Whitstable

Feb 6

John was up quite late - he had slept soundly until 7:30 or so. He got a cup of tea and went out to Val's living room. She came in a few minutes later. Alan had asked John if he wanted to go for a walk with the dogs down at Reculver but there was a problem with the back door of the four wheel drive vehicle so Sandra and Alan had decided to take a walk into Herne Bay with the dogs instead. John still wanted to go.

It was an interesting walk and the dogs had a great time. When they reached the town, Sandra and Alan put Rufus and Lara on leashes and although it was not necessary thay had a leash for Charlie and John was able to walk her. They had hoped to look into the Herne Bay Museum but it was closed until 10:00am and they would be long gone by then.

Alan suggested that they have breakfast and decided he would get each of the dogs a large, warm sausage roll as a special treat. Sandra had one as well. John and Alan had a sandwich, but Boy oh Boy what a sandwich! It was back bacon, with cream cheese and cranberries on English bread. Now Engish bread is like French bread but in a bigger size, just as crusty and just as delicious. The combination of flavours was superb.

They came back with plans to visit another seaside town, Whitstable in the afternoon. But the dogs were quite muddy from their free ramblings. John volunteered to clean Charlie, the smallest, while Alan and Sandra did the big dogs. Rufus and Lara started to horse around and Rufus left up when Sandra was cleaning him and his head hit into Sandra's causing a painful collision. Sandra said she was ok so John wnet back into Val's.

Gail and John had agreed to talk at 12:00 (7:00am in Canada) and she and John had a nice talk about many things.

Soon afterwards, it was time to set off for Whitstable. Sandra had a headache from the collision so, understandably, she decided to stay home.

Whitstable is a very cute little town as you will be able to see from the video below. The three first stopped at the harbour which is famous for its oysters. They bought some seafood (mussels, cockles, and prawns) and a pheasant. Then it was over to the oyster bar, where Alan bought them fresh oysters. The man shucked them and John and Alan ate them raw. It was only the second time in his life that John had eaten raw oysters. The first was when he was small child and the experience had turned him off. This time he really liked them. They were sooo fresh!

They walked around the town and stopped into the Duke of Cumberland pub for a drink. John and Alan had Red Lite beer, a locally brewed beer by the people who own the pub. Val had a coke.



After seeing the town they returned home to prepare for dinner. John wanted to take the family out to thank them for everything. He leaves on Monday to see the other side of his family.

They went to the same restaurant where Val and Les had taken the family the previous Sunday. They had a nice meal and all had a good time, a result of some great wit and exhilirating conversation. John said that he really felt good to say thank you in this small way for the many kindnesses he has received from his wonderful family.

After eating their fill, they all drove home to feed the dogs (who needed to eat too). And then it was time for another early night.

TRB