We had a heat wave this weekend.  The temp soared to 77F.  Sunday was the hottest day we have had since moving here the first on September.  We had a busy day on Saturday.  Joshua has fencing and then we all headed to the local swimming pool.  Joshua and Meg are wanting to get in shape to join our city swim team upon our return.  We decided to catch a bus in the afternoon to the North Sea.  Seaham is a town about 20 minutes away by car.  It can take as much as an hour by bus depending on traffic.  Travelling by bus is nice because you can grab four seats facing each other and visit with each other instead of fussing over the other drivers along the road.  We play lots of games whether we are walking or on a bus.  One of our favourites is “yellow car”.

A fellow PhD student and his family live nearby us in Durham and we made plans to meet them at Seaham.

It was such a nice day for playing on the beach.  It is fun to look for sea glass among the rocks.

We do miss the sugar white sands of the gulf coast.  Somehow burying your sister along the North Sea just isn’t the same.

It was an enjoyable afternoon, followed by dinner at Downey’s along the sea in Seaham.  What do you eat at Downey’s on the North Sea?  Fish and Chips of course.

This was a BIG treat for us as we do not eat out much.

We even brought a brand new bottle of ketchup.  Yeah, we Americans love our tomato sauce.  The eight of us did that.

I do LOVE the malt vinegar on my fish and chips but I still have ketchup as well.

We spent some time playing on the green grass near the town WWI memorial.  Every town center has one of these.  During Remembrance Day they are decorated with weather proof poppies that remain until the next year.

Here is a earlier blog about why the poppies are significant.

https://thehaynesblog.com/2013/11/11/fields-of-poppies/

There is a little ice cream shop across the street called Lickity Split.  It is a bit of 1950’s Americana in its decor.

It may have been a bit on a long day and a long bus ride home…….

Cheers,

Beth