One of the advantages of having Dave and Frieda visiting us with a car was the opportunity to drive up the Antrim coastline to see Giant's Causeway. Some famous writer suggested that the causeway, which is a massive coastline collection of columnar basalt, was "worth seeing but not worth going to see." Having gone to see it, we politely take exception to this assessment.
We drove around Belfast Lough through Carrickfergus, with a long stop at its remarkably well-preserved castle built a thousand years ago by the Normans, and then turned north at Whitehead, entering what seemed like remote coastal countryside immediately. On the right side: the churning, frothing grey sea, lined by craggy rocks. Then, a grassy roadside, and on the left side: green, hedge-lined pastures dotted with huge shaggy sheep and rock outcroppings, the green rising up and away into the fog, punctuated by tiny villages of white-washed cottages and terraced houses, with a few civilized shops and pubs and churches in which to keep the wildness at bay.
We arrived at the Causeway itself as the sun was getting lower in the sky, and after hiking down the road instead of taking the little bus - we needed to get our blood circulating after sitting in the car - we spent a good half-hour taking in the immensity of the basalt formations. I let Reed go with Walt, knowing that I would spoil his fun with my overprotectiveness if I kept him close to me (the rocks are slippery! and the water so icy cold!), and knowing that I have made him a careful child in general. We took in our fill of the Finn MacCool legend as well as the geology lesson before hiking back up to eat our sandwiches and gorp in the waning afternoon light. Dunluce Castle's ruins appeared like a ghost out of the mist as we drove toward Bushmills. Bushmill's Distillery had closed by the time we drove through the town, unfortunately, so we headed out into the thickening fog south through the countryside towards home. More than once we were grateful for Dave's excellent driving ability and Frieda's navigation, which kept us going in the right direction and in the left lane all the way home.
D&F restored all our spirits by buying us dinner at the Bryansburn restaurant, about a minute from the house, a delicious end to a long but rewarding day. Reed enjoyed a hamburger, Walt had a caesar salad, I had a goat cheese salad, and D&F enjoyed Irish salmon, with coffee and Baileys for dessert, a good substitute for the missed sample of Bushmills.
