Day Saved...

 Best Beer Buddy broke his reading glasses pretty much the second we arrived at the flat.

To be fair, despite having reasonably regular eye examinations to make sure he hasn't got any nasties, he only ever needs to buy really cheap non-prescription glasses.  These, we tend to buy in a bulk (5) pack from Amazon.

This strategy also allows us to keep at least one pair everywhere we live and work...just in case.

There were a spare pair of glasses in the flat but they were very much an impulse (desperation) buy from Poundland a few years back and he doesn't exactly rock the leopard-print frame.

Anyhow, I ordered a new pack of glasses even though he insisted that superglue would get the job done.

As is our wont, we get parcels delivered to an Amazon locker which means a trip into town.  I also wanted to get some drugs to shake a niggling ear-catarrh-blocked-dizzy thing.

Finally, we decided we'd avail ourselves of the shoe recycling point on the way.

The sky looked a bit grey so I checked the forecast.  All the available information said it would likely rain around 7pm so we struck out without coats.

Half-way to town some big, fat drops started to fall intermittently.  We dug in and carried on walking. In the big shopping centre (largely under cover) we were blissfully ignorant, but as we emerged into the outside it was chucking it down.  Checking the Accuweather forecast - which is usually uncannily accurate - it said the rain would cease soon.  So we walked on, completed the errands and then paused under cover.  Still it rained.

We sheltered under a canopy, plotted the nearest pub and the best way to avoid the weather getting there.

Still it rained.

By Corn Street my t-shirt was soaked but I had an idea:  pop into the market, go to the place I get sleeping t-shirts from and buy one - find a pub and change in it.  The chap we bought it from seemed ridiculously happy to have a last minute customer.  So that was nice.

The Crown (which claimed to be good) was closed so there was no real option but to head for King Street.

The rain worsened.

We haven't drunk in King Street for well over a year and we didn't really know what to expect.  The last time we'd passed through, it was the April "opening up" date and there were crowds and queues that we absolutely didn't want to get involved in.

After what seemed an age, we arrived at the King Street Brew Pub.  It was about half full and looked OK.  So in we went.  The boy bought beer and I went down to the loos, put my new t-shirt on and brushed my very wet hair.  Instantly I felt a bit more human (even though the only place I usually wear t-shirts with slogans is in bed)

King Street's beer hit the spot really nicely, we sat and watched the thunderstorm that the Met Office steadfastly refused to admit to.  Even Accuweather struggled, repeatedly updating to say the storm would only last another 30 minutes...for about 2 and a half hours.

We mused on how brilliant it is to be able to say "oooh...where do we want to go to get some beer...?" in this, our second home. In Eastbourne our options are pretty limited and it's a shame.

In the last 12 days we've visited:  Barleymow (3), Moor (2), LHG, Verdant/Newtown Park, Good Chemistry, Cornubia, Fierce & Noble, Greenbank, The Oxford, Lost and Grounded and we've barely scratched the surface of the places we could go and enjoy. 

Every one of these places have suited the need/desire in their own way.  Even the Greenbank whose beer offering a little bit hit and miss, was in in the perfect spot for us.  We'd raided the Sweet Mart for ALL the SPICES and a little stop and regroup was in order. 

Most memorable this time, I think will be King Street Brewery and the t-shirt that saved the day.