July 2012

            Brighton in the summertime, what more could you ask for? I was ready to jump in those waves and splash around.

One problem—the beaches aren’t sandy. I repeat, the beaches do not contain sand. They contain large, hard pebbles. Not fun for your feet. A more-calloused foot might not feel the sting of the uneven and unstable ground, but mine certainly aren’t calloused. So, if I look pained in any of these photos, I apologize.

            Firstly, look at how gorgeous my mother is everyone. Did I get those genes? I don’t think so.

            My mum and sis were there the first time we went. The sun was setting, so we had to move fast, but I definitely wanted a picture of the pier at sunset. The only time I had seen amusement parks on the end of a pier was in California or in movies. Since then, one has been built in Galveston, the closest beach-town to where I grew up. Anyway, the somewhat dim and muted lights of the theme park rides against a gray and pink British sunset looked eerily beautiful. So, the goal was a photo. I would’ve gone on the rides if I truly cared, but we were all tired from driving around that day looking at different sights.

July 2014

            Now, this time around Brighton was sunny and great! Our close family friends were visiting us. Their daughter, who is one of my best friends, wanted to go to Brighton. This time, I had more background information on the place. For one o my English courses in university we read Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. I ended up really liking it and then scoured Wikipedia for more information on teddy boys, gangs and post-modern England. It was fascinating to me the amount of violence there was in a country that doesn’t allow its police force to carry guns. We didn’t make the mistake of thinking we could swim and frolic, so we perused the market near the shore and pier.

            There were cute shops that were decorated like this, clearly targeting the hip demographic. We were pretty hungry, so we just ate and then headed to the Royal Pavilion for a bit of a history lesson.

            It was kind of shocking how Indian the pavilion looked. Of course, I knew that Indian soldiers had been treated there when it was a hospital and all that, but it just doesn’t fit in with the rest of the city. That’s what made it cool though! The weather was so nice that we sat outside while the café closed.

            Anyway, the pavilion inside was cool enough, but I wanted to spend more time just lounging around on the lawn outside because it provided a nice backdrop to journaling or reading a book.

            So, I’d definitely recommend a visit to Brighton if you want a seaside town that isn’t sleepy, but also isn’t all hustle and bustle. Apparently it’s the gay capital of England so that’s a plus? Oh and stop into Small Batch Coffee and tell me how it is! I found out too late that it is a world-famous coffee shop in Brighton.