After feeling fairly wretched one week-end in Brighton I began to question what it was that was making me feel this way! And no, it was not a heavy night out with the girls (I should be
so lucky) Mmm, so what could it be?

Well, after a little more deliberation, it struck me - Brighton! I love the place dearly but sometimes all the noise, people, pollution and the constant problems with parking, were getting me down. And so my partner, myself and our 21-month-old daughter Avalon decided to travel a little further along the coast, and see what the blue-rinse brigade had to offer. I am of course talking about Eastbourne, home of the newly-weds and the nearly-dead, apparently.

Our day out had got off to a rather unfortunate start - the beautiful sunshine we had been promised being replaced by some thick black clouds, with plenty of signs for rain, rain and more rain.

Not wanting to write the day off completely, I let Avalon tear up plan A and we began devising plan B.

We made the journey by car, a quick blitz along the coast road. For those of you who have forgotten what a stunning part of the country we live in, then may I suggest you take the same route.
As we drove through the Cuckmere valley, Avalon could be heard quite literally squealing with delight as she spotted 'Sheeep', 'Mooo's' and just about every other farmyard creature you may care to think of. In fact this may have even been her favourite part of the day.

There are of course various ways to get to Eastbourne, both train and bus service are direct from Brighton and take you to the town centre. Alternatively you may choose the A27, with new and improved roads this is very accessible.

The rain had descended upon us and so we headed directly for Fort Fun and Rocky's situated at the far end of the seafront. Rocky's is what we were really after as it is the indoor play area of this fun-packed amusement park.

Avalon lost herself in the gigantic ball pit and I acted every bit the child as I tried to pass myself off as a twelve-year-old and join in. We guided Avalon to the under 5's area where there were various toys for her to play with and an area we could sit by and supervise.

Matthew cast his mind back to sunny days as a young boy, remembering family days out to Eastbourne and was delighted to find Fuscardi's, the original ice cream parlour, still open and continuing to serve up its many delights. So after all that excitement and a good couple of hours of fun we were in need of something to cool us down. Whilst I found myself drawn to an ice cream by the name 'Monkey Business', Avalon was totally in awe of 'Pinochio' the classic children's favourite, various flavoured ice creams and fruit all presented fabulously for the kids. And Matthew, well he simply opted for the 'Nutcase'. If you come to Eastbourne whatever the weather you have to make room in your day for Fuscardi's, I'd really love to keep it a secret but I just can't.

With the sun finding its way through the clouds we thought we'd make time for a quick stroll along the seafront, whilst Avalon had her afternoon sleep. I was pleasantly surprised to find lots to see and do. The new seafront attraction 'Treasure Island Adventure Park' is newly completed, and has two nine hole golf courses, and a Long John Silver shipwreck and play area, with caves, a galleon, rope bridges and slides. It looked fantastic and we vowed to come back and enjoy the experience when Avalon was feeling more like a pirate and less like a dormouse!

We were fast running out
of time and had planned to finish our day at the Eastbourne Miniature Railway, leaving such attractions as The Waterfront at Sovereign Harbour Marina, Beachy Head boat cruises, The Pier, The Wish Tower puppet Museum and the Boating Lake for another time. We made our way back by Dotto train, which operates a regular service for the entire length of the seafront. The Miniature Railway was great fun, as was the whole day. What's the saying - 'time flies .....'!

And so, in summary, my preconceived ideas of Eastbourne have been thwarted. If you have any yourself may I make this recommendation for a refreshing day out - there really is something for everyone!

ABC launches in Eastbourne this Summer with the support of a variety of local child-friendly businesses which you will find advertising in the pages of this issue.
It is only with their support that we are able to bring ABC into Eastbourne so, with this in mind, please support them in return - and tell them you saw them in ABC!

FREE copies of ABC are available in the Eastbourne area from:

Sunny Foods 01323 648088
Eastbourne Miniature Railway 01323 520229
Kites Childcare Info Service 01323 737294
The Old Fire Station 01323 412131
David Lloyd Leisure Centre 01323 509802
Mums and Tums 01323 648880
The Nursery Warehouse 01323 417775
Town Tots 01323 410021
Ben & Millies 01323 642808
Drusilla's 01323 874100
Woody's Playframes 01323 449245
Eastbourne Private Hospital 01323 430831
Sussex Downs College 01323 649243
plus the Libraries and Tourist Information Centre.