No Easter weekend would have been complete without some kind of Kent adventure, whoever I had to heckle at to come along; So in nabbing Jess and pumping the car full of juice and home-made brownies (so quaint), we went on a dally down to the beach. I spent a little time a few months ago researching undiscovered gems by the coast, and think we really came up trumps when it came to some of the beautiful places we found.
Botany Bay, Broadstairs
I know, I know, Margate has something of a bad rap, and many would keep it desperately paddling at the bottom of their Kent to-do list, but I genuinely think there's more to this little town than many people realise. When I was looking up weird and wonderful places to visit in Kent, the 'Shell Grotto' post code was tapped in to the SatNav before we had the chance to put our seatbelts on.
Shello Grotto, Margate
A chapel like cavern covered in hundreds of thousands of geometrical shell patterns, the Shell Grotto wasn't only beautiful, it's a freakin' mystery to those that look after it. Discovered in the early 1800s and toting over 4 million different shells, the Shell Grotto has no exact purpose. From rumours of an ancient temple and photographic proof of seance sessions to secret sects, I think the Shell Grotto's lack of inherent or confirmed purpose is just as incredible as the detail in its walls. Only £3.50 entry and even boasting their own little gift shop, the Shell Grotto is well worth a drive down; Anything interactive and i'm game.
Shell Grotto goofs
Following our cavern crooning with a nip down into Margate's Old Town, we had a short stroll through some of the most chock-a-block vintage shops i've ever seen. If anyone wants some incredible and dated furniture at really reasonable prices, this strip is a sure fire shot. I also got lovingly heckled at by a store owner to mention the shop if I put anything on the world wide web about them, with one elderly gentleman in the shop even asking me to take his photo and leave a comment calling him 'the oldest relic in Margate', so here's to you Paraphernalia! I haven't got any pictures, because museum attendants make me all sorts of suspicious, but i'd also recommend the Turner Contemporary (again, all of a five minute walk from the Shell Grotto), it may be something of a structural oddity by the beach but it's brimming with really great work and art schmoozers alike.
Beach goofs
Last but by no means least was a little sand faring fun down in Broadstairs, again, just a short drive from Margate. Rumoured to be named after discovered goods smugglers were deported to its Australian counterpart, Botany Bay is a cutesy little cove like beach of chalk stacks and bleached cliffs. Tucked into its own little curve, Botany Bay was so beautiful and serene for so popular an Easter Day away; genuinely, there was the space to park both our car and tooshes on the beach. I absolutely fell in love here. I'm not sure what it was, between the towering chalk walls or the sandy knolls with their own grassy plots, but Botany Bay was too idyllic to hate. Not that you'd want to anyway.
I can't recommend this trip down enough, not only did we spend all of £20 between us, but we visited some incredible spots, all of five miles between one another. With a plan to finally make the move into the big bad city for work before the year is out, I don't think this trip could have come at a better time, though it will make me miss Kent, for sure.
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