This weekend we had our first beach excursion here in England. Only an hour and a half away, Cromer is a beautiful little fishing village on the east coast in Norfolk. The weather was perfect, the food was amazing, the service at our hotel was impeccable, and the views were incredible. It was also the most dog-friendly town I have ever seen. There were dishes of water outside every shop, and your furry friends were allowed nearly everywhere, with the exception of the fancy restaurant – though they would happily set a place for you on the bar side where your doggies were more than welcome. Our hotel even had dog beds and dishes waiting for us in the room. And the dogs here tend to be just like the British. Chill. It was great.
On Friday, we got into town just in time to check in to the hotel and head down to the beach to let the babies run around and to catch the beautiful sunset into the sea. Trying to write this blog now is difficult – there was so much I wanted to write about as it was happening this weekend and now I struggle to tell a decent story. It was just so relaxing and beautiful, and it was very nice to have high quality seafood again; it’s been awhile. I did some indulging on desserts this weekend, as there were homemade ice cream shops everywhere (we even took a horse and carriage ride while enjoying our ice cream - the babies thought this was fantastic) and the hotel happened to serve the most ridiculously succulent brownies a la mode I have ever laid my lips on.
My husband was dying to try his hand at crabbing, which seemed to be the popular thing to do off the pier. He caught three, and boy was he pumped. Scarlet, of course, tried to eat one while it tried to pinch her face. Henry, of course, was scared of it. I, of course, read my book while basking in the sun and trying to block out the severely spoiled and obnoxious child pissing and moaning and commanding his parents right next to us. Thankfully, his line broke and he whined his way off the pier.
Did I mention that the food was incredible? Even something so simple as scrambled eggs and smoked salmon was heavenly. I’m salivating right now just thinking about it. I managed to hunt down the only art gallery in town, and of course fell in love with not one, but two paintings that are so beyond my price range I don’t even want to talk about it. I have met many works of art that I enjoy, that make me happy, that I admire and respect, that I think truly make the world a more beautiful place; but there are very few that truly capture my heart and soul and make me feel connected on a level that transcends viewing and reaches pure affection. This love I describe has only happened to me one other time in a gallery, and that is when I met Ceoul, Craic, agus Rinca in Killarney, Ireland. It was expensive, so with a tear in my eye I walked away – but I couldn’t stop thinking about it days later. So I called the gallery and found out that there were limited edition prints that were still expensive, but low enough that I could justify making the investment. I have never regretted it. In this case in Cromer, there were no prints, no plans for prints, only the very precious originals. So instead I sat in front of them and burned them into my memory. It will have to do until I make my millions. On a side note, there was a very cute cat in this gallery whose eyes were the color of the sea. I have never seen eyes so aqua on an animal before. I was so sad about the paintings, however, that I failed to take a picture of said kitty.
Scarlet reached new heights this weekend in displaying her cunning and intelligence. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Gentle Leader, it is a leash attachment that loops around a dog’s muzzle from underneath the chin. The loop expands when the leash is slack, and tightens when the dog pulls, thus pissing the dog off because it can’t easily open its jaws. Therefore, if the dog wants to use its mouth, it doesn’t pull on the leash. Works like a charm. Scarlet HATES the Gentle Leader. When I get it out, she glares like she wants to cut me. She also likes to ram her face along the ground while walking in an effort to get it off. But lately, she has realized how to get it to not piss her off (i.e. not pulling) and has been really good about walking with a slack leash. Anyway, we decided to leave them in the room for dinner on the second night since they were so exhausted from running up and down the beach all day. 2 hours later, we return to the room to find Henry in the corner with the “I didn’t do it, it was all her I swear please don’t yell at me I’m scared” look on, and Scarlet army-crawling toward us, tail wagging like mad with the “I know this place is ransacked but I just couldn’t help it and I’m really sorry but look how cute and sorry I am” look on. As we picked stuff up, we realized that nothing was destroyed or chewed on, only shoved onto the floor. It was obvious that it was her, as her little white hairs were all over the couch. After we got everything back in its place, we found two tiny pieces of black plastic on the floor. I immediately grabbed the Gentle Leader. As I suspected, those tiny black pieces were once part of said device. Scarlet, like a pirate searching for treasure, had dug through everything in the room with fevered focus, until she discovered the tiny strap and chewed off the only thing she needed to to make it unable to function – the clasp. Not only that, she had done her best to shove it between the cushions of the couch when she was done disabling it. I was simultaneously pissed and utterly impressed with my little princess and her premeditated murder of the Gentle Leader. The next day as we headed to the beach, she walked with slack and a sideways glance the whole way as if to say “See, I don’t need it anymore. Beotch.” I’m such a proud mother.
We frolicked on the beach and had one more ice cream cone on the pier before we departed the lovely town of Cromer. The pictures turned out fabulously if you wanna looksee! https://picasaweb.google.com/enger.emily
Living.The.Dream.
With gratitude,
Emily
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