Skegness - It's Bracing!

Sometimes anticipation can be everything when looking forward to a holiday. This time was a little different as we had Nan tagging along.

Finally at 11 Monday morning our taxi arrived to take us to the train station. Originally, we were going to leave a bit later but then I was made aware that 10 minutes to change trains might not be enough for Nan so we had to go earlier so that there was more time for us to get to the Skeggy train.
It was just as well really as usually when we get off the train in Notts it is just a short walk to the end of the platform for the Skegness train but on this occasion it was another platform entirely which meant Nan had to lug her suitcase up and down the stairs. At least we didn't have to rush and we had about 45 minutes to sit and wait for the train to come in.

It was A lovely day for going on holiday. The sky was blue and hardly a cloud was visible. It was quite warm too and not what you would expect for a late October afternoon.

We arrived in Skegness at about 3pm after a very stressful journey made difficult by some ill-behaved children and their slap happy mother. It was such a relief to get off that train. I did have with me my PSP packed with video to watch but it was impossible to hear even with my earphones.

We got ourselves a cab. A very comfortable big 8 seater from Red cabs.
We arrived early at the Caravan camp and I thought we might have to sit around and wait but our caravan was all ready and we checked in before it was even 3.30pm.

The caravan was sensational. Much better than I had expected. There was a huge lounge area and dining area and a good sized kitchen with a full size cooker and fridge. The 3 bedrooms were good too. I let Nan have the double bed and I had one of the twin rooms. The 2 beds were the size of my own single bed at home and with the central heating it was very warm too.


In the lounge area there was a good sized TV and although it only got 5 channels there was a really good reception and it had a built in DVD player.
We wouldn't be watching much TV but it is always good to have it there especially as I forgot to take my radio.

While Nan and I sorted a few things out, Bill and Bret went to explore the facilities.
One of the lovely things about Southview is that as it is surrounded by lakes there are a lot of Ducks around. They seemed to stick around the humans I guess as they got fed a lot. I went out to see if I could take some pictures but as I did, I missed the last step and ended up on my backside in the mud. My foot really hurt at that moment and I was so worried that I had done something serious but fortunately after a little rest, I managed to stand up and my foot was fine.

When the children came back, we had a drink and a sit down and then decided to go take a look around, have something to eat and check out the campsite nightlife.
Unfortunately by the time we got back outside the rain was coming down pretty hard. As we had Nan with us we couldn't move as quick as we would have liked to so we got very wet.
We had a look in the site amusement arcade and in the camp shop. It was only around 5pm and the Star bar didn't open until 6pm. I remembered that when we had checked in we were told we had unlimited use of the Hotel so I suggested we go look and see if there was a restaurant in there.

YAY! We struck gold as the Orangery restaurant in the Hotel was open to residents all day long.

It was very posh and we weren't really dressed for Posh but there were only 4 other people in there so the waiter showed us to a table by the window. It was teeming down with rain outside and I felt that as we sat there it was getting worse.

The restaurant do a 2 course meal for £6.50 per person so I had Half Chicken, chips and Peas with Chocolate fudge cake and cream for dessert.

Bill had Burger & Chips with Apple pie and Custard for dessert and Bret had the same as me with Apple pie for dessert.
We all had diet cokes and Nan had a pot of coffee.

We took our time over dinner as it was raining so hard we weren't in a hurry to get out there.
It was shift changeover as we were waiting for our desserts and the woman that came on was very friendly and kept coming over and chatting to us.
When the bill came, Nan wouldn't let me give her any money towards it so she paid and we made our way back out to the pouring rain.

As the Star bar was now open we made our way there as I didn't want to go all the way back to the caravan and get soaked. I wanted to get a good seat in the club for the evenings entertainment...Oh how funny is that?! As we are used to the likes of Butlins and Haven, we had high expectations but as soon as we entered the club room they crashed and burned.

It was like a social club in there. The decor and tables and chairs were like a local social club and it was a tiny little stage. Over the stage was a screen advertising Line dancing hour from 6.30 - 7.30. Well the line dancing was just 4/5 regulars who obviously have their own caravans on the site. There was one bloke and he was dressed in "line dancing gear" You know cream coloured jeans and a cowboy shirt. Other than the line dancers themselves we were the only people in there.

They had the Kids club at 7.30 with Barney bear. To be honest there weren't many small kids there anyway just 2 young boys to be exact. So Barney came on and had a couple of pictures taken then they did the party dances. Of course Bill and Bret can't help themselves and so they were dancing in their chairs as they still knew them all.

AT 8.15 they had the Bingo. Just 1 house so we persuaded Nan to play even though there was no way I was going to play. Nan didn't win but never mind.

