On Tour...Just like Jessie J
1 Night stay at Spa Apartments, Bridlington
Date of stay: 26th October 2011
1 Night stay at Spa Apartments, Bridlington
Date of stay: 26th October 2011
I have quite a varied taste in music but it was always going to be a risk when we booked tickets to see Jessie J but the fact that she would be playing in a venue like Bridlington Spa intrigued me & after I saw the Pigeon Detectives there back in 2008 I always intended to go back to see someone else play there. For mainly this reason we booked to go. I wasn't sure where to stay or even if to bother staying overnight at all. We were already booked up to see The Feeling earlier that month so I ended up leaving it until quite late to book so choices of accommodation were quite limited for the discerning 'budget traveler' however at £40 for the night The Spa Apartments met our needs.
It was a grey & threatening afternoon when we arrived in Bridlington. We got marginally lost looking for the apartment but that's all part of the fun! We found it eventually just a street behind the evenings venue. There was nowhere to park the car so we ended up parked outside the Spa & noticed the start of the evenings queue already forming...erm its only 3.30!!! (Apparently the first girl had arrived from York at 7am that morning..or so I was reliably informed by the cafe opposite owner.)
The apartment was slightly old fashioned but certainly had lots of character & we quite liked its quirky layout. It had a kitchen/eating/living area with flatscreen TV, separate bedroom with the worlds shortest bed & lumpiest pillows and huge bathroom with both a bath&shower. Overall it was ideal for us, in a great location, clean & I would stay there again for a overnight or weekend break.
We dumped the bags & headed into Brid for a pint or two & something to eat and where else would anybody want to go when in Bridlington other than the legendary Jeromes! I love Jeromes, I've been going there for about a million years! Its right on the seafront, they sell the most delicious pizzas & the beer's a good price. Its family friendly & there's often a singer on in the evenings. Through the day you can have a coffee or a cream tea, they have an nice outdoor seating area & even sell gorgeous icecreams & doughnuts!.... Having said all this, on today's visit they were in the middle of some major renovation works & we sat in amongst paintpots & ladders & then briefly in the dark until a man with a tupperware dish full of lightbulbs came to our rescue! Haha! After beers&pizza we headed back to the apartment, past the most ridiculously long queue I've ever seen in my life, and I've been to Disneyland so I know what a huge queue looks like, but looking at this queue I couldn't understand how all these people were going to fit inside the venue?....
The simple answer was they weren't. Well I suppose they did but not in a way that everybody would be able to see the stage.
And so began the most badly organized concert I've ever had the misfortune to pay £25 a ticket for. I felt more sorry for the row of little girls sat along the back wall looking depressed, they didn't stand a cat in hells chance of seeing Jessie J perform.
We walked up & down the length of the upper balcony, dodging a glimpse of the action between peoples heads. From the bits we did manage to catch we weren't impressed with Ms J's performance, between waffling on about her parents' love of Luther Vandross & wailing like a banshee or indeed in my opinion singing along to a backing track we gave it up as a bad job & headed to the bar instead.
Hey-ho you live and learn, I'd never go see her again also I'll never go to that venue again. Ever.
The next morning we checked out of our quirky apartment & headed off into Bridlington for breakfast & sightseeing. I'd recommend the Marina cafe for a full English, the owners were witty & friendly, just remember to shut the door!
There's a lovely harbour to walk in & in summer season I can recommend a trip on the pirate boat or if you're feeling brave have a blast on the speed boat!
There's a very small museum that's worth a look into, its only about 20p admission or something!
There's a large funfair on the promenade, as a child, my daughter use to love the Drop-zone freefaller & it's got a great view if nothing else! The Jungle River is great fun too & don't forget a go on the dodgems!
Enough of Bridlington & now on to Filey!
Filey is the grandmother of this part of the Yorkshire coast.
I love Filey for its peaceful gardens, beautiful Georgian buildings, magnificent views of the bay and I've spent many an hour digging sandcastles on the lovely clean beach. The ornamental gardens complete with waterlilly filled fish ponds, stretch nearly the full length of Filey. From here is a 'new' sculpture trail that starts at the wishing well & ends in the valley park, its a pleasant walk that passes half an hour if nothing else and I did get to ride on a plesiosaurus!
People rave on about the 'cobble landing' at Filey... personally I don't see the fascination, I'm from Durham, we have cobbles, I'm unimpressed! ...Hey-ho on to Scarborough!
I have fond memories of Scarborough from my childhood in the 70's. It was the place to go for your summer jollies. We use to stay in a Guest House bed, breakfast & evening meal & they banged a gong when it was time to eat & the soup always smelled lovely...they were endless summer days of donkey rides, sandcastles & icecreams...minature train rides & kite flying....at one time there was a marine park complete with real live dolphins & model dinosaurs....we went to the illuminated 'Tree Walk' in Peasholme Park on an evening & saw the Naval Battle there on an afternoon...we always went to the cinema, it was either James Bond or Star Wars and the 2 main highlights for me were the Pirate Boat Hispaniola & the evenings spent at 'Its a Knockout' at the open air theatre & the after show fireworks display shouting 'we want a banger!!'...happy days..
So it saddens me to see Scarborough in such a sorry & neglected state as it's been in lately. However on this trip I was delighted to see the start of some improvements to the North Bay area. The addition of colourful beach huts dramatically livens up the bay area & there's no denying the newly built holiday apartments have regenerated the Corner Cafe area. I just hope the planned Haven caravan park on the old site of 'Marvels' happens. They've revamped the park area & now Kinderlands water chute is suddenly the 'historic waterchute' & over a hundred years old (??!) & my beloved open air theatre has had a total makeover & promises live concerts in summer months...Even the miniature train station has be modernised & now boasts a cafe & there's a strange little complex of 'wooden shed' type things that claim they'll be shops in the future... things are on the up for Scarborough & I'd love to think one day it will be as popular as it was when I was a little girl.
