Day at the Seaside

It was one day at the seaside,
midway through the summer holidays
and, despite the trauma of tepid vomit
lying heavy in a paper bag, about to drip

on my new cotton dress, as soon 
as we reached the top of the hill,
the whole coach sang with the thrill
of seeing the sea. After the dust and traffic 

of the baking city, the blue line on the horizon 
glowed with promise. Anticipation was too much;
we jumped down the steps of the coach, 
leaving travel sickness, and adults, behind.

We were intoxicated with beach and brine, 
the thought of ice cream and sandcastles.
But Nan was strict about sandwiches first;
gobbling them down quickly, we were fit to burst,

struggled into our bathing suits
(behind a beach towel held up by Nan)
and unpacked pristine spades and buckets
to dig a hole to Australia in the sand. 

On a stripy deck chair, in a chilly breeze, 
Nan battled to keep her dress over her knees
while we ran half-naked to the sea and back,
squealing and dancing in the sparkling waves.

Time flew like a brightly coloured kite. 
Our sandcastle built, with goosebumps
and teeth chattering, Nan rubbed us dry;
dressed and with our hair combed, it was time

to explore the promenade and penny arcades,
ice cream dripping on shoes and socks,
begging for a stick of seaside rock
to lick and crunch on the journey home.

At five o’clock, after fish and chips,
we climbed the steps of the coach again
and fell asleep to the rumble of the engine,
dreaming of our holiday with salt on our lips. 

Kim M. Russell, 18th July 2023

This week’s Tuesday Poetics at the dVerse Poets Pub is hosted by Punam, with vacation reminiscences. She starts with a quotation from Earl Wilson and also shares several excerpts from poems about holidays. We never had a family holiday as children, but my Nan always took us for a day out at the seaside during the summer holidays.

42 thoughts on “Day at the Seaside”

  2. I think the more important those days at the sea were, the more we remember them. Some kids who go away every school holiday, Easter, summer, autumn, Christmas, and what will they remember except a blur?

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    1. I never had a holiday as such, and never with my parents,just days out with my nan. I had a holiday on the Isle of Wight with the school, but that was supposed to be educational.

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      1. I was lucky that way. My parents took us away for a fortnight every summer, a few times to stay with friends in Rome or the seaside up the coast from Rome. I wish we’d been able to do the same with our children, but we never had a family holiday either.

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    1. My dad never came with us, just my nan and once Grandad. But I do remember a night visit to Southend with several members of my dad’s side of the family, including my grandma and a mad uncle who crash his car into the rear end of a coach – with grandma and me in the back seat.

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  6. Thanks Kim. You capture the magic of a day at the seaside beautifully. For me it was a train ride on an old clickety clack kind of train…same kind of destination. In my case it was Filey, East Yorkshire 🙂

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    1. I’ve been on those kinds of train rides too. In fact, I’m taking my daughter and grandsons on a steam train ride when they come to visit next month.

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  8. A day at the seaside can be so much fun, Kim! Love it! The kids were the ones who enjoyed most and they would always remember the occasion!

    Hank

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    1. Thank you Merril! That was a lovely time, when Nan used to take my sister Carol and me to the seaside. I’m visiting Carol on the Isle of Wight in September – I might take a bucket and spade for old times’ sake! 🙂

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  13. Loved this from start to finish but especially “to dig a hole to Australia in the sand”
    and “Our sandcastle built, with goosebumps
    and teeth chattering, Nan rubbed us dry;”
    Although this could have happened anywhere in the world, and without being able to say exactly why, I knew we were in England…

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  14. Ah! I see what you mean about your motion sickness now. It sounds like a lovely adventure despite that.

    Loved these lines especially:

    “while we ran half-naked to the sea and back,
    squealing and dancing in the sparkling waves.

    Time flew like a brightly coloured kite.”

    ❤️

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  16. What great description, Kim. I remember long trips to a cabin my grandparents rented in upstate NY. There were always dead cigar butts in the car, and Dad wasn’t the best of drivers. My sister and I threw up each trip!

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