Day 80: Exploring Plett

The rainy weather departed overnight and we woke to sunshine at The Old Rectory here in Plett. We hit the breakfast buffet and planned for a couple hours of school. Willa had multiple meltdowns for various reasons. Margaret has become a champ at getting her back on track but there was no hope today. Willa fell asleep in her tears and napped for 90 min. James and I played some frisbee on the grass outside our room and then went to check out the beach. It’s a beautiful curved half mile or so, with soft sand and decent sized waves. Near our hotel is basically empty but around the corner a bit it gets busier with a few restaurants, water sports and a big hotel at the very end. Quick video of the beach here…

We walked up the hill to the town of Plettenberg Bay and grabbed a pizza lunch at The Table. This is James when he’s hungry and tired and has to wait for food…

We returned to the hotel after lunch, the kids took a quick dip in the chilly pool and then played cards while Margaret and I read, emailed and enjoyed some time to ourselves.

We took the hotel shuttle up the street for dinner at Nineteen 89. We made the reservation through the hotel and didn’t realize until we were seated that it’s BYOB. Disaster! The food was pretty good once it finally arrived but James hit a wall and started his exhausted, spaghetti body, sliding off the booth, head on table routine. I had tried to ignore most of it but towards the end of dinner he slipped under the table and started kicking Willa. I lost my temper and pulled him up with a tug. He lost it, of course. Margaret was understandably embarrassed and took him outside while Willa and I finished our dinner and I paid the bill. James was of course totally fine and miraculously energized once it was time to actually get him in bed. But he calmed down for bedtime reading — he and Willa are crazy for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and we were starting the chapter where Charlie finds the Golden Ticket.