I come from a close-knit family. My relatives were the type of people who wanted to make every occasion an excuse to get together. Sometimes, we had valid reasons, such as a birthday, wedding, graduation, or house blessing. Other times, it was merely because someone got a haircut, learned a new recipe, or found a new movie that’s apparently worth raving about to the family.
Then, when my cousins and I turned into adults, we started to relocate to various parts of the world. My eldest sister moved first to California after getting married to her long-time boyfriend. One cousin got transferred to Paris by the modeling agency that she was working for. Others moved to Japan, Germany, Canada, and different states. I was the last to relocate to the UK because that’s where my company’s headquarters was.
I honestly thought that the family reunions would stop because of the significant distance between all of us. Not everyone could come home all the time either due to our responsibilities at work. However, the elders took it as an opportunity to travel the world to visit every family member. They made us promise that we would meet once a year, be it in the US or anywhere else in the world.
I must admit that this scheme was not too shabby. When we went to my sister’s place for the first time, she brought us to this beautiful vineyard that her husband’s family owned. I only remembered half of the visit, though, because I indulged too much on the unlimited wine that they served. When the others got visited, they followed my sister’s lead and took the family to different tourist spots that they knew we hadn’t been to before.
This year, I faced a slight dilemma when I found out that it was my turn to host the family reunion. Everyone had their tickets booked already, and they would be arriving at different times throughout the day. I often told them how much I loved the UK whenever we chatted, but I honestly had no idea where to bring a bunch of people whose ages ranged from 0 to 77 years old.
Unable to handle the pressure anymore, I decided to ask my local co-workers for advice. Many of them told me not to go far and book a tour in London where we were all staying. But others suggested that we should get out of the city and go to the not-so-little town of Tynemouth.
Visiting Tynemouth
I took my colleague’s advice seriously; that’s why I found myself traveling to Tynemouth one weekend. My goal was to scope the place an entire day, stay overnight, and decide the next day if it was ideal for a massive group of people.
However, I had only been in Tynemouth for six hours, and I was already in love with it. Something was enchanting about the preserved structures in this town. I had visited other historical places before, and they gave me the creeps, but Tynemouth didn’t scare me. Trying to be objective here, I could say that it was an ideal location for family reunions because of the following:
Everyone Loves The Beach
The first thing that hooked me was the beach at Prior’s Haven. I had seen more beautiful beaches than that, complete with white sand, restaurants, and all, but its selling point was that it was hidden from view. If we could go there during a non-peak season, we could have the beach all to ourselves. Hence, there was no need to worry about strangers doing inappropriate things about us, and everyone could sunbathe and swim in peace.
Tynemouth Has An Interesting History
At first glance, the town seemed like it was always so serene. But when you look at its history, you would realize that it’s far from that.
I am no expert at Tynemouth history, but I learned that a few ships sank near its shores in the 19th century. Various wars also erupted there, considering people in the olden times used to travel by water.
I figured it was perfect for the elders in the family who enjoyed a great story.
Cycling Is A Family Favorite
Riding a bike was technically a rite of passage in our family. At the age of five, everyone already had their training wheels off and knew how to cycle on their own. Even our grandparents would go on a bike with us around the park.
With everything so picturesque in Tynemouth, I was sure that my family would not pass up the opportunity to ride around the town. That’s especially true once they realized that they could tour the entire place in one day on two wheels.
Final Thoughts
The reunion finally happened, and as expected, no one came home without a smile on their face. Without a doubt, we would go back to Tynemouth again soon.