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. 

Day 1. Airport to Trim, Co. Meath, Ireland

At the suggestion of a friend, I am going to start writing about our travel adventures rather than simply posting photos.  This log of written memories is more for our own recollections (at 30, I've begun to realize just how quickly memories slip away) but I will include my photographs, as well.

Just an FYI: My husband and I rely mostly on print and online resources when we travel.  He is much more of a planner than I am. We peruse other's travel blogs, reviews, etc. For this trip, we rocked out with TripAdvisor, Lonely Planet, and purchased one book titled the Back Roads Ireland (Dailey et al; 2013).  Perhaps our experiences will help out with someone else's travels, too.

First day's adventures: Airport to Car Rental to Trim, Co. Meath

We decided to rent a car and tour on our own Ireland and Northern Ireland.  My husband read the entire Ireland driver's manual.  Me?  I got in the car and hit the gas.  Heck, I've been driving since I was 5.  I could handle this, no problem.

One piece of advice: if you rent a car, make sure you double-check the sheet metal with the car company's records before driving your rental off the lot.  You'll likely find things like this:

Yes, that's our rental car.

My detailed-driven and intelligent husband asked me to do a walkaround of our rental before we drove it off the lot. Even with my exasperation and blurry-zero-sleep-red-eye-flight-sight, I could have seen this dent from a mile away.  We made sure that this damage was recorded, along with other dents and scrapes that were found (which would have went unrecorded with the rental company), and then we drove off the lot. Hilarious? Yes. Scary? More so. We got a good laugh out of it, but if my husband hadn't had the wherewithal to check over the car, then we would have been required to pay for damage certainly not inflicted by us upon return.

Side note: our driving record was nearly impeccable while in Ireland.  Except for one minor parallel parking mishap in which the driver shall remain unnamed.

My recommendation: get the CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) when you rent a car in Ireland.  Very few credit card companies or American auto insurance companies will cover you while driving in Ireland. The highways and straightaways are easy; it's the curves and the random pop-ups in the road you have to look out for. Not to mention that things can go south pretty quickly if you try for the shortcut. All in all, I loved driving in Ireland. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It's the only way to see the country. You get over driving on the wrong (right?) side of the road and car quicker than you'd think.

Anywho, this was our adventure in Trim, County Meath (just northwest of Dublin).  We had booked one night at Highfield House; GORGEOUS manor, fabulous food, excellent walking distance to everything in Trim, and plenty of parking.  Not much more you could ask for.  After checking in, we grabbed lunch at a small cafe, and hiked about town.  We walked up to the Belfry Tower, or known as the "Yellow Steeple" (built in 1368 for the original Augustinian Abbey).

Highfield House, Trim, Co. Meath, Ireland.

This guy. All this guy. In the Trim Visitor's Centre.

Around town.

Looking up the "Yellow Steeple."

"Yellow Steeple."

Cute pup and the "Yellow Steeple."

We took the guided tour of Trim Castle.  It was excellent; I would highly recommend.  In hindsight, this was probably the best guided tour from Heritage Ireland during our 2-week trip.  Our guide at Trim Castle was a young man who clearly knew his stuff, he was also personable, and allowed us to explore the castle without any rush.  The tour group itself included very few people (probably because we visited during the "off season" on a mid-week afternoon).  I learned a lot (despite sleep deprivation).  Trim Castle was used in the filming of Braveheart.  It's the country's largest Norman Castle (approximately 700 years old), and the views from the Keep are astounding.

Side note: we had planned on purchasing a Heritage Ireland OPW Heritage Card to save a little cash because we wanted to see so many OPW sites. Since the office at Trim Castle ran out of cards, the very pleasant gentleman offered us a discount rate just for Trim Castle because he couldn't offer us the Heritage Card.

Castle Keep to the left, "Yellow Steeple" to the right.

"Yellow Steeple" through the outer wall of Trim Castle.

Under the outer walls of Trim Castle, directly on the River Boyne.

Trim Castle from the bridge over the River Boyne.

Outer wall, Trim Castle

We hiked the length of the Trim Castle River Walk along the River Boyne, visited Newtown Abbey, and even grabbed a pint at Marcie Regan's (Ireland's second oldest pub).  This pub was where we were memorably educated on the most important lesson to drinking a Guinness.  Three older Irish gentlemen who were each consuming (but of course) a Budweiser at the bar...yes, Budweiser...who shared with us that when ordering a Guinness, allow the beer to settle first, to be topped off by your tender, and to settle again before you even think about touching the glass.

I wish I took more photographs in Marcie Regan's. It was quaint, very cool. An early 17th century building, the nooks and crannys were crooked, and the fireplace friendly.  I could have spent all night there.  We also met another American couple who shared with us their experiences during their Ireland travels (and took their recommendations for our next day's adventures).

In the morning we were on the road again after a good night's sleep and some amazing A.M. scones towards Newgrange and Knowth.

Newtown Abbey

A mix of the old and new.  Newtown Abbey and the adjacent yard is still used today as a cemetery.

To make a long story short, this couple was buried at Newtown Abbey,
and the grave is known as the Tomb of the Jealous Man and Woman.
Something about her having an affair, how the couple is not touching even in death,
somehow translates into the visitor curing warts. Touch a safety pin to your wart,
leave the pin at the grave, and it will cure your skin problems.
I'm still trying to figure out how that works.