This summer has been busy with work on our house (various small jobs done and Jen’s office almost finished), but we managed to get away for a last minute trip away to Suffolk. The main reason we chose Suffolk was that the forecast was for an ex-hurricane come in from the west on the days we had available, so we figured we would be best going east to outrun it. And Jen had already taken the boys to Norfolk earlier in the summer, so we did not want to go back there.

Our chosen destination was Southwold, mainly based on my previous experiences of Mrs T’s Fish and Chips by the harbour. It was a long drive from Coventry, on the A14, a road I spent way too much time on in 2007/2008 when I commuted on it daily. But the last thirty miles were on a tourist route, with lots of pretty villages. The roads would have been fun in the MR2, but we were in the van. Mrs T’s was as I remembered, still just a shack in the ramshackle harbour on the banks of the River Blythe, but the fish and chips were excellent. Owen declared them “best he’d ever had”. With full bellies we walked down to the beach, the boys dig some holes and jumped in the rather ferocious waves, at least for the east coast. I had not noticed on previous visits, but Sizewll nuclear power station was visible on the horizon. As we were finishing up at the beach it started to rain. Fortunately it was only a short shower, so by the time we had driven to the north promenade, the sun was back out and we could walk into town for a look around the shops, and of course, an ice cream! Harris & James seemed to be the place to go for that.

After eating our ice creams overlooking the beach, we went back down onto the sand for the boys to play some more. I am sure they enjoy the beach more when they are in their normal clothes and without their beach toys, than when we go fully prepared. It was at this point, with shorts wet from splashing in the waves, that Henry declared that he had not packed any spare shorts. Maybe I should not have relied on a six year old to pack sensibly for himself. The strong wind on the pier seemed to dry him off though. And no visit to Southwold is complete without a pub trip for a pint of Adnams. Jen had heard of a shop selling their beers, but we did not find it, so had to settle for some takeaway cans from their tap room.

On the way to our overnight stop, the Premier Inn in Lowestoft, there was an amazing sunset as we passed over Lake Lothing. The boys, particularly Owen, were excited about staying at the Premier Inn, as it means unlimited breakfast, which Owen made the most of! After Owen had eaten his “infinite breakfast”, sampling everything except the blueberry muffins, from the breakfast buffet, we set of towards home, driving across the broads, another pretty area I have not previously visited.

We stopped at High Lodge, the Forestry England site in Thetford Forest, we had previously visited in 2021 and had a really good day, so wanted to pay a return visit. Last time Owen and I rode the blue graded “Beater” trail, but this time he was more than up to the red graded “Lime Burner” trail, the trail crew have done a great job; there is not much elevation, but the trail flowed really well and descents were maximised. It was a warm and humid day, so I was glad not to be slogging up big hills. Owen rode really well, and I found it good to be riding a new trail together for the first time. Owen is at a nice age where we is old enough that we can ride decent trails together, but not too old to be excited to see the Gruffly and want to give it a hug. Jen and Henry did a lap of the green graded trail, then checked out the playground, we met them at the new pedal and play area, which is better than the similar trails at Cannock Chase and Hicks Lodge. The playground was also better than other Forestry England sites – it had the tallest slide I have ever seen, even taller than they were in the 1980s… Owen absolutely loved it, and had to be lured away with the promise of ice cream. Jen and I had cakes from the cafe, which were particularly nice. On our way in to the site we had spotted the adventure golf, so that was our last stop. I think the boys always prefer the idea of mini golf to the reality, but everyone got at least one “hole in one” (with only minimal cheating by Henry). Then it was time for the long drive back to Coventry, around Cambridge we drove through the weather that we had been avoiding, but we got off lightly. As an end of holiday treat we stopped at Taco Bell on the outskirts of Coventry, as the boys had requested a visit, surprisingly Owen managed to put loads away, even after his “infinite breakfast”.