Oh, wow! Titanic Belfast, the maritime museum dedicated to the famous ship that sank on April 15, 1912 is amazing. Located on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard, where the Titanic was designed and constructed, the beautiful museum does a fabulous job telling a tragic story.

We walked the thirty-minute route from our apartment to Titanic Quarter where the museum is located. About half way there we crossed the beautiful Lagan Weir pedestrian and cycle bridge.

Standing on Donegall Quay before we crossed the bridge, we could see two beautiful examples of the great public art in Belfast. Bigfish, the sculpture next to the bridge, tells a Belfast story on each of its scales and contains a time capsule of information, images and poetry of Belfast. Across the bridge we could see the shining Beacon of Hope, the 64-foot sculpture called “Nuala with the Hula” by locals.

Walking along the River Lagan, we arrived at the museum. Titanic Belfast is a dramatic building. Covered in 3,000 individual silver aluminum shards, it shimmers in the sunlight. The design replicates four 126-feet high pointed hulls, the same height as the Titanic’s hulls. The building was completed in time for the April 2012 centennial of the Titanic’s maiden voyage.

The museum masterfully guides visitors through the exhibits. Starting with the industrial and ship building strengths in 19th century Belfast, the exhibits detail the building, launching, maiden voyage, sinking and aftermath of the Titanic.

A panoramic film experience provides a look at each deck and an almost-real sensation of actually being on the Titanic.

Design Elements

I am so thankful we also took the Titanic Discovery tour in the afternoon. Many design elements of the building and grounds reflect some part of the Titanic story. Jonny, our guide, pointed out the significance of many of these features.

Located on the site of one of the former slipways, a memorial garden honors passengers who did not survive. Each of the four proportionally-sized grass plots represents first, second, and third-class passengers and crew. The wood between the grass plots proportionally represents the survivors in each category.

An outline of the Titanic is marked on the adjacent slipway where the Titanic was built and launched. I couldn’t resist having a Kate Winslet moment.

Benches depicting the dots and dashes of the Morse code distress message that was sent from the Titanic form a circle around the museum.

Looking down from the second floor we could see a tile map of the Titanic’s route and the countries where she docked or picked up passengers. Launched in Belfast, she picked up most of her passengers in Southampton, England. She then proceeded to Cherbourg, France and Queenstown, Ireland to pick up more passengers, crew and supplies before heading to New York.

Friend Time

Our great day got even better when we spent time with friends from Sarasota who now live in Belfast. Yvonne and Jean picked us up after our tour and we drove to Donaghadee for a little stroll, wonderful dinner and great conversation.

The restaurant where we ate is currently used as a setting for an Irish TV series.

After dinner we walked to the lovely little lighthouse.

Ah, another great day in Belfast.

Although we had been in Portstewart for a week, I was no where close to being ready to leave. At the same time, I was excited to get to Belfast and worried the time there would be too short. Perhaps that is part of a great trip-wishing you could stay longer.

We spent our last full day in Portstewart golfing at Royal Portrush Golf Club, the home course of PGA tour winner Graeme McDowell. It is a lovely course, and all I can say about my game that day is I am glad Ireland doesn’t have wood ticks.

On the Road

We had time for one visit on our drive between Portstewart and Befast. Deciding what to visit was hard because there were so many appealing choices. We chose the walled gardens at Glenarm Castle for three reasons-the visitor center rep in Ballycastle recommended it, I love visiting gardens, and it was just a little detour from our route.

Irish Soup

Although it rained the entire time we were driving to the gardens, it began to clear as we arrived. Before touring the gardens, we ate lunch in the lovely little tea room. I had my favorite Irish lunch-soup and bread. This time the soup was potato and leek. I have become a bit of an Irish soup expert on this trip and have decided Irish soup is the best. Most of the soups I have had are creamy, flavorful vegetable soups without cream. It’s like a healthy indulgence.

Rain Gear

After a week in Ireland I realized I needed better rain gear. Firmly believing the adage there is no such thing as bad weather just bad clothing, I bought two items that made a huge difference in dealing with the weather-water-proof pants and a water-proof jacket with a hood. After experiencing a failed rain hat, I was ecstatic about how much better my jacket with a hood worked. As we prepared to tour the gardens, it looked like it might rain, so I put on my rain pants and hooded jacket. Bring on the rain-I was ready.

My rain gear worked its magic. Once I put it on, the sun came out and the gardens were bright and sunny. Maybe there’s a Murphy’s law about rain gear and rain.

Glenarm Gardens

Glenarm Gardens has an interesting history. Dating from the 18th century, its original purpose was to grow produce for the castle. Later, in the 1930s, the 11 garden staff ran the garden on a commercial basis, selling its produce at a Belfast market. During WWII much of the produce was used to feed the 2,000 troops housed on the estate.

Following WWII, the garden fell into disrepair until Lord and Lady Antrim began restoration in 2001. After four years of work, they opened the garden to the public in 2005. In addition to beautiful flowers and shrubs, herbs and fruit trees echo the original purpose of the garden.

Although the castle was closed to visitors while we were there, we could see it across the garden walls.

A beautiful woodlands garden was on the side of the formal gardens. Walking it made us feel like we were back in northern Minnesota.

