Northern Ireland to England 7/30 - Day 6

Despite the significant snags, we thoroughly enjoyed our time at Giant's Causeway. Northern Ireland has a wild beauty that is without parallel, and the whole place vibrates with the energy of an unharnessed freedom, of open fields, windy grass, and rushing waves. I will not miss the damp cold that permeates every pore and the ever-present moisture that prevents wet things from drying, but those round, flat stones paved their way into my heart, and I dream of going back to explore the surrounding cities a little more. 

The drive to the airport is smooth, but the small one inexplicably loses it as we board the plane. We tell ourselves it's only for an hour that we and everyone else in this very enclosed puddle-jumper must endure the vocal renditions of a pterydactyl, but one hour quickly turns to three as we sit on the tarmac waiting for the UK to right their radar system. How the radar for an entire country went down and then back up within a few hours is beyond me - I'm picturing someone unplugging it, plugging it back in, and turning it on.  

We land in Manchester and hurriedly collect our bags, eager to make the 1.5-hour drive through Windermere's narrow country roads before dark only to find an entire wheel missing from my biggest checked bag. Good thing the sun never sets up here. 

The Milk Parlour - Portrush, UK

How do you keep a kid compliant? Bribery. Shameless and undisguised bribery in the form of gelato.  

Big girl is super-good as we walk the streets of Portrush, shopping here, looking there. Her reward is a cup of Salted Caramel Brownie ice cream, complete with chubby chunks of the baked stuff. It looked real good, but I wouldn't know - she sure as heck wasn't sharing. 

Northern Ireland 7/29 - Day 5

Our last day at the causeway has us itching to explore. 

We start with a Dunluce Castle drive-by with not enough time to stop. 

We opt instead for a leisurely walk through the pretty little seaside town of Portrush, with its scenic harbor and pretty little townhouses overlooking the shore.

I am hell-bent on seeing something touristy, and the Dark Hedges scratch that itch. 

It starts with a stroll past Gracehill House, an elegant structure that withstands the test of time. It retains its Stuart family glamour by serving as a venue for weddings and other fancy occasions. 

Now we make our way up the King's Road. 

The trees are so beautiful, holding against wind and rain, staunch and strong despite the weather damage they've sustained over the years. 

It is the most beautiful stroll along a pedestrian-only road, photo dump below.

The Nook - Bushmills, UK

Lunch is my chance to change things up, though it seems this menu shares many things with the hotel restaurant. 

Still, there are extra offerings, including a Traditional Irish Stew which provides the comfort I seek. It’s hot lamb with potatoes and carrots cooked to a tenderness that only comes with time. It's seasoned well and keeps out the cold and warms the soul.

5 pounds each is rather steep for a single Scone, but these homemade beauties are amazing and can be enjoyed plain or with cream and jam. This one is a daily special with fresh raspberries and a coat of white chocolate. There's a "fruit scone" that's mostly raisins, also quite fantastic. 

Scones are the way to go, and I did enjoy the stew. The Nook is the better option for lunch for sure, but try to arrive at odd hours to beat the rush. 

Northern Ireland 7/27 - Day 3

It's a morning with more vomiting followed by the inevitable trip to the nearest hospital for fluids and a bit of zofran. 

I take a stroll in the other direction which results in no less than 22 photos and videos of cows and sheep.

The coast is gorgeous, with a view of the Stookans

as well as this rock formation and plenty of pretty things I still can't name. 

Northern Ireland 7/26 - Day 2

The rough start gets rougher as two of us four have clearly contracted gastroenteritis. Everything the big girl swallows returns to us within the hour, and we do all we can to keep her drinking water.

It’s back to the Causeway for a nice long walk with FIL at the stroller. 

We venture into Bushmills town in search of an evening meal, and we end up taking the scenic route which starts with a breathtaking view...of the butt of a trotting sheep. 

A wrong turn gets us a glimpse of Dunseverick Castle, which may be the funniest tourist site, just a couple of columns sticking up along a gorgeous coast. 

Bushmills downtown area is sadly dead on a summer Saturday night, but I still sneak a couple snaps of the pretty little buildings with their cheerfully-colored doors. 

Causeway Hotel Restaurant - Ballycastle, UK

We’ve tried much of the menu at our hotel restaurant, mostly because that's about all there is to eat up here. Breakfast comes with the room so it’s silly not to have it, and there’s nothing else within walking distance after 5 pm. With the events of the next few days, it’s really our only option, takeaway or otherwise. 

