a playground with Guinness on tap

Our kinda/sorta plan (our plans are always up for debate and Tim's brain generates more options then decisions, so we never know exactly what we are up to until it's already mostly complete) for today was to head out somewhere for lunch and then maybe hit the beach.  So when we were debating our lunch options the Boo piped in that he wanted to go to "that place we were at with those people and their mother."  Decoding the Boo-speak, we figured out he was referring to our last trip to Forries with Benne and Robin ("those people" ;) and Benne's mom, Janke, visiting from Holland.  Since Forries is one of our favorite pubs, who were we to deny the wishes of the 4-year old.

Forries, aka Forester's Arms, is an English-style pub that has been around since the late 1800's.  It has a wonderful, leafy beer garden and an entire section of it is given over to a playground and family area.  The Boo has always found cool kids to hang with here and the families attached to those kids have invariably been quite friendly.  Forries is about 5 minutes away and has Guinness on tap for about 20R (<$3).   The menu is extensive, the service is usually quite attentive (except when a big cricket match has just ended down the road in Newlands), and there is almost always a cricket or rugby game broadcast inside.  For those of you who know Tim, I think I just described his equivalent of nirvana!

We got there around 1:30 or so.  At 7pm our server, an engaging Zimbabwean, was asking us to pay up so that he could end his shift.  So much for the beach...

But it was a perfect afternoon outside under the trees, we chatted with each other, with those at the tables around us, with our friend Bruno when he showed up about 2/3 of the way in to our stay.  The Boo climbed, swung, twirled, slid and dug with a revolving cast of other kids for a solid 5 hours. I discovered a lovely drink called the rock shandy (the South African version is soda water, lemonade and a dash of Angostura bitters, delish!!) that kept me hydrated as I morphed in to the designated driver for the afternoon. We had nothing we had to do nor any place we had to be...so very relaxing...

I think all playgrounds should come with table service...and Guinness on tap!