The rest of the night was given over to Karaoke started off by the Starcoats Brady and Danielle who had changed from their Yellow and blue "shellsuits" to nice suits with pinstripe jackets.

There weren't many people taking part so I wasn't going to get up there but Bret did. He sang Dakota which he usually does on Singstar with Ange and then later he did When we were young.

We left the bar about 10.30pm and went back to the caravan for Hot Chocolate and munchies.

Tuesday

I got up about 9ish and took a bracing walk round to the shop and reception because they hadn't given us enough linen. It was lucky I had a spare duvet in my room that I could use as a mattress cover.
It was lovely weather. The rain the night before had certainly cleared away anything nasty in the atmosphere as it was warm and sunny.
When everyone was up we took a walk to the bus stop which was quite a walk, especially as Nan couldn't walk so fast and it seemed to take forever. Without Nan I would guess it would take about 10 minutes to get to the road but with Nan it was about half an hour.
We weren't far from Skegness itself really and the bus pulled into Skeggy station about 10.45am.


We took a slow walk through town and down onto the front. It was great to get in the arcades again - especially as I had brought with me my bags of pennies. I had about £4 of 2ps and about £20 of silver but I had just brought the 2ps with me.
We stopped in one of the arcades for a hot chocolate and a much needed breather.

By the time we got to the Pier, Nan was flagging again and need of another sit down. So I suggested that we sit in the little cafe and have some lunch like a sandwich or a baguette. However it was about 2pm and they had no food left.
There was a penny falls game that was pirate themed and I had a go on that but each time I ran out of money and was about to walk away, a load more 2ps fell. I got right to the other side of the room at one point until someone called me back to tell me some more money had fallen. I finally did get away from it after having about £3 worth of play with just my initial 50p that wasn't bad.

I also had a go on Psychic Sarah the Aura reader.

Apparently my Aura is Orange
"Most Often seen in Outgoing, mostly-healthy but stressed-out people. Can denote a tendency to have too-quick reactions to all types of stimuli and pressure in life." And my lucky numbers are 29,33,36,32,11,7

We left the Pier amusements in search of food and ended up at McDonalds which is right next door. It does seem weird having a Maccy Dees right on the front but they are always busy and there isn't always food available elsewhere as we found out.
Everyone had deli meals but I stuck to my old faithful Quarter pounder with Cheese.

After our food stop, we made our way back up the main street. I needed to get a couple of things from the regular shops and I also wanted to get myself a notebook to jot down notes just for this blog. I didn't want to forget anything important now do I?!
We also just had to get donuts. Although the guy on the stall was a bit grumpy and he only had enough mix to make mine so the other people in the queue behind me had to go without.

We had a look round the gift shops on our way up. It always makes me giggle the more adult oriented gifts and sweets that they have on sale...and they put them on the top shelf LOL (I almost feel like Beavis and Butthead...)

We popped into Lidl on the way to the Bus station to pick up a few bits then we got the bus and were back at the caravan for about 6.30pm.

I didn't want to sit bored in the Star bar so I suggested we go to the other end of the camp and try the Sportsman's bar for a meal. The kids could play Pool and I could watch the football and maybe keep up with the Rams score as they were playing Blackpool that night.
It was just like a typical Sports bar with TVs situated at every corner of the room and football/rugby shirts all around the walls too. There was a sound system for when they have live music and a Pool table prominent at the front of the room.

The Menu was quite good too. They had small snacks and big expensive meals.
As we had McDees for lunch, Bill wasn't hungry and I was only a little hungry so I had a Jacket potato with Prawn Mayo and Nan had one with Cheese. Bret went for a BBQ grill with all the trimmings.
Bill went with me to order the food which we had to go to the till outside for. As usual Nan wouldn't let me pay so I went to the bar and bought the drinks out of my money.
The Potato came with a huge Salad and was more than enough to fill me up.

After our meal, we watched the ManU Vs Celtic game where Man U were totally annihilating Celtic. Bill and Bret had a little best of 3 Pool tournament (In which Bret won) and Nan and I chatted about the day.

After the football ended we went for a walk to the other end of the camp to see what what going on in the Star Bar. Well it was Star Coat John doing his star turn singing spot. As we walked in he was singing Matt Monroe so right up my street - NOT!

In between each song he played this game where he shouted out "DRINK" and everyone had to take a drink. We hadn't even got a drink. He sang some ABBA and Joseph and a load of real boring Ballads. He finished with Mack the knife which really didn't fit in with the rest of his set at all.

