We woke up this morning and had another lovely breakfast which included yummy blood sausage before we checked out of our first B&B, Moat Lodge. If you ever travel to Dublin – THIS is the place to stay! They are super nice here, the breakfast is great, the rooms are clean and cozy with “en-suite” bathrooms, and it couldn’t be easier to get in and out of Dublin from. We packed everything into the car and headed toward the M1 Freeway which would take us to Northern Ireland. I, as always, am the trusty map navigator while Stanley is the trusty driving expert. And I, as always, managed to get us lost within the first 10 minutes of driving. We were supposed to head North on the M1, but I ended up steering us South on the M1 and by the time we could find a turnaround point, we were way off track and there wasn’t an onramp back onto the freeway going North from that point because of construction. So, a long detour through the suburbs of Dublin and we finally got to the right freeway about 30 minutes later. We then drove North to Northern Ireland, up past Belfast to the Causeway Coastline. The drive to and through Belfast was slow going because apparently Ireland has taken a class or two from Utah road engineers on how to start reconstructing every major road possible at the same time, closing all but one or two lanes of traffic and making it nearly impossible to navigate. Add driving on the opposite side of the car and road to that equation and you can now see why it took us 3.5+ hours to get from Dublin to the coast (a trip which should have taken less than 2 hours). Anyway, our first coastal destination was just outside of Ballycastle, at a place called Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge. This area was impressive with massive coastal cliffs and a beautiful hiking trail that leads you to a rope bridge which spans 65 feet of ocean gully that is 80 feet down. On the other side, a beautiful rock island that you can hike around on and explore. Stanley and I were both brave and traveled across the rope bridge, not once, but twice (there and back) and even took video to commemorate this death defying feat (we’re both TERRIFIED of heights). Yay Stanley & Michele!!! Back to the car, we drove a short way to a little town called Ballintoy and enjoyed a delicious pub lunch. I ordered the Veggie Enchilada (I know… enchilada’s in Ireland!?!) but let me say it was more like a Fajita and it was possibly the most delicious enchilada/fajita I’ve ever eaten. And on top of that, they have a ketchup like sauce here called “brown sauce” that is made with malt vinegar, molasses, spices and yummy goodness unlike any condiment I’ve ever tasted. Why don’t they have this in the US? Why!?! WHY!?!?!?! I’ll have to buy a bottle or twelve before we head home because it’s just too damn good. After lunch we drove a little further down the Causeway Coast to see the Giants Causeway. This place was very cool… and Ireland’s only World Heritage Site. The Giants Causeway is made up of basalt columns which formed 60 million years ago from volcanic activity. What is left is hexagonal shaped stepping stones which appear to be manmade. Very cool. We decided it was time to make our way to Bushmills Distillery which was just up the street from the Causeway but unfortunately, it closed 30 minutes before we got there, so we drove a little further down the street to Dunluce Castle, a 13th Century ruined castle that sits on the high cliffs of the Causeway Coast and guess what? It was closed too… no luck for us this evening. Back down the street a few blocks from the castle was a row of B&B’s so we drove up to the first one, a super cute B&B called “Gortencapple” up on a little hill overlooking the ocean. The people (a nice older lady and gentleman) showed us to our room, made us some tea and biscuits, visited with us for a while and then left us to unpack and get settled. Tomorrow morning they’re going to make us a traditional Irish breakfast at 8:00am and then we’ll be on our way back to Dunluce Castle and Bushmills Distillery before we drive back to the Republic of Ireland and over to Donegal where the first McLaughlins come from. Oh – and here in Northern Ireland they use the Pound Sterling (cause they’re part of the UK and not Ireland) and since the American Peso – ahem – American Dollar is so weak right now compared to Pounds and Euros, my exchange of $120 American Pesos – ahem – American Dollars left me with $52 Pounds and change. So sad… so very very very sad! I’m glad we’re not visiting the UK for the whole trip! -Michele
-For a US American, driving here is ‘backwards’ or on the ‘wrong side’. I rather like it, makes me humble, makes me think.
-Yep, walking on a rope bridge high above a tempestuous sea is just the ticket for a guy afraid of heights I did it. The skies were blue and sunny and windy. You could see all the way to Scotland.
-So when you’re in an Irish Pub, the most natural thing to get is…. Veggie Enchiladas. Right. Michele shared a bite with me and, seriously, the best enchiladas I’ve ever tasted. I ordered the Guinness and Beef stew with puffed pastry topping (Irish Pub Classic for at least 400 years) but what do I know?
-The Giant’s Causeway. So cool, I have wanted to see this place since I first saw pictures of it when I was six. Today I saw it, walked around and felt like a little kid- all coolness a newness (to me) and wonder.
-After 5 PM… Closed Castle, Closed Distillery, save them for tomorrow. The castle’s from the 1200s, the distillery opened in 1608. They’re not going anywhere.
4 Points to ponder
-Master your fear.
-Don’t get mad when your wife navigates you on a Magical Mystery Tour of droll South Dublin suburbia.
-We found KinderChoc (ungodly wicked tasty chocolate treat) at a grocery store. We bought some. Michele will eat it all.
-‘The toilet is out of order, sorry.’
-It’s better when they call ‘Blood Sausage’… (aaaww gaawd!),‘Black Pudding’ …
mmm ever so delicious mum!
Mum only buys us best “Black Pudding’; scrumptious!
BY ORDER ~SEA
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