Just Flew In From The Windy City.....Southport!!

Just got back from a lovely weekend in Southport. Yes, you read that right, a "lovely" weekend in Southport!! OK OK, Southport has seriously had its fair share of suffering as the British public have chosen other parts of the UK to holiday. Indeed many have chosen to abandon these shores altogether but are we missing something in Southport? Well sadly the answer is no! Southport is an old relic in desperate need of a rethink but I doubt this area will ever get the injection of money and ideas that it needs. With its relatively richer cousin just over an hour away, Blackpool is the bustling seaside metropolis that Southport once was but will never be again. Sure, Southport has its advantages. Its much cleaner, inevitably quieter and a fraction cheaper to visit but when it comes to things to do its falls down spectacularly. A huge advantage over Blackpool is the distinct lack of stag and hen groups!! We stayed in a hotel in the Ocean Plaza area which we soon found was the hub of activity with now ubiquitous entertainment complex comprising of Nandos, Chiquitos among others and a Vue Cinema but outside of this area was nothing more than a shopping area containing the usual suspects that adorn every town centre in the country. Of course there is the beach which for many is the main and only draw to a place like this but in the typical British summer if the beach is off limits due to wind (as it was on this visit) then the kids are going to be unimpressed with the albeit quaint but out of date Lord Street shopping arcades. 

So does Southport have a place in the hearts of the British holidaymaker? Of course it does but that select few is a quickly dwindling and ever more demanding group. What made Southport lovely for me however was the company which can make anywhere on earth feel more hospitable than it actually is.