Whitstable is full of crime and murder... and a little bit of art!

A long time ago, when we were looking for a place to live near Canterbury, a wonderful drunken man said that "Whitstable is full of crime and murder..." (then he threw his alcoholic beverage to the floor, smashing it. Then he walked away from us. But, when he passed an art gallery he turned back to us and yelled "... and a little bit of art." Now I don't know if Whistable is full of those things, but I do know that it is full of tourists, and sun, and beaches, and good food. We had a bit of an adventure with the Potters yesterday, and I decided to blog about it.



We did quite a bit in one afternoon. We visited the beach, and the beach promenade (top left photo) and I fell in love with the beach huts (top right) too bad I don't have 17,000 pounds handy for that purchase. We also saw the Tea Gardens (bottom left photo) and the Whitstable Castle and grounds. (bottom right photo) I have to say, Whitstable is gorgeous.



Upon entering the promenade we were met with this warning sign. (Top left photo.) Good to know they were worried about our safety. But then there were signs every 50 feet or so... seemed a bit overkill. Then we had to scout out for the best location. (Top right) Jackpot! We found a clear section that we almost had to ourselves. (Bottom left) And the moment our stuff was down we lost Annie to the sea. (Bottom right) I wonder if she is part fish.



Later on we were on the other side of the harbor soaking in the sun. I caught a picture of my fellow pilgrims looking like they are straight out of a sunglasses ad. (picture on the left.) And we were all in love with being so close to the sea. It was beautiful, and not too cold!



To the left of the harbor was the not so pretty side of the beach, it was full of remains of fish, crabs, and oysters. Jesse turned into the claw (left picture) while Esther tried to relocate the recycled oyster shell pile, (middle picture) while Kathleen played the spine and rib bones of a fish like an accordion. (right picture) Still the view was great and the weather was perfect. Such a nice day.



One of our final stops was "Squeeze Gut Alley." (left picture) Apparently it was used by smugglers back in the day. And Naomi told a story that two smugglers were able to escape getting detailed by a police officer because they ran down Squeeze Gut Alley and got away because the officer (who was quite large) couldn't fit through. Now I don't know how true that story is... but I like it. The start of the alley is fine, and I think anyone would be quite comfortable. (second picture) But by the end it gets really squishy. I caught Jesse, Kathleen, and Annie as they were coming to the end. (third picture.) I also caught a larger man trying to squeeze his gut to get through. (last picture) It really was just perfect timing. His wife, who may or may not have had too much to drink, told me I should get documentation of this attempt. So I did. Does that make me a bad person?



We had a wonderful day, and are so grateful for the Potters showing us around their lovely town. It was an incredible day. And thank you to Esther (pictured on the left) and Heather (pictured on the right) for being awesome troopers during our long adventure. Next time we'll bring our swimsuits!