Road Trip Tuesday: The Antrim Coast of Northern Ireland

Ireland's Antrim Coast

Length: 75 mi / 120km (from Portrush to Belfast)

Time to Allow: 2-3 Hours minimum, but two days would be better so as to enjoy as much here as possible.

In lieu of St. Patrick's Day, I thought a the introduction of a small road trip around Ireland would be appropriate, specifically the Antrim Coast. Often described as the best drive in Ireland, the trek along Ireland's northern coast outdoes the rest of the isle for what it offers in its variety and stunning scenery. Along the way, you'll find a few coastal towns like Portrush and Ballycastle, the village of Bushmills, famous for its whiskey distillery, and spectacular landmarks such as the Giant's Causeway, the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, and the Glens of Antrim. I've never made this drive, but this is one that I would absolutely love to take. Since I'm not familiar with everything it has to offer, I'm borrowing some knowledge from a few other travel sites that describe this trip in detail.

From Portrush, you'll want to drive east along the A2 into Bushmills, immediately diving into the magnificent scenery straight from the get go. While visiting Bushmills, give yourself a bit of time to vist the Old Bushmills Distillery, widely-known as the first legal whiskey distillery in the world.

Upon leaving Bushmills, you'll want to continue east, following the signs for the Giant's Causeway, where you'll want to plan on spending as much time as you can allow. The Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking hexagonal, basalt columns along the coast, a mysterious result of an ancient volcanic reaction. It was named in 2005 as the fourth greatest natural wonder of the United Kingdom, as the tops of the columns form giant stepping-like stones that lead off of the foot of the cliffs and disappear under the sea.

From the Causeway, keep heading east until you merge up again with the A2 towards Ballycastle. However, before you get to Ballycastle, take the B15 road which forks left into Ballintoy, where you'll continue through the town towards the tiny island of Carrick-a-Rede, which is joined to the mainland by a swaying rope bridge. As you continue over the island, the B15 joins back up with the A2 at Ballycastle, a quaint little harbor town to take a break for lunch, or possibly find an inn to bed down for the night. If you time your trip right, and you make it into Ballycastle on the last Monday and Tuesday of August, you'll be able to experience the "Oul' Lammas Fair," an annual celebration held by the townsfolk that celebrates ancient Pagan mythology and attracts people by the thousands from all over the world.

When you leave Ballycastle, continue to follow the A2 all the way along the east coast and into the Ferry Port of Larne, from where you can either go on into Belfast or return to Portrush, taking the more direct inland route by means of Ballymena. Along this stretch, however, is where you'll have a chance to explore the Glens of Antrim. You can divert inland to enjoy as many as time allows, but if you only have time for one, you'll want to find the Glenariff, otherwise known as Queen of the Glens. This U-shaped glen is much larger than the other eight, and boasts steep gorges and plenty of waterfalls, some of which wouldn't be accessible if it weren't for special pathways and bridges. To get there, just head south on the A43 at Waterfoot, just after passing through Cushendall. The drive is only six miles or so, but you'll witness some impressive scenery along the way before having a full chance to explore the Glen.

As you head the southeast along the remainder of the drive into Belfast, be sure to stop at a few of the other glens if you have time, and call ahead to request a place to stay in the city well in advance, as rooms and hostels can fill up quickly.

I have dreams of making this drive in the near future, hopefully in the next year or two. Personally, I also plan on making it over to the west coast of Ireland, and into the county of Mayo, where I'm still told I have family into the country out there. They're poor farm-folk, located literally in the middle of nowhere, but they're still family and I would love to meet them. Someday... Until then, Happy St. Patrick's Day, and be sure to wear your green with pride.

