A WEEKEND IN MARGATE.
Since starting my blog over 4 years ago I’ve made some truly incredible friends. Bonded through our love for similar lifestyle choices (amongst many other things) it’s natural for us to completely understand when the other requires some time out.
So when Laura messaged me and asked if I’d like to get away for the bank holiday weekend with her and Alex, I didn’t hesitate.
Margate wasn’t a town I’d visited before, nor was it one I had on my list to - but a trip away was a trip away and heading somewhere with two of my best friends? It could’ve been anywhere and I’d have been happy.
We set up camp in Crescent Victoria a cute boutique B&B hotel, with a sea view room and complimentary White Company toiletries (important, obviously). And with the only solid plan being to eat ice creams on the beach we began our weekend of adventure.
Margate, strikes me as a town that will before long be the place to visit. If I was to take on the title Mystic Meg, I’d quite safely say it could be the next Brighton.
Stepping out of the car and on to the high street was like we’d been transported back in time. With most shops and restaurants not having been updated since the 70’s I felt like we were visiting a museum town, not one that is inhabited by humans. It was almost eerily old-fashioned but beautiful and colourful and intriguing all in the same breath. I hope, the more popular that it becomes, it doesn’t lose what makes it truly unique. I hope they keep the excessive amounts of Beano cafes and laundrettes and old little indoor markets with fortune tellers and Caribbean food. Because for me, that’s what made it so special.
Margate isn’t a showgirl - she doesn’t come with frills and laces; she’s honest with her flaws and doesn’t try to cover them up. And how rare is that? To visit a place so unapologetically itself. Margate isn't trying to be cool, it just is.
We ate lunch at Buoy and Oyster. Laura and I had moules frites and Alex a roast dinner. Sitting in the corner of the restaurant with a sea view, watching the setting sun light up the water, I felt lucky. Lucky to be sat at a table, exchanging stories with two incredible women. Women who both, individually and as a collective, have changed my life in immeasurable ways.
The air smelt salty and fresh and I could see and feel the immediate sense of calm that washed over all three of us once our bellies were full and the stress of the long journey was left behind.
The seaside offers me a medicine for the soul that I can’t find anywhere else, if ever I need time away, the sea is where I gravitate. And just lately I've been feeling like lots of little breaks are really needed - that just taking some time out really helps to give me the perspective I can so terribly lack back in the 'real' world.
And I was grateful in that moment, to be taking that time out with Alex and Laura - who both make my heart feel so full but also understand that words don’t always need to be spoken to appreciate what being together, meant for all of us. We laughed, we talked, but we also sat in comfortable silence.
We got stuck in the tide coming in on a little patch of sand and had to splash our way back to safety. We ate our ice creams - Laura a Mr Whippy and Alex and I a rather posh gelato (because: twats). Laura got a tattoo and I stepped in dog poo and we ate dominos pizza on the hotels bedroom floor at 10pm.
That weekend I learnt two things. That allowing myself to be brave enough to make friends on the internet was one of the best things I ever decided to do. And, secondly, that you don’t always need to hop on an aeroplane to feel like you’ve really taken a break. Sometimes, those special holiday memories we all crave, can be made right on your doorstep.Photography by Alexandra Cameron.