All contents & photographs copyright ©AngeGraham(the vintage-pirate) & may not be reproduced.
It was a grey & threatening afternoon when we arrived in Bridlington. We got marginally lost looking for the apartment but that's all part of the fun! We found it eventually just a street behind the evenings venue. There was nowhere to park the car so we ended up parked outside the Spa & noticed the start of the evenings queue already forming...erm its only 3.30!!! (Apparently the first girl had arrived from York at 7am that morning..or so I was reliably informed by the cafe opposite owner.)
The apartment was slightly old fashioned but certainly had lots of character & we quite liked its quirky layout. It had a kitchen/eating/living area with flatscreen TV, separate bedroom with the worlds shortest bed & lumpiest pillows and huge bathroom with both a bath&shower. Overall it was ideal for us, in a great location, clean & I would stay there again for a overnight or weekend break.
We dumped the bags & headed into Brid for a pint or two & something to eat and where else would anybody want to go when in Bridlington other than the legendary Jeromes! I love Jeromes, I've been going there for about a million years! Its right on the seafront, they sell the most delicious pizzas & the beer's a good price. Its family friendly & there's often a singer on in the evenings. Through the day you can have a coffee or a cream tea, they have an nice outdoor seating area & even sell gorgeous icecreams & doughnuts!.... Having said all this, on today's visit they were in the middle of some major renovation works & we sat in amongst paintpots & ladders & then briefly in the dark until a man with a tupperware dish full of lightbulbs came to our rescue! Haha! After beers&pizza we headed back to the apartment, past the most ridiculously long queue I've ever seen in my life, and I've been to Disneyland so I know what a huge queue looks like, but looking at this queue I couldn't understand how all these people were going to fit inside the venue?....
The simple answer was they weren't. Well I suppose they did but not in a way that everybody would be able to see the stage.
And so began the most badly organized concert I've ever had the misfortune to pay £25 a ticket for. I felt more sorry for the row of little girls sat along the back wall looking depressed, they didn't stand a cat in hells chance of seeing Jessie J perform.
We walked up & down the length of the upper balcony, dodging a glimpse of the action between peoples heads. From the bits we did manage to catch we weren't impressed with Ms J's performance, between waffling on about her parents' love of Luther Vandross & wailing like a banshee or indeed in my opinion singing along to a backing track we gave it up as a bad job & headed to the bar instead.
Hey-ho you live and learn, I'd never go see her again also I'll never go to that venue again. Ever.
The next morning we checked out of our quirky apartment & headed off into Bridlington for breakfast & sightseeing. I'd recommend the Marina cafe for a full English, the owners were witty & friendly, just remember to shut the door!
There's a lovely harbour to walk in & in summer season I can recommend a trip on the pirate boat or if you're feeling brave have a blast on the speed boat!
There's a very small museum that's worth a look into, its only about 20p admission or something!
There's a large funfair on the promenade, as a child, my daughter use to love the Drop-zone freefaller & it's got a great view if nothing else! The Jungle River is great fun too & don't forget a go on the dodgems!
Enough of Bridlington & now on to Filey!
Filey is the grandmother of this part of the Yorkshire coast.
I love Filey for its peaceful gardens, beautiful Georgian buildings, magnificent views of the bay and I've spent many an hour digging sandcastles on the lovely clean beach. The ornamental gardens complete with waterlilly filled fish ponds, stretch nearly the full length of Filey. From here is a 'new' sculpture trail that starts at the wishing well & ends in the valley park, its a pleasant walk that passes half an hour if nothing else and I did get to ride on a plesiosaurus!
People rave on about the 'cobble landing' at Filey... personally I don't see the fascination, I'm from Durham, we have cobbles, I'm unimpressed! ...Hey-ho on to Scarborough!
I have fond memories of Scarborough from my childhood in the 70's. It was the place to go for your summer jollies. We use to stay in a Guest House bed, breakfast & evening meal & they banged a gong when it was time to eat & the soup always smelled lovely...they were endless summer days of donkey rides, sandcastles & icecreams...minature train rides & kite flying....at one time there was a marine park complete with real live dolphins & model dinosaurs....we went to the illuminated 'Tree Walk' in Peasholme Park on an evening & saw the Naval Battle there on an afternoon...we always went to the cinema, it was either James Bond or Star Wars and the 2 main highlights for me were the Pirate Boat Hispaniola & the evenings spent at 'Its a Knockout' at the open air theatre & the after show fireworks display shouting 'we want a banger!!'...happy days..
So it saddens me to see Scarborough in such a sorry & neglected state as it's been in lately. However on this trip I was delighted to see the start of some improvements to the North Bay area. The addition of colourful beach huts dramatically livens up the bay area & there's no denying the newly built holiday apartments have regenerated the Corner Cafe area. I just hope the planned Haven caravan park on the old site of 'Marvels' happens. They've revamped the park area & now Kinderlands water chute is suddenly the 'historic waterchute' & over a hundred years old (??!) & my beloved open air theatre has had a total makeover & promises live concerts in summer months...Even the miniature train station has be modernised & now boasts a cafe & there's a strange little complex of 'wooden shed' type things that claim they'll be shops in the future... things are on the up for Scarborough & I'd love to think one day it will be as popular as it was when I was a little girl.
All contents & photographs copyright ©AngeGraham(the vintage-pirate) & may not be reproduced.
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