We had started our journey across Northern Ireland from our ship, Villa Vie Odyssey, the day before. Kit and I had gotten as far as Nutt’s Corner when we found The Rocks Bed and Breakfast. A lovely breakfast had been bagged up and put into our shared refrigerator the night before.
Ready to hit the road at 7:00 in the morning we were heading for the front door when Cathy, the innkeeper said she had put out some tea and jam if we would like. Well, we couldn’t say no when she had gone to the trouble. Then the French press coffee, and orange juice. A wonderful hostess, but we really needed to be on our way if we were to cover the thirteen miles on foot that we had planned for today.
I started out a bit before Kit and saw that the overcast skies with a promise of rain to come were starting to menace the area. A much less menacing blonde cow bid us farewell as we made our way back to the road from the bed and breakfast.
Cathy had helped us pick out our next lodging and we put that information into the phone and it came back with a recommended route to get there while staying off busy roads as much as possible.
We had paralleled 7-Mile Straight Road for several miles on back roads when we finally had to walk this large two lane artery for local traffic. With quite a few cars and no shoulder to the road we walked the right side into oncoming traffic and would step into the damp grass to let them pass. Dusty told me not to get killed and it seemed prudent not to. She would be angry if I did.
Many of the homes we passed had lovely gardens with immaculate care to everything while others were overgrown and decaying where they stood. Many were probably older than our Constitution.
Almost immediately we started to meet people out walking their dogs. They were happy to chat and we found that even miles away from Belfast they had heard about the “Ship People”. They wanted to near about us and Kit really wanted to meet their dogs. Everyone we met was warm, friendly, and helpful. Except for one guy later who didn’t understand us and we didn’t understand him, but not on that later.
Mark with his dogs
Glenn with his dogs
As the rain began to come down we sat on the ground under the partial cover of a tree to eat the breakfast that Cathy had packed for us. About four miles into the day it was a welcome break that fed our bodies while we kept from getting soggy in the Irish rain.
When we finally did get into Antrim it was not a long walk from the suburbs to downtown. A man in the street saw us discussing where to take a break and sit on something other than the ground to rest and get a fresh treat or coffee. He gave us a short list that included the cafe in Antrim Castle. https://discovernorthernireland.com/things-to-do/antrim-castle-gardens-and-clotworthy-house-p704051
Looking at our blue line on the phone map our directions took us not just to the castle, but on the paths through the gardens as well. What a treat! Not just off the big roads, but through the garden paths as well.
At the end of the street downtown our sidewalk let to a gate opened to walk under the highway and into the historic grounds. For free.
The path leads you straight to the last remaining tower of the castle set in a park-like setting.
The path from the tower allowed you to
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