May 2, 2022 - Day 33 - Causeway Coastal Route - many little towns

 Even though it was cold, windy, and overcast we had to get out of the house, and I had been wanting to finish driving the Causeway Coastal route, since we didn't get to when we had gone to the Giants Causeway a few weeks back. We packed a lunch and grabbed a water bottle and set the GPS for Carrickfergus Castle, Carrickfergus town being the start (or end depending on the direction you're heading) of the coastal route, just north of Belfast. We stopped at a beach in the town of Whiteabbey because it was pretty and they had facilities we could use.

Just a little farther up the coast we came upon Carrickfergus Castle, you really can't miss it.

Normally, on a Monday, this museum would be closed, but since it was a bank holiday it was open. 

There is "murder hole" just above me, it was used to pour sewage and boiling oil on invaders.

The guy below has the worst posture.

The construction of the arches in the window is fascinating, hundreds of thin slabs with mortar between them.

Oh look, more stone stairs in a narrow spiral. My knees have taken quite the beating on this trip.

This narrow stone hallway led to:

 

This. I have no idea what this was and it's not mentioned on the map of the castle and grounds.

Goodbye Carrickfergus!

After looking around the castle rooms and ramparts we went back to the car and ate our packed lunch and looked at the harbor. It was very cold and windy or we would have sat on a park bench instead. We were probably there for about 1 1/2 hours total.

We started driving up the coast after that and it took us forever to get from one little town to the next because we kept stopping every couple of miles to take pictures, the drive really is worth it. We went through Whitehead, Ballycarry, Larne, Ballygally, Glenarm, Carnlough, Glenariff, and finally turned around at Cushendall. The sun came out too, after a little bit, and it was warm and sunny and glorious weather, we really got lucky. At one point we stopped at a car park and bought ice cream cones and ate them on the beach. Most of the pictures are of the drive heading north but a few at the end are when we have turned around and are heading home, the differing views are breathtaking. Many of these pictures were taken from a moving car because there was no where to stop. We were gone 9 hours, we left at around 9am and got back around 6pm, including the time spent at Carrickfergus castle.

Once the sun came out there was this amazing blue haze in the distance for the longest time.

Wide enough for one car at a time.

There are these dramatic looking ruins at the top of that hill, no idea what they are and we couldn't stop on the road.

There are so many more pictures that Don took, some he posted on Facebook, but I'm not going to post all of them here. I'm so glad we did this and even more glad that the sun came out. It did get colder and cloudier as we traveled south and east towards Rostrevor.