May 10 - NI

Day 2 - Friday, May 10th, 2002

Up at 7:15 AM. Felicity didn't sleep well. Adapting to jet lag is not instant. We went for breakfast at 8:30 and were met with the standard Irish fare, but in huge portions. The food was great and as we discovered throughout the trip, usually enough to tide you over until mid-afternoon.

We headed north through Drogheda in bright sunshine. It's amazing that this is the main road to Belfast. Though a by-pass is in the works, it seems like it is still some distance off. The road takes you right through the middle of morning traffic. Made for some slow travel right off the bat.

As we headed north, the countryside became increasingly more beautiful. The Mourne Mountains and hills along the road made for a wonderful drive. We had never been north and for some reason, we were surprised. As we entered Belfast, the air was pretty hazy, but the area around the city is quite scenic.

We made it to Carrick-Fergus without getting lost once! The main road (A2) goes right by the castle. The car park is before the castle. I took some required photos of Felicity in front of the entrance. A beautiful castle, but no match for the radiant beauty of the main subject. The castle is in great condition and still has many of the rooms completely intact. The "life-like" mannequins are a bit tacky, but the castle hosts many school visits, so it's understandable that they need to give it some of those "commercial" touches. My personal favorite was King John sitting on the crapper. The explanation of the "plumbing" was particularly unappetizing. Apparently, the waste just went down a short chute and dropped quite a distance into the sea. Pretty nice eh? Oh well.... The sun had disappeared behind the clouds for our stay at the castle, but it was beginning to peak out as we left.

From there, we took the Antrim Coast Road north. This is a spectacular ride. This is truly a coast road as there are few times when the only thing to right is not the sea. We stopped at a small hotel and got a cheese and bacon potato wedges. That seemed to bring back some energy.

We chose Glengarriff as the Antrim glen that we would explore. We were not disappointed! Before you get to the turnoff for the forest park, there is a sign for a hotel and waterfalls on the left. Take this turn. The hotel has a little restaurant but the best part is that the falls are just behind the hotel. As you walk behind the hotel, you will see two trails. The one to the right takes you along a catwalk up the stream for a distance. The one to the left takes you right to the most photographed of the falls. It's about a one minute walk. It wasn't marked, so we started the trail walk first. I ran out of film almost immediately so we walked back. Felicity, exhausted from not sleeping, decided to nap in the car. This time I took the short trail and found the waterfall. I lingered and took some photos, lingered some more and then decided Felicity would never forgive me if I didn't wake her up and show her the falls. She later agreed.

By the time we left, it was too late to visit the forest park, so we drove up through the glen and back across the hills into Cushendun. We made it through town and for some reason, easily found our B&B "Drumkerrin" up the hill off the Torr Road. The view to the sea and cliffs from the B&B is spectacular. The owner was just back from London, having been named B&B hostess of the year by the Automobile Association (AA). She was quite excited. The only downfall was that the rooms did not face the sea. Otherwise, this is a great place.

We ate dinner at McBride's in Cushendun. The steak and Guinness pie was great and I was convinced to have a beer or two. Had the Kilkenny here, another great brew from Guinness. Once again, wonderful, quaint pub. We had cheesecake for dessert, which in Ireland is more of a mousse filling than the thicker cheesecake we know in the States.

After dinner, we began what was to become a tradition for us...the evening drive. We decided to drive the Torr Road. The drive is absolutely spectacular, but not for the faint of heart. This was the first of many drives along a road that was clearly not wide enough for two cars in many places. Amusingly, they did provide a center stripe. I guess that was to help you find the center of the car. The weather was getting menacing which made the drive all the more beautiful. Each bend in the road brought ooohs and ahhhs. It sounded like the 4th of July in our car. We made it to Ballycastle just as the beer and wine caught up to us so we stopped in the hotel for a drink and to "relax". We made it back to the B&B by 10:00 PM. It was still a bit light.

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