Today we started our tour with a drive along the Antrim Coast Road.  Once again, I was amazed at the talent of our drive Gerry.  In one of the coastal cities, they were having some kind of festival which made the driving challenging.  At one point, in the city, the on-coming traffic and parked cars didn’t leave enough room for the bus to pass.  So, Gerry asked Madeleine to get out of the bus and ask the on-coming cars to pull over the side so we could get through the streets and continue trip down the Antrim Coast Road.  It was a brilliant move and looked like the only real option.

Drive to Bushmills, where lunch is served up with a warm welcome and a "fire that is always lit," a tradition at the Bushmills Inn whose origins date back to 1608. Since this was on a Sunday, there was a special menu. It was one of Carol’s favorite meals. It was a huge lunch, lots of food, you had a choice of three meats (Turkey, Beef, Pork, or Ham), plus mashed potatoes, stuffing, and vegetables. And it finished off with their famous “Sticky Toffee Pudding”, which was incredible.  We got the recipe for the “Sticky Toffee Pudding” from Madeleine, and we will be trying it very soon. 

Back on the bus and a short drive to explore the Giant's Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where over 40,000 symmetrical basalt columns lead from looming coastal cliffs out to the sea - a geologically formed path of intrigue. The walk from the bus to the Giant's Causeway was a little over a mile and it was up hill.  The sight offered a tram to and from the visitor center and the head of the Giant’s Causeway trail for a British Pound, each way.  With my knees being what they were, I took advantage of the ride. FYI: Tauck supplied us with a couple British Pounds to pay for the tram. 

That evening we were free to explore the area around our hotel and experience dinner at a local restaurant. One of the meals that we were looking forward to was a good-old English style “Fish & Chips”.  It is one of those meals that you just must have if you go to England, or in our case, Northern Ireland.  Turns out that one of the best places for Fish & Chips was the Fish City Café, just a five-minute walk from the hotel.  The concierge of the hotel was very gracious and took out to the street and pointed us in the right direction for the Fish City Café.  It was really only a five-minute walk from the hotel.  We ended up seeing several of our fellow traveler at the café, so it must have been a good recommendation.  We had our Fish & Chip, plus some very exquisite shrimp as an appetizer. We were not disappointed and if fact it was excellent. We did have several other occasions to have Fish & Chips, but since this was our first chance it was more notable.  Back to the hotel to relax and get ready for the next day.