We left at about 10.30pm and went back to the caravan for..Yes you guessed it Hot Chocolate and munchies! Bill made herself a Cheese and ham toastie and I made myself an onion bagel with Cheese and Ham.

I stayed up until about Midnight then I went ot my bed to watch a bit of Fringe on my PSP.

Wednesday

I got up about 9.30 with the intention of going for a Sauna in the leisure complex. The children also got up early to go and spend some time having fun in Skeg without us oldies.

The Sauna was fabulous. When I first got in it was a bit too much...I could hardly breath and I had forgot to take of my glasses so I had to take them off and put them on the bench quickly before I burned myself. Once I got used to it and my lungs opened up to take in the heat, I relaxed and lay down on the bench. I went off into a daze for a while and when my 20 minutes were up I went into the showers for a nice refreshing cold shower. The showers were weird though, they were like those taps that you push to turn on then have to get as much use of the water before it stops. It wasn't continuous flow.

I got dressed and took a walk down to the shop so I could buy some shampoo and go back and wash my hair properly in the caravan. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was in the sky and it was so warm I didn't even need a coat. I took my time as it was so lovely.

Nan and I went for the 1.35pm bus into Skegness to meet the children and go to the Natureland Seal Sanctuary.
We met the kids outside the Skegness market and went to have a look around. Well I was totally underwhelmed! It took me about 5 minutes to get round and there was absolutely nothing of interest to me. So we made a hasty exit and head towards the Seal Sanctuary.
I had warned my Nan beforehand that it was right the other end of the Parade and that there was a lot of walking involved so we ended up stoping to sit down several times and it took about an hour to walk there.

When we finally made it inside I was impressed that it cost us just £11 fir the 4 of us. This was because I had 2 vouchers for free children. So I went in with a voucher and Bill and Nan went in with a voucher and Bret. I did feel a bit guilty as the place relies on the money from punters to survive but I know I would buy loads of souveneirs anyway.

We were just in time for feeding time so we hung around the gorgeous Harbour Seals waiting for the Lady to come with the Fish.


They are fantastic and for saying most of them are as old or older than me they still have a lot of life in them. When the lady arrived with her bucket of fish, the Seals were jumping around and splashing and causing a right raucous.

As she fed them, she was giving us loads of info about the Seals and how they found themselves there. You could tell she cares a lot about the animals in the Sanctuary in the way she spoke so fondly about them.
Next in feeding time was the Penguins. They are so tiny and cute. We only got to see 3 of the 4 as the other one was sitting on an egg. It is weird that in Penguin world it is the man who hatches the eggs more than the women.

Last of all it was the Baby Seals turn for food. First, the lady brought round Seal goodies for us to buy and support the fabulous work they do with the baby seals. Do you know that they rescue over 20 Babies a year that are washed up on shore? They feed them and treat them and strengthen them up as well as train them ready to go back out into the Wild.
I bought a little Baby Seal keyring and a notebook. It's cool too how they don't get professionals in to photograph the animals, they do it all themselves.

After we had seen the feeding time we went to have a look round the Tropical house. I took some awesome photos, real close up ones in here.

This is my Ultimate favourite photo from the whole holiday. It is amazing that my phone can take photos this good sometimes...

After the reptiles and Tarantulas we went over to feed and fuss the animals in the Petting zoo.
They are all so tame in there because they are used to so much attention all the time. Bret got really friendly with the Goat who thought he was getting a new home.


I wanted to go and see the Butterflies in the hothouse but it was out of season so we went through anyway and some of the flowers and Cactus were amazing to look at.

There was a Flamingo in there too which was a surprise, although I think he was trying to hibernate as he never moved at all when we were in there.

We nearly missed the Aquarium as I totally forgot about it. Luckily I got some more excellent photos.

It was quite obvious that Nan was flagging as we were runing round looking at all the animals and she was slumped on a bench. So we had a quick look through the Gift shop.
I bought a bookmark and a couple of fridge magnets.

We made a slow walk back down the front to look for somewhere to go for tea. I wanted to stay in Skeg to see the lights so we weren't hurrying back to the caravan yet.

We found a place called the Litten tree which I gather is part of a Gastro chain. I would say a bit more upmarket than Weatherspoons. I had never heard of it before.
I fancied Fish and Chips and Bret fancied a bit of a mixed grill. Bill wasn't so hungry so she just ordered some onion rings and some curly fries.

I wasn't impressed when the waiter brought the cutlery out as it was all dirty. He changed it for equally dirty items and when I complained again he said that it was just watermarks from the Dishwasher...Not sure If I should accept that as an explanation for the dirty things.

