I am about to reveal my age here, but have you ever watched Extraordinary Escapes with Sandi Toskvig? If not, and you also have a penchant for property programmes, I would highly recommend. It’s basically women (often older women which is really refreshing to see) going on mini breaks in really incredible houses. It’s wholesome and heartwarming, and the houses are always drool-worthy.
All of this to say: we went and stayed in one of the houses and I think it has ruined all future holidays for me because I doubt I will ever have the budget required for such good accommodation.
Sea Gem in Camber is literally on the beach. And what a beach. The house is mostly made of glass with the most spectacular views from nearly every room. I believe the architect designed it to feel a bit like you’re on a ship and when the tide was in, I really felt this. Stood back from the windows, the view would be pure sea and it was easy to convince yourself you were floating out in the water.
When the tide was out, the beach stretched out for miles and miles. It was wild and expansive and gave you the sensation of being a long way from civilisation; I found it very soothing. It helped me switch off which is something I have struggled to do on holiday since becoming a parent. It was a reminder that nature and landscape can make a real difference in feeling whether you have ‘got away’ or not. Of course, being away with a toddler is still hard work; you still gotta change nappies and battle through nap times and have limited periods to sit down but, this was the first time I felt like Alfie was having a holiday as well and that was really lovely. He loved the beach and could have quite happily spent all day kicking a football around or throwing stones into the water. By the end of the week, he tottered off in his wellies onto the beach by himself if you didn’t keep an eye on him. And he loved having all the space the house had to offer – in particularly, the giant sofa which made a great running ground for his tractor selection. On our last day, we literally had to drag him away from the house kicking and screaming because he did not understand why we could no longer go in. I think in his little toddler brain, he just thought that’s where we lived now.
Sadly, that wasn’t the case, but for one week I was very content to sit in bed with sea views, to have an enormous, nearly-empty beach as our garden/playground, to roast marshmallows in the firepit, to watch glorious sunsets, to lie in bed at night and listen to the wind whipping around the house, and imagine the tide creeping up to the window (not far off to be honest!). I even went for a run along that huge, empty beach, despite a problematic ankle, because it was too tempting not to. I’m pretty sure if that was on my doorstep, I’d run all the time. It was also just really nice to spend an extended period of time with my family, people we normally can only see for short weekends. To watch them spend day-to-day quality time with Alfie. (Although I think everyone would have happily spared the sight of him continually dipping garlic bread into his water whilst trying to eat.)
I’ll be honest, Camber itself did not come across as a particularly inviting or friendly place (shout out to the pub that had a very passive aggressive sign on its door saying that children under five were not welcome, ‘no not even in the garden’) but we were there for the house and the beach, and if we did want to head out, Rye was only five miles down the road with its cobbled streets, old buildings and cute independent businesses (all of which were much more welcoming to Alfie).
Here’s what I like to do when exploring a new place (admittedly a certain kind of place): find a bakery, find a bookshop, find a chocolate shop and find a decent brunch spot. Rye ticked all of those boxes and it ticked them well. I think the bookshop is technically owned by Waterstones but it very much gave off independent vibes, and the chocolate shop had a very impressive range of flavours (I came away with one bar of roasted hazelnut and one of grey sea salt)
We had brunch at The Whitehouse three times (would recommend their pancakes or their fancy bacon roll) and inevitably fell into their bakery on the way out (the enormous banana muffins were so good). Would also highly recommend The Fig, although the menu was less child-friendly (unless your child eats vegetables, in which case, please tell me your secrets). Their veggie tacos were worth the visit though. Rye also turned out to be the location of the first ever Knoop, so it felt rude not to grab one of their delicious hot chocolates. There was likely a lot more history to the place, but I’ve accepted that trying to do anything cultured with a two-year-old is the definition of madness. Accept you can’t go in the castle and take him to eat pancakes. Everyone will be happier.
It was March so the weather was changable but it really didn’t matter. Contrary to popular opinion, I think a beach is actually better when the weather is a bit mixed and there is no way the views in that house could be anything short of spectacular, regardless of whether it rained or shined.
All in all, a lovely holiday. If someone could lend me the money to stay in places like this all the time, that'd be great.
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