Day 3. Bridge, Causeway, Castle, and Bushmills

Day 3. Amazing.

We traveled from Ireland into Northern Ireland and stayed the night in Bushmills, a small town along the Antrim Coast. 

I'm a huge proponent of staying at B&B's while abroad.  Meeting the locals and making friends are part of the whole travel experience, and B&B's can provide you with a sense of home while far and away.  No country could prove the B&B theory more then Ireland and Northern Ireland. In Bushmills, we stayed with Rae & John at their Cottesmore Bed & Breakfast, where we felt like family.

Our Day Along the Antrim Coast

We really planned to hit the pavement hard this day, to explore the outdoors along the northern coast.  It was the one day on our trip that really depended on cooperative weather, and we were certainly rewarded. The Emerald Isle's weather is not far off from New England's; as in, wait 5 minutes, and the sky will change. On this day, we luckily stumbled upon, hiked through, climbed over, and discovered the details and views of the area's striking coastline - under a 65 degree Bluebird sky.

Early in the morning, we headed first to the site farthest from our B&B, and during the day made our way back to the village of Bushmills. Following what's known as the Causeway Coastal Route we visited the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, then headed south to Giants Causeway, on to Dunluce Castle, and finally toured and tasted Bushmills Irish Whiskey.

In the evening, Rae & John recommended this local restaurant, Tartine.  Above and beyond, this dine-in was the best meal during our trip to the Emerald Isle.  Tartine covered the span of our drooling palate with pre-dinner craft brews, and a three course dinner of soup, fresh-baked brown bread, Guinness stew, a vegetable roulet, and pear and apple tarte to finish.  Good thing we hiked all over, we needed that appetite.

Amazing.

Now I'm hungry.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

Paying to cross the bridge was worth it for the unobstructed views on the tiny island.  We nearly had the entire island to ourselves and were able to enjoy the quiet morning.

Giants Causeway

Just. So. Cool. Nature's playground...or Finn's. Word of advice from savvy research: this is a FREE site. We parked at the Causeway Hotel, and snacked with a tea & yummy scone (White Chocolate Raspberry, a little bit of Heaven) in the hotel bar.  We then walked UP and OVER the new Visitors Centre (of which the parking attendants attempt to funnel you directly into), and hiked the path to the Causeway. If you'd like to check out the new Giants Causeway Visitor's Centre, the fee is £7.50. I hear it's pretty nice, we just didn't want to pay and rush through.  It worked out in the end...as we hiked up and over the center, we participated in a Northern Ireland tourism survey and met the man who has run the most marathons in the UK. I think.  Anyways, as a museum professional, I dig surveys.  I enjoy helping local organizations better serve their audiences - museum people actually read evaluation responses.

Don't miss Finn's playground, and make sure you hike the path as close to the chimney as you can.

Dunluce Castle

Can you even imagine living here? Wouldn't have wanted to been one of the servants when one-third of the castle fell into the ocean.

  

Bushmills Distillery

Although we've toured many-a breweries, this was our first distillery. I loved the barrels and the aging process, and it was honestly just a fabulous walk through. Yay for free samples, because I would never ever have ordered a whiskey on my own. We met the oddest (and by far, best sense of humor) almost-retired man and his wife. I think he hit the free samples pretty hard.