I really enjoyed the food though. After we had finished, the waiter brought out another bowl of Onion rings for Bill and said that he had brought out the wrong ones before. We didn't even realise. For dessert I had Belgian Waffle with Ice cream and Raspberry & Blueberry sauce. It was heavenly.

As we sat in the Litten tree it was starting to get dark and we could see the lights coming on along the front. I didn't bother taking any photos as they wouldn't have turned out very well.
We left the pub and took a slow walk back down the Parade to visit the Arcades again but under the illumination of Skeggies lights.

For the first time ever I actually won a teddy out of the graber machines. Well it wasn't the usual type of grabber but I was really even ecstatically happy!!

It was a net thing that when you put your 30p in, the net spins around asnd you have to guide it then drop it over 1 of the teddies. I was like a little kids when it dropped it in the slot. I think I embarrassed my children but it was a massive acheivement for me to win owt from these machines that my Nan kept telling me they were a con.

After my little win I was happy enough to leave. I wanted to go back on a high. So we walked back up to the bus station only to find that there wasn't a bus for another hour so we hopped in a taxi back to the caravan park.
We got out at reception as I wanted to go to the chocolate machine and get myself some Chocolate to nibble on with my coffee (No Hot choc left in the caravan)

We made it an early night for a change as we were all too exhausted to go out to the club.

Thursday

I was woken by the Ducks at some stupid Oclock after hardly sleeping a wink due to my cough. I think I spent most of the night coughing my guts up or sneezing.
I actually got out of bed about 9.30 and sat eating toast watching Take That on the telly (I think it was GMTV)

When everyone was up we made the trek to the bus for the last time. It was a horrible day - Very cold and Windy. Bill was having a job keeping her hat on.
We got a bus straight away to Fantasy Island and when we got there, it was quite busy. The wind and cold hadn't put anyone off. Unfortunately though the best rides were closed so the children decided not to bother buying any tokens at all.

We went in the little ones part and sat having a hot chocolate and then Bret had a go on the Hook-a-duck game.

I guess the bigest attraction when you go to Ingoldmells is the big Market but I have to say I was quite disappointed. It wasn't particularly cheap and most of the stalls were all the same. There were lots of stalls selling fake crocs. There were a lot of toy stalls selling the same old tat. A load of clothes stalls that weren't particularly selling bargains (and nothing over size 14)

We came out of the market and went to a little chip shop to get Fish and chips. It was a proper authentic chippy and they had a few seats inside where we sat to eat.
The Fish was absolutely gorgeous! And it was a huge piece of Haddock. There were loads of chips too so many that I had to leave a few. Bill had a chip butty and Bret had the battered sausage that he had been craving all holiday.
When we were satisfied, we took a walk down the road to the arcades and then I was too cols to care anymore so Nan and I went into a very nice pub called the Villager to have a drink while Bill and Bret continued the rest of the arcades.


We nipped back into the market as Bill had seen something earlier she wanted but by the time we reached the stall, it had closed. This was only 3.30pm I wasn't impressed.

We caught the bus back into Skeggy to pick up some gifts to take home. I also had to get myself the obligatory box of fudge/toffees to take home.

The last thing I wanted to do before I left was go see the sea. You can't come to the seaside and not visit the beach. Nan wasn't so excited and moaned that I wanted to see the sea so we left her sat on a bench while we went to have a walk on the beach.

It wasn't really the weather for it as the wind was whipping up a storm and we couldn't stand there long without getting sand rash and an eye full of grit.
We collected Nan and hopped in a taxi back to the caravan. I asked him to take us right up to our door this time as the weather wasn't getting any better.

Thursday evening wasn't very nice at all. The rain was teeming down and the wind was blustery but I didn't want to stay in for my last night so we traipsed off to the club.

We joined the party dances and Nan had a game of Bingo. We headed off to the arcade during Bingo as I find it extremely tedious. And guess what?! I only won my second grabber teddy of the holiday! It was a little cowboy teddy and then I spent the rest of the time trying to win an Indian teddy to go with it.

The rest of the evening was a compete snorefest. It was Karaoke time again but there was hardly anyone in the club so it was mostly little kids going up. Not the best night to end a holiday on.
I did enjoy the kebab that I got from the bar take away.

At about 10.30 we could endure it no more and headed back out into the rain to our caravan.
As it was going to be an early start, we headed off to our beds

Friday
It didn't seem like a week had gone by but now it was time to say farewell to a cosy accomodation and head home.

I got up at 7am and got my suitcase packed and tidied up the mess we had created. I wanted to do everything straight away so I could sit and have breakfast and relax in the last hour of the holiday.

By 9.30am we were all up and ready to go so off we went to reception to hand in our keys and start our journey home again...