Oh I do like to be beside the seaside and SPS!

Blogging twice in a week, it's a miracle.

Yesterday was my birthday and as it was quite a nice day I decided a wanted to spend it in Morecambe. You may think it's a strange place to choose to go but I love it. I spent many happy hours as a kid on the Pleasure Beach (later Frontierland) and at the open air swimming baths. So after opening cards and pressies me and OH braved the bank holiday weekend traffic and set out for the seaside. As you can imagine the M6 north on Friday lunchtime = not good! We only live 30 miles from Morecambe but it took us an hour and a half to get there.

First stop of my birthday tour was the newly restored and reopened Midland Hotel. I've always loved the Midland so was very excited to see it open again. Of course the camera was poised and ready for action. Here are some of the shots I took from outside. While we were mooching round the front of the hotel I noticed a rather fancy looking plane fly overhead and bank round over the sea. OH nearly wet himself with excitement and informed me it's the last surviving Vulcan bomber. Anyway I managed to get a pic of it flying over the end of the hotel.

Once OH had recovered from the excitement we had a walk down the stone jetty and took in some of the bracing sea air and then headed for lunch (a nice brew and a toasted teacake) at the best cafe in the world - Bruciani's.

The cafe opened in 1936 and is now a Grade 2 listed building. If you are in Morecambe it really is the best place for a brew.

Desert was a '9'9 purchased from Mr Bruciani (pistachio flavour) and was consumed walking along the front. This is where a managed to capture my entry for this week's 'Someone Else's Portrait Saturday' on HerSpace:MySpace. So here it is, my portraits of Eric Morecambe :) (I know it's a bit of a cheat).

After ice creams and Eric we had a wander down the front and watched some very brave people going for a dip in the sea.

We then headed back up the prom and before heading home we decided to go in the Midland for a brew and a look round inside. Of course I took pics too.

I have to say I was slightly disappointed with the inside of the hotel. The foyer, stairwell and mosaic have been restored beautifully, but the developers seem to have gone for a very modern boutique style overall. I was expecting a bit more deco glam.

Anyway we had a nice brew overlooking the bay (even if my teapot was chipped and the floor was dirty - come on Midland get your act together you are supposed to be a top end 4* hotel!) **end of Trip Advisor style rant**

And finally some of my favourite photos from the day, which I like to call 'Faded Seaside Glamour' These were taken just outside the Midland. (Not quite what your average posh hotel guest is expecting to see on their doorstep, but I love it)

I ended my birthday with a meal at a lovely local restaurant and then watched Dirty Dancing and drank pink champagne. Being 35 isn't that bad after all!