Sussex Day is celebrated on 16th June, the feast day of St Richard of Chichester: a day to appreciate the rich heritage and culture of the county. Obviously it is not quite such a great county as Kent, but it is our neighbour, and the paternal line on my dad’s side of the family all came from Brighton and the surrounding area since at least the early 1700s (back when Brighton was called Brighthelmston and not Brighton!) so I do have a healthy affection for the place. Also, they do have a fabulous unofficial county anthem, Sussex by the Sea, which is something that Kent doesn’t.

After discovering that Sussex has a special day, my daughter, who is the Queen of random ideas, suggested that we marked the occasion with a grand Sussex day out, and had breakfast in Eastbourne, lunch in Hastings and an afternoon pit stop in Rye. I am always happy to go along with her craziness and so a plan was formulated.

As we were both working on the actual day, we were up bright and early on the Saturday beforehand, arriving in Eastbourne in time for breakfast. The weather was glorious, so this time, unlike our visit in November, the town really did live up to its reputation (and the station advertising) of being ‘The Sunshine Coast’!

I’d researched cafes with plenty of outdoor seating and came across The Beach Deck, which was on a stretch of the seafront that we hadn’t explored last time. We had some delicious wild mushrooms and wilted spinach on sourdough toast which tasted even better in the outdoors.

Here’s the view from outside the cafe, looking back towards Eastbourne and the pier.

There was a lovely atmosphere, with the town gearing up for the summer season, A land train was running along the length of the promenade, and given Eastbourne’s reputation as a holiday destination for pensioners, we shouldn’t have been so surprised as were that it was completely full of elderly visitors, rather than families.

I needed to be careful with energy levels so I didn’t overdo it too soon, but I wasn’t quite ready for the land train yet. Instead, I enjoyed strolling along in the sunshine rather than the grey skies and strong winds of November. Back then, I’d not long broken my collar bone and had been in a lot of pain, and so CFS aside, it made a big difference to be in better shape now.

Of course we had to go down the pier. It’s such a pretty one, although I did overhear a lady telling her friend that there wasn’t much to it. It’s true that there’s not so much going on as on Brighton Pier, but personally, I think it’s all the better for that!

The area around the bandstand had all been cordoned off in November, and we hadn’t even known it was there, but it was looking good in its renovated splendour. I love a bandstand and apparently this one is the busiest in the country! Chairs were set up and there were lots of posters about a series of 1812 Fireworks and Proms concerts which take place weekly over the summer, which sounds fun and has been added to my list of things to do – though it would necessitate an overnight stay.

We walked back to the train station via the Little Chelsea area, stopping off to check out the second hand books at Camilla’s. Then, on a whim, we decided that we would stick to a Sussex by the Sea theme, drop Rye from the itinerary (as we go there more regularly anyway), and stop off at Bexhill on Sea for a late morning drink instead.

We’d visited Bexhill (like Eastbourne), for the first time last year, and hoped to have that drink at the De La Warr Pavilion, as we remembered seeing that their cafe had a balcony with sea front views. Unfortunately, there was a stage set up right outside and groups of local students were performing cover versions of assorted rock music. Whilst I applauded the opportunity for them to perform, it was very loud, and not so conducive to chatting and relaxing over a nice drink. Also, it turned out that the balcony tables and chairs were all in the shade. Checking it out did at least give us the opportunity to see the inside and to walk up the Art Deco staircase, which was a prominent filming location in the ITV Poirot episode, The ABC Murders. (David Suchet is THE Hercule Poirot!)

Instead we headed down to the George V Colonnade on the seafront; a really beautiful building, with columns and domes, that had been built in 1911 to commemorate the coronation of said King. Why can’t we build such wonderful structures now?

We discovered that the cafe we had bought drinks from last year had closed. but nearby there was a new concession with tables and chairs set up outside. They had the most fabulous looking cakes, but we didn’t want to spoil our appetite for lunch, and settled for a delicious iced mocha instead. I was definitely in my happy place.

Next stop was St Leonard’s. Look how beautiful Kings Road, which runs from Warrior Square Station to the sea front is! It’s been a few years since we’ve been in the town itself, rather than just walking past along the seafront, and it seems to have undergone a lot of gentrification since then. Lots of independent cafes and coffee shops, and some quirky homeware/gift shops that we just had to stop and have a browse in.

As we wanted to continue with our eating/drinking by the sea, we decided that we would walk down to one of the many cafes along the prom for what was by now going to be a very late lunch. Unfortunately we had timed it badly, and everywhere was either full of people drinking beer, wine and spritzes or didn’t have anything we fancied on the menu. We didn’t want to retrace our steps back into St Leonards, so pressed on to Hastings, hoping to find something better there.

Spirits were starting to sag by this point. We only wanted a sandwich, but there seemed to be nothing doing. Having exhausted the seafront, we headed into the old town. It was soooo busy but so pretty, especially with all the bunting fluttering in the breeze.

Just as we were giving up hope, we managed to be in the right place at the right time and get seats outside one of the cafes, as the previous occupants were vacating.

The staff apologised for the limited menu as they had had a busy day, but we were able to order a goats cheese and sun dried tomato panini, and a peach iced tea, and by this point we were just very appreciative to be sitting down and eating anything at all. It was a great spot for both people watching, and listening in to the interesting conversation on the next table!

Revived and back on track, we had a final walk along to Rockanore, the point where the prom ends and the cliffs/sea begins, before heading for our final train of the day. Sussex Day had been well and truly celebrated. It was such a lot of fun to hop on and off along the coast, and I am sure that it is something that we will be repeating in the future.