Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day, and since my UPF free Lent, I have become obsessed with overnight oats. I’m a basic girl and just soak the oats in water with grated apple and chia seeds, adding fruit and natural yoghurt in the morning – and I really look forward to it. During the week I have an early start and need to be eating breakfast by 6.15, which does sometimes test my levels of enjoyment, and although I like the mindfulness element of slowly chopping up the fruit (at the moment peaches/nectarines, apricots and strawberries) which eases me into the day, I’m sometimes a bit too slow and mindful and the actual eating of it often ends up being rushed as a result.

If I can eat my breakfast outside then even better, because not only does everything always taste better outdoors, but an al fresco breakfast somehow seems to be even more of a special treat. It’s such a simple pleasure, but there’s something about having the time and the weather conditions (especially with a British summer!) to really slow down, relax and savour the moment.

6.15 is a bit too early to tempt me into the garden, and if I tried it I would probably lose track of time and end up being late for work every day, but I have been making a real effort to eat outside and to enjoy a more leisurely al fresco start to the day whenever it is warm enough at the weekends. It’s such a treat to sit and eat and read my book and listen to the birds singing, and in an effort to make it even more of an enjoyable experience, I have planted up a few pots to decorate the small area of concrete which I euphemistically call a patio and which I think was only put in by the previous occupants to create dry, all weather access to the washing line – but it gets the sun first thing in the morning and has enough space for a couple of chairs, so it does for now.

If we ever go out for a meal it tends to be for breakfast, mostly because my need for an afternoon nap means that we usually need to make it home for lunch. If we are having a slightly longer day trip then we tend to take a picnic, and even if I’ve had a nap, I’m usually too tired to venture out in the evening. So breakfast it tends to be, and, as with an at home breakfast, finding a cafe with outside tables really elevates the experience – and if it also comes with a sea view then it really is top tier!

On such days, we’ll combine our breakfast with a coastal walk, and although in the past we often end up having a cheapie ‘Spoons breakfast at the Victoria Pavilion in Ramsgate (not only the biggest Wetherspoons in the country, but one which boasts a glorious beach front terrace), we are very lucky to have no shortage of cafes along the Kent Coast, and after frequently walking past them, and saying that we’ll have to come back and try them out, we have decided that we actually need to do so.

Last weekend we did just that. We caught the train to Margate, turned left when we reached the sea front, and walked along the prom to Westgate on Sea, passing Westbrook Bay and St Mildred’s Bay (the latter of which has two cafes of its own to visit in the future) before reaching the West Bay Cafe.

There are 16 sandy beaches and bays in Thanet, from Pegwell Bay in the south, to Minnis Bay in the north (West Bay is the penultimate of these). and it’s an easy walk around them, mostly on a paved promenade (although parts of it you can walk on the beach when the tide is out). En route there are also lots of beach huts, and unlike the very expensive beach huts in Whitstable (prices start from about £45,000 but front row huts are much more!), Thanet’s huts can be hired on a daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal or annual basis, which is useful to know.

I particularly like the Marmite one with its promise of 100% Vitamin Sea – my favourite vitamin!

Here’s the West Bay Cafe, just ahead on the left. And as well as plenty of outside tables tucked round the side of the building (sporting patriotic union flag tablecloths), there are also a few that are next to the railings right by the beach, and luckily for us there was one of these prime spots free.

It was quite overcast when we arrived and the sky was threatening rain even though it hadn’t been forecast, but we’d come for an al fresco breakfast and we decided that we would be positive and stay outside. We needn’t have worried as the dark clouds cleared, and by the time our breakfast had arrived, the sun had come out and there was enough blue in the sky to make a sailor a pair of trousers.

The breakfast was delicious and, as it had taken a little while to arrive – which I personally like as it’s nice to just sit and chat and enjoy a drink and the view while you wait – we knew that it had all been freshly cooked and hadn’t just been sitting around (which is definitely the case at Ramsgate Wetherspoons, where the breakfast has often been delivered before I’ve made it back from the drinks machine!). And of course it tasted even better for being eaten outside. This was our view over West Bay. You couldn’t ask for more!

As you can see, West Bay was pretty empty. Compare this with the very busy Margate main sands as we wandered back to the station. If you’re heading to the Thanet Coast, then I would definitely recommend taking a short walk and exploring some of the other bays because you really don’t have to go far to lose the crowds.

There was just time for a quick charity bookshop browse before our train left, and I was pleased to pick up a novel by DE Stevenson (The Fair Miss Fortune), a favourite author of mine. So, what with an al fresco breakfast, a coastal walk and a new book, it was a morning that ticked all the boxes. Here’s to many more outings like this over the summer.