Food, Food, Glorious Food (except for the Dulse!)

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Seeing the coastline was the plan today, so after another lazy sleep in (you can’t avoid them here) we set out towards Donaghadee. Mum and dad always sing a song about ‘Kristelle Leigh from Donaghadee, did a pee under the tree, oh goodness me.’ Nice! I think I have one too, but unfortunately I can’t remember it, and nor can Ryan. Oh, yes he can…’Michelle Brown from County Down, went to town with her pants hanging down, did a fart behind a cart, and blew the bloody thing apart.’ Thanks mum - she yelled it out at the top of her lungs - knock yourself out!

Anyway, back to the scenic drive. We stopped in at the famous Cockle Row houses, beside the sea in Groomsport. Dad used to come here as a kid for summer holidays, and stay in a caravan on one of the vacant lots. One of his favorite things to do was to buy a bag of Dulse…the grossest tasting food you will ever try. It is semi-dried bits of seaweed and dad made it sound like heaven on earth…but we’ll get to that in a mo.

After a few photos, we headed on to the lighthouse at Donaghadee. We had photos taken here as kids, so it was important to get a few more as adults. We walked along the sea break around to the tiny lighthouse, and debated whether we would jump in or not. No on did, so we headed back to the car, which is when we spotted the sigh…Dulse; 20p for a bag. Dad was delighted and insisted we all try some. This seemed like a good idea, and dad was scoffing it down by the handful…but after grabbing a small bit each, we were all soon spitting it back out on the pavement…GROSS!!! It tasted foul…way too fishy for me!

It was time to find the chewy and keep driving up the coastline, before realizing the next planned destination was still 20 miles away, so we turned back and made for the Donaghadee Nursery. This place is renowned for its massive sweets…and boy were they HUGE! Apple crumble, cherry pie, lemon meringue, pavlova - they had EVERYTHING! Dad and I both ordered a big slice of rhubarb crumble, and just managed to finish it…YUM! With food in our bellies, we were ready to take on Scrabo Tower.

This tower stands out on the Belfast hills, and we had climbed it as kiddies. It wasn’t a long drive to Newtonards, and then the tower itself, but the climb up to the tower was a test. I couldn’t believe there was a golf course on the same hill! They must be mountain goats.

Scrabo didn’t take too long to climb - there were only 127 steps, but the view was spectacular. Izzy said you could see out to Scotland, but I don’t know if I could. There were a few more photos, then it was time to head back down, which is where we passed dad. He took his time going up, which is a good thing, as he is getting on. While we watched a slide show on the Lough region, dad took in the views, and then met us on the second floor.

We had just enough time for a quick snooze in the afternoon, before heading to the Crawfordsburn pub to meet up with more relies. Dad hadn’t seen some of his cousins or uncles for a long time, so it was great having so many people turn up!! Thanks for coming everyone!

Dinner was at 7pm, so we had a few hours of chitchat, then made our way inside for our two-course meal and bottle of wine. All we seem to do here is eat and drink, but I can’t complain. We only have one more night left here, before the young ones take the highway and whiz around the Emerald Isle. I wonder if they have Rhubarb pie in Cork?

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Comments

[Mummy]

Great Photos
Well done with the photos kiddo. Told you they were better then mine. Wonderful to talk to you the other night. We can't wait to head off round Europe now after hearing all your news. All's well back home as we spoke to the Howlands and Kristelle today. All glad you have been blogging again as they love to keep up with your travels Take care Love Mum and Dad and rest of family in Nth Ireland xxxxxxxxxx