Although the garden was smaller than we expected, it was lovely and serene. There were not many people visiting. At times we would have an entire garden section to ourselves. It provided a lovely pastoral balance to the excitement and energy we are anticipating in Belfast.

Today we explored Ballycastle, a lovely seaside town about 25 miles east of Portstewart. Since so many towns in Ireland have “bally” as a prefix., I assumed the word meant town or city. Not quite. Bally is derived from the Gaelic phrase “Baile na”, meaning place of. So Ballycastle means “place of castle.” However, even though there are many castles and ruins in Ireland, there is no trace of a castle in Ballycastle. In 1856 Charles Kirkpatrick, of Whitehall, removed the ruins of the castle that was built there in 1564 .

We stopped first at the Visitor Information Center located right on Ballycastle Harbor.

Fair Head Cliffs

Supplied with maps and recommendations, we headed to Fair Head Cliffs. Rising 643 feel above sea level, they are the highest cliffs in Northern Ireland.

We parked in a farm car park, so named because it was literally in a farm, and started hiking down the nearest path. Just as I was sure we would see the cliffs over the next ridge, we came to a sign warning that a guard dog was on the private property. We made the prudent decision to turn around and find a different path.

Taking the wrong path was a lucky mistake because we discovered the ruins of Dun Mor, which means the Great Fort. An interpretive sign informed us that most likely settlers occupied the site from 800 AD to about 1300 AD.

We returned to the car park and discovered another path going in the opposite direction. Unlike other areas of the coast that are owned by the National Trust, Fair Head Cliffs is on private land owned and farmed by 12 generations of the McBride family. Hikers and climbers share the cliffs with cows and sheep.

We had to climb a few stiles to get over the fences that keep the sheep and cows where they belong.

When we arrived at the top of the cliffs we met three climbers who were going to climb earlier but had a rain delay. One was a professional climber from Belfast, and the other two were semi-professional climbers from Dublin. They told us such interesting stories about their climbs and people who who had climbed Fair Head Cliffs, including Alex Honnold, the climber in Free Solo. One of them told me he had an extra harness if I wanted to try it. I am pretty sure he felt safe knowing I would not take him up on his offer.

After they began their descent, I was able to hike down a portion of the trail so I could watch them on the cliff.

Lunch

After our hike we went in to the darling town of Ballycastle for lunch at O’Connor’s Bar.

I had another variety (mushroom) of the wonderful soup I have found in Ireland. Soup and great bread has become my favorite lunch option here. I am inspired to up my soup game when I get home.

We planned to spend some time walking beautiful Ballycastle Beach after lunch, but the rain that started during lunch changed our plan to a quick visit.

Dinner

After two friends recommended the Bushmill Inn, we decided to return to Bushmill for dinner. It was a great choice!

Like most of the restaurants we have enjoyed in Northern Ireland, Bushmill Inn prides itself on using locally grown and sourced food. I had a crispy garlic cauliflower steak with sauce gribiche, sweet potato Parmentier and garlic and chive cream.

Paul had sea bass that was caught not far from Ballycastle.

Although our waitress told us their sticky toffee pudding was better than the one we had at Amici, we decided it was too much two nights in a row. We opted to share a small salted caramel and chocolate fondant with clotted cream ice cream. Unfortunately, we started eating it before I remembered to take a picture.

Bushmills is a small town about 10 miles from Portrush and home of the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. We made the beautiful twenty-minute drive from Portstewart to tour the distillery.

Dunluce Castle

On the way there, we saw Dunluce Castle. The castle ruins date from the 16th and 17th centuries, but there is evidence of settlement from the first millennium. The castle served as the setting for House of Greyjoy in Game of Thrones. Although I didn’t watch the show, I know it is really popular. So popular, in fact, that Game of Thrones fans can take a tour of many of the 25 Northern Ireland settings used in the show.

Bushmills Distillery

Although whiskey had been distilled in the area for about one thousand years, James I officially granted Bushmills a license to distill whiskey in 1608.

The distillery did not allow photography during the inside portion of the tour because the alcohol content in the air was so high that a small spark from any technology could cause an explosion. Ruth, our guide told us of an employee who was working when there was an explosion. The explosion propelled him across the room and out a window. He survived but was found wearing only his tie and boots. The explosion blew away the rest of his clothes.

Irish whiskey and Scotch whisky are different in more ways than their spelling. They are made from different ingredients and Irish whiskey is distilled three times and Scotch whisky two times. Also because the malt used to make Irish whiskey is dried in closed kilns without the use of peat smoke, it does not have the smoky peaty taste present in Scotch whisky.

The whiskey is aged in white oak barrels. The distillery uses both new barrels and ones previously used to age sherry, port or bourbon.

During our whiskey tasting at the end of the tour, Ruth shared stories of her family’s love of Bushmills. Her father was buried with a bottle of Bushmills in his coffin. And her father-in-law traveled with his own kettle to heat water for hot toddies in case the pub didn’t offer that option. I discovered that I enjoyed the hot toddy more than the straight whiskey.

It was a fun tour. When we get home, I plan to make hot toddies (with Bushmills, of course) using the recipe and little jar of spices that Ruth gave us.