Celebration Walk? Winter Blast!

"It's the first day of your retirement. You should do something special to celebrate", said Dawn. Hmm. Jet off somewhere and stay overnight? How about e.g Bologna in Northern Italy? Perhaps not. I'm not sure that the  coronavirus there would do me any good. I decided a nice treat a bit closer to home would be some fresh grilled mackerel for lunch at the Ferryboat Inn in North Felixstowe. And I could have a bit of a seaside walk while I was at it. Nice idea.... but the seaside walk bit?

I drove to Felixstowe. The weather on the way was not encouraging... rain pelting the windscreen. But I was not to be denied my walk. Shame I neglected to bring my waterproof trousers! I parked a bit along from the Spa Pavilion Theatre at the sea front. A chance to try out my waterproof rucksack cover and rain hat I had got for Christmas! I was grateful the former stayed in place despite the wind, but I had to literally hold onto my hat to keep it in place.

This was my route.

Here are a few pictures.

Some of the beach had escaped in places.

The sea was quite rough and the clouds lowered menacingly as the rain stinged my exposed bits.

I maybe should have turned back as the wind was rather fierce and the horizontal rain  meant my trousers weren't protected by my waterproof top. But I was determined. Or should that be stubborn?

It was a relief to reach my destination.

I was pleased to find the mackerel was on the specials menu. And a pint of Timothy Taylor's Boltmaker went down well with it.

It was delicious! But I had to apologise to the staff for the puddles where my waterproof had drained onto the floor and where my shoes had been and the wet chair where I had sat. I checked the weather. "7 degrees, feels like -1". But the rain was due to get lighter.

And so I headed back to my car. By now the tide had come in a bit and the waves grown even bigger so walking back along the seafront didn't seem a great idea. Instead I walked along the road... but still into the teeth of the 40-50 mph wind and rain. About halfway through the golf course one driver kindly stopped and asked if I wanted a lift, but I didn't take up the offer. Here's what I could see from the top of the sea cliff.

I was getting a bit cold by the time I got to my car. My top half had been kept dry by my new waterproof bought on my trip to Melrose, but my trousers and shoes and socks were sodden.

I was glad I hadn't tried walking along the sea front.

I was also glad of my heated car seat on the way home and, even with it, I was still feeling cold when I got there... a slight case of hypothermia, I think.

But I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Mission accomplished. Now. How about a trip to somewhere warmer? Maybe soon.... Today was but the start of, I hope, many years of freedom from work.

You can see details of my route here on MapMyWalk.