The magic of Mersea Island . Until it was discovered by restaurant critics seven or eight years ago, this unassuming seafood shack, on the shores of a muddy creek, was something of an insider's secret. For the natives of east London and Essex who converged on this small estuary island at the weekend, it was a place of pilgrimage where they would eat their own bodyweight in oysters, rollmops and prawns, then high- tail it back across the Strood . But like most of the day trippers who visit, I've never ventured much beyond the harbour in West Mersea where the yacht club, lifeboat station and a handful of caf. I suspected Mersea had more to offer than half- a- dozen Colchester Natives and a glass of white wine, but it seemed too close to home to justify a longer stay. Find trailers, reviews, synopsis, awards and cast information for Mercy Island (1941) - William Morgan on AllMovie - The beautiful Florida Keys provide the setting of. Learn and talk about Mercy Island, and check out Mercy Island on Wikipedia, Youtube, Google News, Google Books, and Twitter on Digplanet. Mercay Island is the island on which Link wakes up after attempting to rescue Tetra from the Ghost Ship in the beginning of Phantom Hourglass. Get more information about Mercy Island on TMDb. The beautiful Florida Keys provide the setting of this adventure that tells the tale of a fun-filled fishing trip. Then I came across the website for Monkey Beach Cottage. If I were to conjure up an image of my perfect holiday home it would look something like this . Within minutes of spotting it, I'd phoned the owner and booked our family in for a long weekend. Mercy Island is the first place a villain goes after escaping from the Breakout tutorial zone. As a beginner-level zone, most of the enemies are levels 1 - 6. A guide to the island of Mersea. Local insight into island life with sections describing amenities, food and accommodation. Includes photographs. Beautifully furnished with antiques, oil paintings by local artist David Britton and with piles of magazines and books and beams and lots of cosy little nooks, it's the kind of place that makes you long for a rainy day so you can stay inside. But the sun was shining when we arrived and my daughter and nephews were itching to get on to the beach. The children set about exploring the network of tiny creeks and boardwalks which criss- cross the marshes and collecting sun- bleached oyster shells to decorate their sandcastles. I had some half- baked idea about eating in the Company Shed, but by the time we got there at midday the queues had already started to form (they don't take bookings, and a two- hour wait is not unusual on a sunny day), so we walked 1. Coast Road to the West Mersea Oyster Bar, which makes a decent (some would say better) alternative . Our captain, Stacey Belbin, who is descended from a long line of Mersea fishermen, pointed out the 1. Bradwell Power Station . In winter she runs fishing expeditions for cod, sea bass and whiting, and trips to see the wading birds which gather on the surrounding mudflats. Photograph: Alamy. East Mersea, by contrast, is mostly farmland. The only people who tend to head east are holidaymakers staying at the caravan parks here. Cudmore Grove Country Park, at the far eastern tip of the island, is a perfect spot for a picnic, with acres of grassland and forest sloping down to a vast beach and views of the white sailing masts of Brightlingsea sparkling across the Colne estuary. Hard to believe but the eroding cliffs here have yielded hippopotamus bones, elephant tusks and shark's teeth dating back 3. Today the only wildlife you're likely to encounter are wading birds such as geese, golden plovers and widgeon. After a breezy walk along the sea wall, we went in search of Mersea's newest restaurant. The Haward family, which runs the Company Shed, recently opened a second outpost in a humble prefab building on a quiet country lane in East Mersea. We ordered smoked- mackerel p. Very local, in fact: the Mersea Island Vineyard provided our natural next stop, and as well as picking up a couple of bottles of wine, we took home some ale from the adjacent microbrewery, including a traditional stout made with oysters. Driving back to the cottage we passed a stream of traffic heading back to the mainland and allowed ourselves to feel a little smug that we would get the island to ourselves for another evening. With its cute weatherboard cottages, ramshackle houseboats marooned on mudflats, fine seafood and jaunty nautical air, Mersea is a beguiling place for a day trip, but it's when the crowds have left and the only sound is the seagulls and the clanking of the bells on the sailing boats that it really comes into its own. It occurs to me that if Mersea were near Brighton, or Whitstable, as opposed to the deeply uncool Clacton- on- Sea, it would be completely overrun with tourists, impossibly twee and probably very annoying. And I'm glad. Where to stay. A week at Monkey Beach Cottage, which sleeps seven, costs from . Menu highlights include the oysters, seafood platter and fish and chips (Coast Road, West Mersea; 0. Mehalah's at Oysters & Ale. An East Mersea outpost from the family behind the Company Shed. Open all day (except Wednesdays) for breakfast, simple seafood dishes, sandwiches and cakes. They'll also make up a picnic hamper for a day at the beach. In winter the boat can be hired for fishing and birdwatching trips.
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