The Causeway Breakfast Grill includes everything in an Irish breakfast, lots of protein and a couple bits of carb. There’s a juicy Butchers Breakfast Pork Sausage with a sweeter finish, a slice of back bacon that has a strip of bacon sticking out from a circle of leaner ham. The grilled tomato spews geysers of juice, and there’s a little pile of mushrooms as well. There’s a fried egg with a running yolk to dip the buttery triangle of potato bread and chewy bit of soda farl which has a yeasty taste and mushy-mochi feel, dense and wet where bread is fluff and air. 

The Fluffy Pancake Stack is just that. Good for adults, even better for hungry kids. 

The Smoked Salmon is of whatever quality, but it’s nice enough on a dense slab of wheaten bread with a pile of scrambled eggs. 

The Porridge is surprisingly delicious, smooth with just the right bit of texture and a beautiful fresh-milk finish that tastes like grassy fields. 

Raid the Continental Breakfast buffet for staples. Cereal, yogurt, and toast are sprinkled with a sparse selection of fruit, and a few pastries that run out fast. 

The coffee, oh my, the coffee. It's in a league of its own...because I didn't know a league this bad could exist. It is like a person who has never tasted or made coffee described it to someone who’s never tasted or made coffee and then that person made it. Just use the nespresso in your room.  

Lunch and dinner vary in quality, depending on what you order. 

There’s a Roast Silverside of Beef Sunday special with a description that sounds so much better than it is. The scant slices of beef are tough and dry despite being doused in a rather revolting gravy. I didn’t understand the blandness everyone associates with UK fare until I encountered this. Yorkshire pudding is the only good part, a crispy, eggy pocket filled with horseradish cream. The carrots are cooked properly, but the Brussels are steamed to a slimy pulpy consistency and they’re dreadful. 

Don't despair, not everything on the menu is quite that bad. There’s a caramelised onion and goat’s cheese tartlet that’s more like a quiche, filled with fluffy eggs and plenty of creamy cheese. 

There’s always local beer battered fish as a fallback, featuring very crispy fish, flaky and white, fairly fresh. Triple cooked chips have a good crunch, and love ‘em or hate ‘em, there's a dot of mushy peas for some green.

The Open Steak Sandwich is my favorite thing by far. Soft ciabatta encases a McAtamney’s rolled rump which is quite tender and topped with caramelized onions. Order medium rare at most - it’s barely even pink. Pro tip: use the leftover peppercorn sauce to dip your chips - it’s nicely meaty and the black pepper adds a bite.

Afternoon Tea is only for two so if you’re dining solo, not only are you lonely, you also don't get tea. 

I wouldn't say you're missing out anyway - I would say it's only alright. There’s a sausage roll with a flaky crust, smoked salmon on dense black bread. Egg salad is okay but then there’s a ham sandwich with an off-putting jelly/relish. Plain scones are delectably doughy, and when combined with jam and clotted cream are expectedly delicious.

The top tier is dense desserts, with a thick strawberry shortcake, a cheesecake with a crust full of freezer burn, and a chocolate cake that begs to be shared. 

The only dessert I can recommend is the only one I tried. The Bushmills Pecan Nut Pie is honestly just a pecan pie, but that happens to be my favorite pie, and it really is quite good. 

The rooms have no refrigeration, and any other food requires a drive to Bushmills proper. The food is truly okay overall aside from the coffee, but the prices are rather high, and I wouldn't have eaten here more than once by choice. 

Northern Ireland - 7/25 - Day 1

It should have been day 2 but a cancelled red-eye has us home at midnight and back to the airport on insufficient sleep.

A frenzied layover in our nation’s capital and we arrive on schedule, first thing in the cool Dublin morning, gaping at never-ending squares of green as we taxi past some unphased cows. 

We lose a day without really losing a day, but our recovery night at the airport hotel is null and void. We land instead at 8 am and opt to power up the 3-hour drive to the Causeway Hotel instead. 

Driving on the "wrong" side of the road is disorienting to say the least, and to our dazed minds, the hotel looks almost magical, a simple black and white structure against the Northern Ireland sky, as close to the famous circular stones as you’re allowed to sleep. 

Our triple room #28 awaits us, with its private ground-level terrace a mere feet from grazing cows and sheep.

The cows and sheep are worth the entire flight as far as the kids are concerned. The babbling baby takes one look at those cows and exclaims, excitedly, “mamamama”. If I really needed motivation to lose my remaining baby weight, I've found it.

It’s been more than one long day and night rolled into this frenzied never-ending day, but I’m dying to get out. 

The others sleep but I stroller down the rather long trek to the Giant’s Causeway, and my photo dump is as follows: