2024
- Up early to depart Airbnb at 7:00 AM.
- Drive to Giants Causeway.
- Cross into Northern Ireland at Lifford.
- Arrive at Giants Causeway Hotel to park.
- Hike Red Path to rocks.
- Hang out on rocks for an hour.
- Walk Blue Path back to car.
- Drive to Belfast.
- Arrive at Titanic Hotel.
- Lunch in Drawing Room Two.
- Jamie leaves lunch to join remote board meeting.
- Tammy, Mazie, Tyler explore shipyard section of Belfast.
- Tammy and kids check into hotel.
- Tammy and kids go to Central Belfast to walk around and shop.
- Jamie finishes meeting and walks to meet family.
- Dinner at Little Wing Pizzeria.
- Walk to Timescape and do the “Titanic: The Final Hour” escape room.
- Walk back to hotel.
- Have today’s Guinness in the hotel bar.
- Relaxed morning recharging. Tammy and Mazie go for run. Jamie tends to photos and blog. Tyler sleeps in.
- Drive to Donegal.
- Brunch at The Old Stone.
- Shopping and exploring around The Donegal Diamond including Elvery Sports and Magee of Donegal.
- Drove to Rossnowlagh Beach.
- After two failed attempts to have Tyler and Mazie do a surf class, serendipity struck and we were able to get them learning to surf!
- Pick up breakfast items for tomorrow at the Bakery Shack.
- Drive to Cria Lodge so kids could get warm and dry.
- Drive back to Donegal for dinner at La Bella Donna.
- Drive back to Cria Lodge and walk a kilometer down the road (precisely the middle of nowhere) for a pint at Whoriskey’s Pub.
- Walk back to Cria Lodge to get packed and ready for early morning departure tomorrow. Alarm set to 6:30 AM.
- Picked up to go baked goods and breakfast items at the Bakery Shack in Rossnowlagh.
- Drove to Teelin Pier.
- Took Sliabh League Boat Trips and got a tour of Sliabh Liag Cliffs from the water with Paddy.
- Lunch at The Rusty Mackerel.
- Coffee stop at Brew In Thru in Teelin.
- Drove to upper car park for Sliabh Liag Cliffs and hiked up to viewing location. Mazie hiked up beyond to a further point.
- Drove to Silver Strand Beach.
- Delightful time on this incredibly secluded beach.
- Started drive back to Airbnb.
- Stopped in Donnegal for food. Ended up having crêpes at Little Mamma’s as most dining options were closed.
- Fed the Alpacas at the Airbnb.
- Evening hot tub at Airbnb. Tammy gets an evening walk in.
Ireland 2024 Log - Day 12
Weather: Cool and nice. Not much wind. Warmer in Belfast.
Jump to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or see Ireland 2024 Collection.
I love how the Titanic Hotel displays room numbers. There are spotlights in the ceiling, and then a plate with the number cut out placed on the wall and the actual room number is displayed in silhouette! 🤯
Tonight’s Guinness just a half-pint at the bar in the Titanic Hotel.
We solved the Titanic: The Final Hour escape room at Timescape in Belfast tonight. We finished with 8:32 remaining! Fun and challenging room. Room 57!
Giants Causeway
On our way from Ballyshannon to Belfast we took a big detour so we could go see Giants Causeway. We had seen this kind of columnar geology before in Iceland, but it wasn’t as accessible and right along the sea like this. We didn’t have a lot of time to explore, but we made the most of what we had. It was a very cool place to visit.
Cranes & Concrete. Belfast.
Antique car outside of Titanic Museum in Belfast.
Ireland 2024 Log - Day 11
Weather: Reasonably pleasant. A little less windy. Cool temperatures.
Jump to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or see Ireland 2024 Collection.
Irish cows.
Today’s Guinness enjoyed at Whoriskey’s Pub outside of Ballyshannon.
Tyler and Mazie had a blast at their first surfing experience! Thank you Rossnowlagh Surf School! 🌊🏄♀️🏄♂️
Having a cappuccino on the beach from Sunny Jim’s while the kids learn to surf. 55 °F with 15 mph winds.
Tyler and Mazie wanted to try surfing in Ireland and there are a number of places that do surf lessons but we weren’t having luck with any of them. Then we found Rossnowlagh Surf School on the beach and they were happy to have them join. 55 °F with 15 mph winds.
Ireland 2024 Log - Day 10
Weather: Overall good. Some sun. Kind of windy. Chilly but not too bad.
Jump to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or see Ireland 2024 Collection.
Mazie has been enjoying feeding the Alpacas here at the Airbnb.
Today was filled with sheep as we ventured further north.
Silver Strand Beach
After taking in the Sliabh Liag we set the navigation to Silver Strand Beach about 30 minutes North. We drove through the most remote part of Ireland that we had experienced so far with tons of sheep everywhere, including some on the road. When we arrived we were greeted to one of the most picturesque beach scenes we’ve ever taken in. This beautiful harbor with a perfectly crescent beach that seemed almost undisturbed by anything. Including the four of us there were never more than 10 people on the beach.
Toward the end of our time we had a bunch of dolphins show up in the bay jumping out of the water and playing. It was incredible.
Sliabh League Hike
In the morning we took a boat tour to see Sliabh League from the water. We also wanted to see it from the surface on top as well. We made our way to the upper parking area for Sliabh League and then set out on foot to walk up to the viewing point at the top. It was a wonderful walk up. We got to the viewing platform and took it in for a while and then to Jamie’s chagrin Mazie decided to go up to the next point in the trail. Tammy and Tyler stayed back mostly to hang out with me while we waited for her return.
These spots are incredible and are over three times higher than what we saw at the Cliffs of Moher. However, the Cliffs of Moher at least appear to be more sheer in their drops. Sliabh League looks more mountainous with plenty of vertical drops as well.
Today’s Guinness at The Rusty Mackerel.
