and listen to the waves, as I used my foot to push against the cobbler’s bench that was the table to make myself rock. I could stay there all day. Even now, I have one of those sleep sounds machines to use when there is too much snoring or dog snuffling happening in the room and I have it set to wave sounds. Waves are just so relaxing. I’m glad you had such a lovely day at the beach! Does Violet swim?
It really is relaxing. I love the idea of going to Maine some day. From everything I hear and read it looks beautiful.
Violet doesn’t swim. She has always been afraid of the water and whilst she came to the edge of the sea with us when we paddled our feet she made sure that she didn’t get wet. She will however find the dirtiest puddle or smelliest stream to sit in to cool down during the summer. She is just a very odd dog!