On Friday afternoon I was on the tube heading out of Hammersmith when a guy got on holding a bag of chips wrapped in newspaper and by the smell, I am guessing they had been smothered with vinegar and salt.

The smell that filled the entire train was just AMAZING and you could tell that everybody on the train was now envious of this highly unhealthy but mouth-wateringly delicious food.

Skip forward 24 hours and it’s a Saturday morning in January. It is a clear and sunny but very cold day. What are we going to do today?

My mind wandered back to the man with the chips. The thought of chips led my imagination to thoughts of sitting at the end of the pier eating chips from a newspaper because chips (and fish) always taste better at the seaside. Indeed the very smell conjures up images of beaches, amusement arcades and so on.

We’re going to the seaside!

Right now!

An hour later and we are in the wonderful English seaside town that is Skegness. Most of the arcades are closed for the winter but the important thing is that the fish and chip shops are open.

So here’s Sam tucking into a tray of chips in Skegness

For my American friends, what you see here are deep fried potato chips covered in something called curry sauce and in Sams case, accompanied by a fish cake. You then sprinkle with liberal amounts of salt and then splash lots of malt vinegar all over the top.

Unless you have been to the UK and tried this for yourself, just like mushy peas, you have no idea what you are missing.

We would have eaten them on the pier except Skegness pier is currently closed

So a quick stroll along the sea front (remember it is January thus whilst the sun is out, it is still cold enough to make your eyes water)

And like most people we weren’t brave enough to roll up our trousers and go for a paddle in the sea

So back in the nice warm car and back home, full of chips eaten beside the seaside, beside the sea.