If you're interested in learning more about this trip, visit the following websites for maps and tripguides to help you along:

Suite101.com

Northern Ireland Discovered

Ireland - Wikipedia

Photo credits go to Mark Gordon and www.sxc.hu

Road Trip Tuesday: Exploring The North Shore

Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail
Length: 293 mi / 471.5 km
Time to Allow: 8 hours to drive the byway, 3-4 days to see it in its entirety

With this being the inaugeral entry into the Road Trip Tuesday section of the blog, I figured I'd start small and close to home, using Cleveland as a point of origin and branching out from there. We won't go far today, barely out of Ohio even, but for those in the area looking to take a weekend drive this summer, this could be a perfect option.

If you're familiar with the weather in Ohio, or even the midwest in general. the temperatures stay below 50 degrees for nine months of the year and it's rare to even see a blade of grass underneath the mountains of snow between Thanksgiving and the beginning of March. The areas between Cleveland and Buffalo (locally referred to as the "Snow Belt") especially get the brunt of this force, with northeast Ohio being one of two areas in the world affected by what we lovingly refer to as Lake Effect Snow, where condensation from the fresh-water Great Lakes is driven into the atmosphere and unleashed upon the northcoast shorelines as heavy, unforgiving blizzards of snow. However, when spring starts to roll in during late-March, everything changes and a once barren landscape is alive with an arrary of colorful flowers, green rolling hills and warm breezy days, enough to lift anyone's spirits.

Brutal, I know. However, the redeeming aspect of living here are the scenic beaches of Lake Erie, otherwise called Ohio's north shore, which offers the exploration of a variety of lighthouses, maritime museums, islands, rural landscapes and views of red "Chew Mail Pouch" barns that allow you to glimpse decades into the past, if not over a hundred years.

From Cleveland, Heading East
Starting from downtown, you have the option of jumping on I-90 east and traveling towards Willoughby directly along the eastside marinas and fishing harbors, or you can begin on US-20, just slightly east of downtown, following the newly renovated Euclid Avenue past the Museum of Art and University Circle, making your way though a few of the outlying small towns of eastern Cleveland, through Painesville and on along the coast past Conneaut and into Pennsylvania. Whichever way you choose, as you hug the shore of Lake Erie, a few small towns worth visiting for thier spirit and charm are Fairport Harbor, Madison, Ashtabula and Conneaut, most of which prominently display historic lighthouses and maritime museums, and the latter of the four featuring an old-fashioned amusement park that opens up directly into the shores of Lake Erie.

As you pass along Rte 20, be sure to keep an eye out for the various wineries spotting the area. It is actually proven that Northeastern Ohio grapes produce some of the best wine in the world. However, because of the cold weather patterns and brutal winters, the industry here is only able to survive on a limited basis. During the summer months though, there are plenty of wine tastings available, with guests from all over the world traveling to the area to participate in the tastings.

From Cleveland, Heading West
From downtown Cleveland, take the west-bound shoreway towards Edgewater park and hop on Rte 6 though Lakewood and the mansions of Lake Road. As you pass through Rocky River and Bay Village, the landscape opens up and soon you find yourself surrounded by oak and beech forests on your left, and the waters of Lake Erie on your right. Eventually you'll pass through Vermilion, a small but notable coastal town, known for it's history of visits from well-known captains of the Great Lakes and lush maritime lore, then onto Sandusky, Marblehead, the famous Marblehead Lighthouse and the historic Port Clinton, where, if you chose, you can drive your car onto the Ferries to Kelley's Island or the reputable Put-in-Bay Island for the night. Be sure to make reservations for accommodations in advance though, as rooms fill up extremely quickly.

Just as a side note, a few summers ago I explored Kelley's Island by bike and it was one of the best day trips I've ever taken. There is so much to explore here, that it's impossible to see it all entirely by car. If you get the opportunity, take it, and be sure to make your way over to the quarries, on the west end of the island. The landscape is eerie and radically different from anything you've seen in Ohio.

