Evan is 15 and Lower Swell

I am so in denial.
This is what Evan did pretty much all day but it's his birthday...

Still contrary...
We took a hike (literally) and left Evan alone for the day much to his pleasure. Craig, Owen and I went on a monthly scheduled hike with our American & British group to Lower Swell. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and was even hot at times. We had a great morning including a delicious pub lunch with a few pints.
A log mailbox!
Lunchtime!

Mussenden Temple, Downhill Demesne and Hezelett House

Mussenden Temple
Okay, so this place was awesome... awesomely awesome...
and it was right in our backyard.
Downhill Demesne
We learned that the Irish pronunciation of demesne is "deh main" (almost like domain) and means that it is a size of land smaller than an estate. From Wikipedia: This manor was built by Frederick Hervey, the Bishop of Derry, in 1768. After Hervey's death in 1803, the estate passed to his cousin, the Rev. Henry Bruce. Bruce's sister was Frideswide Mussenden, for whom Mussenden Temple was built, and which became a memorial after her death. (As a weird coincidence, we learned that the patron saint of Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford was St. Frideswide. How many times can one hear that name within a week?) Anyway, During World War Two, the house was used to billet Royal Air Force servicemen and -women. The Bruce family continued to own the house until 1946; by 1950, it had been dismantled mainly because the roof was made of lead and the price of lead had skyrocketed after the war and the surrounding land sold. The house was acquired by the National Trust in 1980; the temple had become a Trust property in the 1940s.
The Lion's Gate
The half-lion half-pit bull creatures (that are supposed to be snow leopards) at the top are called "ounces". All I know is that I wouldn't want to mess with an ounce of them.
The Dovecote
The Bishop's Gate

Hezelett House
This NT property was again just up the road from where we were staying and within walking distance. So Evan and I left the Downhill Demesne and walked to Hezelett House while stuffing our faces full of ripe blackberries along the way. I tried to get a photo of Evan actually eating a fruit, but he was wise to my attempts.
The house was built in 1691, is a timber-framed and amazingly enough still standing. It was a nice and quick side trip.
This link is neat - it's a virtual tour of the interior of the house: Hezelett House.

Happy Birthday, Charlie Brown

Evan is 15 years old today. I truly cannot believe he is that old. Evan has always been older than his years, always a thinker, always contrary and always an electronics junkie. He is wise beyond his years, cautious in his approach but once he chooses his path, he is as stubborn as a mule and WILL kick that football no matter how long it takes him. He is rarely an optimist and mostly an introvert, but he is super-smart. He is decisive and loves to defend an opinion, but he will accept the inevitable. He is an all-around good guy.
Happy birthday, Ev. I love you.

Ulster American Folk Park

One day we took what looked like a short drive but inevitably turned into a long drive to Omagh to visit the Ulster American Folk Park. This museum is dedicated to telling the story of Irish immigration to the US during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was really interesting and is located on the site of the Mellon family's ancestral home (Mellon as in Mellon Bank and Carnegie-Mellon fame). It was sort of Williamsburgish, but it was done well and was definitely authentic. Buildings were the original ones and some had actually been transported from America. The museum was divided between the "Old World" (Ulster) and the "New World" (America).
The luck of the Irish
Peeking up a chimney for Santa, perhaps?
Finn is maneuvering the heavy machinery.
I am fairly certain decor was not hung with thumbtacks, but I will let it slide - THIS TIME. The room is so hazy because it is filled with smoke.
A Victoria mailbox which is quite rare.
"Virol: A Preparation of Bone Marrow"
Uh, gross. If the window display was any indication, they must have sold a lot of this stuff.
To get from the old to the new, one walks through a dock area, enters the passenger portion of a sailing ship
and comes out onto an American colonial street scene. Very clever!
New World groceries
If you look hard, the box on the right and one up says "Lord Baltimore".
We used to drink Luzianne Chicory coffee in Baton Rouge. They have since given up on the Black Mr. Clean marketing campaign. I can just hear the slogan, "Coffee, chile?"
I think the highlight of the trip for Owen was the free-range chickens and feeding the horse and donkey. Finn liked the homemade flat bread in one of the Irish houses. Evan liked the exit. I liked the "sewing through the ages" exhibit. Craig liked it all.

A Super Day in the Sunshine

On another day of our trip, we headed to the great northeast to see three major sights: Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge, the Giant's Causeway and Dunluce Castle. They are all located within an easy driving distance of one another. This really was one of the major highlights of our trip and we had a great time. The Giant's Causeway was nowhere near what I expected because the actual causeway portion seems so, well, giant in photos and it really isn't but the splendor of the coastline and the huge cliffs really are amazing. Again, have fun perusing the photos.

Carrick-A-Rede
From Wikipedia: Carrick-A-Rede is a rope suspension bridge. The bridge links the mainland to the tiny Carrick Island. The site is owned and maintained by the National Trust. It spans twenty meters and is thirty meters above the rocks below. Carrick-a-rede means 'rock in the road'. The "road" refers to the route that the salmon would take to return to spawning streams. The area is exceptional in natural beauty with stunning views of Scotland and Rathlin Island (Ireland) where Robert the Bruce once took refuge and where "the world's first commercial wireless telegraphy link was established by employees of Guglielmo Marconi between East Lighthouse on this island to Kenmara House in Ballycastle on 6 July 1898." Underneath large caves are visible, which once served as home for boat builders and as shelter during stormy weather.
View as we approached
Crossing over
Evan looking off toward Scotland in his Scotland sweatshirt
If you look very closely, you CAN see Scotland at the horizon.
Soaking up some vitamin D
Finn and I on the way back
Some funny shots
I know I wasn't thinking about anything on that list below when I turned 18.
Ballintoy, where we ate lunch, not in the church, in the town, silly!
The Giant's Causeway
It it very worthwhile to click on the link above and this link: National Trust. There is so much to say about the Causeway both mythical and factual that I'd be cutting and pasting all day long. So please read the link if you are interested.
The reason our son is named Finn
The Organ
The most famous portion of the Causeway from waaaay up above.
This reminded me of the Eye of Saruman.
Predictably enough, The Chimney Stacks
The Amphitheatre
Craig and Owen from awaaaays back
Owen sitting on the Giant's Boot.
It really did look like a boot from further away.
Excellent rock formations
Cool tide pool above & below
Dunluce Castle
From Wikipedia: Dunluce Castle is located on the edge of a basalt outcropping and is surrounded by extremely steep drops on either side, which may have been an important factor to the early Christians and Vikings who were drawn to this place where an early Irish fort once stood. At one point, part of the kitchen next to the cliff face collapsed into the sea, after which the wife of the owner refused to live in the castle any longer. According to a legend, when the kitchen fell into the sea only a kitchen boy survived, as he was sitting in the corner of the kitchen which did not collapse. For all of you popular culture buffs, "in 1973 the castle appeared on the inner gatefold of the multi-million selling Led Zeppelin album Houses of the Holy. Keanu Reeves's character makes reference to this in the comedy film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure when they travel back in time to meet Socrates. Excellent!
The most impressive views were actually from the roadside.