One of the best things about being married to a teacher is that we regularly get time off together as a family. For me, school holidays mean a time to catch up on work while the husband looks after the children, as well as time to explore new places as we go on day trips together.
Despite living in Devon now for over 18 months, there are still many corners of our part of the county that we have yet to visit. We live in a little village on the edge of Dartmoor, within easy reach of the seaside and our nearest city – Exeter. I love living in this part of the world because we’re never short of things to do or places to visit. Devon is great for a free day out. On Monday we decided to head to Salcombe, a little seaside town down the road from Dartmouth, about 40 minutes drive from where we live.
It was drizzly and grey when we arrived on the beautiful North Sands beach, but the tide was out and the sand was inviting. Frog immediately got to work searching for shells, while her baby sister happily gurgled at the waves lapping at the shore. I even managed to get a rare daddy-baby photo.
When it got too cold for any more shell collecting we dived into the cute Winking Prawn cafe across the road. It’s a lovely little place decked out with white-washed walls, driftwood and a very cool eclectic chandelier, as well as a bar made out of a boat. It even has a big chest full of dressing-up clothes for the kids.
We gorged on fresh crab sandwiches, crispy chips and lemon drizzle cake (diet’s going well, *cough*) and the baby filled up on milk. Once we’d finished stuffing ourselves the sun had come out and the sky was blue, so we headed back onto the beach for a bit more playing.
This time, though, the tide had come in, so we were limited to a tiny sliver of sand to play on. Frog decided to play a game of chicken with the sea…
Of course she lost the game, falling over and getting covered by a freezing cold sea. And that signalled an end to our day out, as the rain returned and we drove home with a soggy four year old wearing nothing but her mum’s coat.
It was fun while it lasted.
Oh I love seeing your posts from the places I grew up in! Salcombe is definitely one of my favourite places, it’s not too far from home and I also spent all of my teens and early twenties spending August at a Scripture Union camp that used to be up on the hill between North and South Sands – happy days
next time you’re there (and maybe in the summer) go to South Sands and take the ferry into Salcombe itself, you have to go on a tractor to get to the ferry and your girls will love it – well F anyway 
And if you haven’t been yet then you also need to add a visit to Start Point to your maybe one day list, especially if you go when the lighthouse is open!
Ooh great tips – thank you! Will definitely add those to our To Do list!
We’ve been doing lots too. Lovely photos.
what a wide expanse of beach