20 May ’05, Friday. The Giants Causeway
“I know it’s only 10:30 in the morning, and yes, I know I have to drive, but all they want me to do is just “taste it””… First thing we did today was take a tour through the “Old Bushmills Distillery”. Did you know they were making their first Bushmills as early as the 13th century and in 1608 they received permission from King James I giving them the “right” to distill their whiskey??? And in 2008 they will be having a huge celebration for the 400 years. One thing that I do regret, was the opportunity to “taste test” 9 different whiskeys. I thought that might be too much, but as it turned out, it would have worked out just fine, and I even had Lou’s permission… I hate to say it, but I even bought a “souvenir” to take with us, care to guess what it might be…I’ll give you a hint…it’s 12 years old and they only sell it there… We are now right on the coastline, at the top of Ireland, and making our way down to Dublin over the next few days. Our next stop was just around the corner from Bushmill. It is the Dunluce Castle dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. The castle stands on a black basalt stack, projecting out into the North Antrim Coast (Atlantic Ocean). Unfortunately all that is left of the castle are a large portion of the walls, interior and exterior. They have a crew there now that is working on adding more over the next couple of years. There was a tragic accident in 1635, when there was a grand dinner party being held by the Duke of Buckingham and the Duchess. The lower kitchen courtyard fell into the sea during dinner. Unfortunately some of the kitchen staff were lost and the Duchess found her reason to leave the castle that she had always disliked. This castle had been built, given, taken, destroyed, and given a number of times over again. One night there was a dinner party and one of the guests arrested the host. Now that is a dark moment at a dinner party… Now to “The Giant’s Causeway…another site that is just around the corner. A mass of over 40,000 stone columns (like those in Spokane), that form steps coming up from under the sea and climbing high into the surrounding hills. Most of the columns are 6 sided and some are as much as 40 feet tall. They almost look artificial… Back on the coast road again, and this time we are heading to Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. For centuries fisherman would go to this island to fish for salmon. The only problem was, they had no other access to it other than tossing a rope over and making a rope bridge between the island and the cliff of the mainland. They say “the trick is, don’t look down” as you cross this rope bridge. I would say, “make sure nobody else is on the bridge the same time you are” as it rock and rolls pretty good, and it is a long way down. Have we ever mentioned that when it rains, or we may have a schedule to keep, or when we are coming into the weekend, that we seem to see “Bumble Bee” act up ??? Well, we are there again. This time it is a clutch problem. When we were at the rope bridge, the parking lot was way down at the bottom of a long and steep hill. Finally, after having a little message of a problem, we got the big message…I wont go !!! Luckily we did go on the second try, but now that we are out, we’ve got to find someone who can do the work and where the heck is that ??? Some how, we kept running for a couple of hours, cruising down the coast road, and trying to stay out of trouble, like stopping or getting caught up behind someone. Finally arriving in Larne, I stopped at a gas station to ask for directions to a mechanic and possibly a campground. Well, they have a mechanic, but he has gone home for the day, and the campground is across the street… Tomorrow…we’ll have to wait and see
“I know it’s only 10:30 in the morning, and yes, I know I have to drive, but all they want me to do is just “taste it””… First thing we did today was take a tour through the “Old Bushmills Distillery”. Did you know they were making their first Bushmills as early as the 13th century and in 1608 they received permission from King James I giving them the “right” to distill their whiskey??? And in 2008 they will be having a huge celebration for the 400 years. One thing that I do regret, was the opportunity to “taste test” 9 different whiskeys. I thought that might be too much, but as it turned out, it would have worked out just fine, and I even had Lou’s permission… I hate to say it, but I even bought a “souvenir” to take with us, care to guess what it might be…I’ll give you a hint…it’s 12 years old and they only sell it there… We are now right on the coastline, at the top of Ireland, and making our way down to Dublin over the next few days. Our next stop was just around the corner from Bushmill. It is the Dunluce Castle dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. The castle stands on a black basalt stack, projecting out into the North Antrim Coast (Atlantic Ocean). Unfortunately all that is left of the castle are a large portion of the walls, interior and exterior. They have a crew there now that is working on adding more over the next couple of years. There was a tragic accident in 1635, when there was a grand dinner party being held by the Duke of Buckingham and the Duchess. The lower kitchen courtyard fell into the sea during dinner. Unfortunately some of the kitchen staff were lost and the Duchess found her reason to leave the castle that she had always disliked. This castle had been built, given, taken, destroyed, and given a number of times over again. One night there was a dinner party and one of the guests arrested the host. Now that is a dark moment at a dinner party… Now to “The Giant’s Causeway…another site that is just around the corner. A mass of over 40,000 stone columns (like those in Spokane), that form steps coming up from under the sea and climbing high into the surrounding hills. Most of the columns are 6 sided and some are as much as 40 feet tall. They almost look artificial… Back on the coast road again, and this time we are heading to Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. For centuries fisherman would go to this island to fish for salmon. The only problem was, they had no other access to it other than tossing a rope over and making a rope bridge between the island and the cliff of the mainland. They say “the trick is, don’t look down” as you cross this rope bridge. I would say, “make sure nobody else is on the bridge the same time you are” as it rock and rolls pretty good, and it is a long way down. Have we ever mentioned that when it rains, or we may have a schedule to keep, or when we are coming into the weekend, that we seem to see “Bumble Bee” act up ??? Well, we are there again. This time it is a clutch problem. When we were at the rope bridge, the parking lot was way down at the bottom of a long and steep hill. Finally, after having a little message of a problem, we got the big message…I wont go !!! Luckily we did go on the second try, but now that we are out, we’ve got to find someone who can do the work and where the heck is that ??? Some how, we kept running for a couple of hours, cruising down the coast road, and trying to stay out of trouble, like stopping or getting caught up behind someone. Finally arriving in Larne, I stopped at a gas station to ask for directions to a mechanic and possibly a campground. Well, they have a mechanic, but he has gone home for the day, and the campground is across the street… Tomorrow…we’ll have to wait and see