Also, while in Sandusky, don't forget to visit the world-famous Cedar Point Amusement Park, one of the best roller coaster amusement parks in the country. The Point boasts to hold some of the steepest and fastest roller coaster rides in the world. During the busy summer months, it's not unlikely to find the park filled to capacity and lines for a single ride to taking up to three hours long, but if you wait until the fall after school starts, the lines tend to die down and you can experience the park to its fullest. Throughout October, the entire place is made-over for Hallo-weekends, where the streets are crawling with monsters and zombies, the Thunder Canyon rafting ride is drained and filled with pine trees and fog to create Werewolf Canyon, and haunted houses scatter the grounds between the rumbling coasters throughout the park. Following Halloween, the Point shuts down and remains closed until the following May.

At this point, since Rte 6 drops south towards Fremont and away from the shore, if you want to continue west along the lake, you'll want to jump on Rte 2 towards Toldeo, where you can visit the Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge and Maumee Bay State Park before crossing the Maumee River and heading north into Michigan.

If you're interested in learning more about this trip, visit the following websites for detailed maps and trip guides to help you along.
National Scenic Byways
Road Trip: USA

Photo credits go to: Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Inc., Leslie Dellovade, and Rona Proudfoot

Road Trip Tuesday!

Because the next month or two will only consist of a few minor day hikes and a possible weekend camping getaway, I'm making the effort to keep the content fresh and decided to create a weekly column called "Road Trip Tuesday."  Starting next week and each week thereafter, I'll introduce a new road trip that I may potentially take later on this year, and discuss all of the sights and stops each one offers along the way.  Some may be short, lasting only a few hours or less.  Others may be a bit longer, ranging into a 3 - 4 day drive across the states, and who knows?  There may also be the potential for an international drive, in case I may find myself overseas one of these summer months.

And, of course, if you guys have made any trips in the past that you'd suggest, feel free to post them in the comments section.  I've taken a lot of drives since I was first able to sit behind the wheel, but there are a lot of routes that I haven't taken.  I'm completely open to new ideas.

Check back for further updates!

Cincinnati in March

Friday after work I had plans to head down to Cincinnati for the weekend.  Although I had been traveling for about four weekends straight, I was looking forward to seeing a few friends down there that I haven't caught up with in a while.  

I was planning to arrive down there around 8:00pm, meeting a group of my old Fraternity brothers in Westchester on my way down.  This week was the annual Queen of Hearts ball, an event that regularly brings in alumni and their significant others from all over the country.  Although the formal was taking place on Saturday, all of the alumni were planning on meeting out for a few drinks Friday night, just to kick back, relax, and catch up with one another since a lot of us haven't seen each other in a few years at a time.  Personally, I haven't seen any of those guys in over six years, so it would've been a good reunion.

Following the late-night happy hour with the guys, I was then planning on driving a little farther south towards the city, to my friend Brent and his wife's home in Norwood.  They just had a baby girl about four months ago that I've been looking forward to seeing, so the rest of the weekend was set aside to hang out with them and their new baby girl Eliana.

Plans change.

For the past week my oil change light has been on, so I scheduled a quick appointment for Friday morning before I left.  All they were supposed to do was change the oil.  I love how this crap just snowballs.  Every. Single. Time.

I have a screw in my tire.  Easy fix, right?  They can just patch it up, throw a plug in there.  Yeah...wrong.   The screw was imbedded in the sidewall, so the stupid tire might as well have gone bald.  I've had it for six months...it  just figures.  So now I have to get a new tire on my car, for which they were asking $200.  Screw that.  Pun not intended.

So they threw on the donut spare, which I wouldn't be able to drive down to Cincinnati on, and every place that I called to get a new tire won't have the right one in stock until after the beginning of the week, and with that...my trip to Cincinnati became no more.   But, I talked to Brent later on Saturday and we thought that the end of March might be a better date.  Not only will it be warmer, but a lot of other friends should be in town that time, so hopefully it'll work out for everyone.

This was the second trip in a row that's been postponed, but it's probably all for the best.  Between Colorado and California, I spent a lot of money this past month and it'll be nice to use some recovery time.  Plus, this weekend was mostly spent catching up on some long-overdue projects like changing the locks around house and doing my taxes.   On the upside, at least I was able to see some in-town friends during the evenings that I was here.  Everything happens for a reason.