Coasting Along (Day One)

So it was time to head out on the highway looking for adventure on our latest coastal escapade. We set off just after 10 am and decided on taking the more scenic route to Margate via Canterbury. 
The first part of journey was interrupted on several occasions by roadworks so we resolved on a pit stop at the picturesque village of Sarre for a thirst quenching pint at the Crown Inn. It is one of Kent's oldest pubs, dating from around 1500, and is also known as the Old Established Halfway House - due to its location halfway between Canterbury and Margate (even Charles Dickens was supposed to have alighted here awaiting his onward carriage when on a visit to Margate) - and as The Cherry Brandy House on account of its long association with the distinctive liqueur. 
Our thirsts quenched we continued on the final leg of journey to Margate itself just as the rain stopped and the sun started to make its presence felt and by the time we arrived Margate Sands was looking resplendent in the early afternoon sun (see first extra).
My brother had managed to book a duplex apartment (how posh!) for our stay in the neighbourhood of Cliftonville about a mile along the coast from the town centre. We arrived a little early for our apartment to be ready so we parked the car in the quiet street in front of the apartment and headed back into town to stretch our legs and scout out a lunchtime repast. 
My main image is the first blipworthy sight I encountered on our walk into town - this gloriously over the top decorated transit van parked next to an equally colourfully adorned seaside shelter with a view out to the sea.
As we ambled into the town centre we saw The Old Kent Market, which we had spotted on our previous visit and already earmarked it as a future culinary destination. This beautiful old building was previously the town's Parade cinema but has now been refurbished into a market creating a new community hub as part of the town's regeneration which celebrates the local food and drink culture.
It really is an Aladdin's cave as you enter inside and are surrounded by compact and bijou versions of a pizzeria, a pub (The Little Prince), a cafe and bar inside an open top bus, Vietnamese and Indian restaurants and even a coffee roastery all set around a central courtyard where you can consume your food and drink (we settled on a cheese and bacon burger and sausage and egg sandwich from the bus and a pint each from The Little Prince) after you've placed your order at one of the mini outlets. There is even a mezzanine floor with minuscule shops including a clothes shop, a tooth jewellers (yes really!), a herbalist and a tattoo parlour. What an amazing place!
We needed to walk off our lunch and we still had some time before we could get into our apartment so a seafront perambulation was in order. It felt so great to be back by the sea again and soaking up all that coastal ozone. The kids in my second extra certainly seemed to be enjoying it as they stood on the edge of this seafront tidal pool - it's not quite as precarious as it looks In my image as the beach is just a few yards away.
By now it was time to head back to our apartment with a stop along the way for provisions - o.k chocolate and wine! We'd seen the apartment online but it looked even better in person. Modern, spacious and even with its own balcony looking across nearby rooftops on a lovely quiet street. 
After a 'well deserved' afternoon siesta we decided to head back out for an evening drink and some food. We came across Daisy, a neighbourhood cocktail bar and restaurant at Cliff Terrace overlooking the Lido which obliged by providing a glorious sunset (see my third extra) which I sprinted across the road to capture just before our food and drink arrived. We settled on a couple of glasses of wine each and a delicious beef tinga served on tostada (a fried corn tortilla).
We weren't quite feeling up to a cocktail on this occasion but the wonderfully eccentric sounding options included Brandy Daisy, Lychee Story, Buck Me Up, That's A Mole, Last Mango in Paris and Turner Fraise. We've vowed to definitely try one on our next visit. 
My last image is a rather woozy shot looking out through the window of Daisy as the light began to fade.