The Solomon Wrap-up

To know Drew's brother Blake is to love Blake.  And take everything he says with a grain of salt, a roll of the eyes, and a chuckle.  Blake's main goal in life is not to get too enthused about anything or lead anyone to believe that he's actually happy or having a good time.  It's his schtick and we've grown to...tolerate it.  :)

A few funny cases in point:

Commenting on the amazing weather we were blessed with:

This would all be great except for global warming.

Driving along a gorgeous, mountainous road:

Me: Oh my gosh!  It's so pretty!  The green, I can't get over it!!

Blake:  I mean...it's pretty monochromatic.

At the Irish music and dance show that Drew planned, where we were hoping dancers would come out after a long music set, and they finally did:

All of us: This dancing is awesome!  Can you believe how they move like that?  This is incredible!

Blake:  Yeah, I guess Drew got pretty lucky.

Heading into Northern Ireland:

Someone: Well yeah, we have to get Pounds Sterling though because Northern Ireland is part of the UK.

Blake:  POUNDS!?  What a pain in the butt!  Now everything's officially ruined.

Crossing the rickety rope bridge with stunning views:

That was terrible.  I don't need that type of thrill in my life.

Hiking up a large hill surrounded by mountains away from the Giant's Causeway:

I was told there'd be an escalator.

Finishing our drinks at the Bushmills Distillery:

Ok great, what do we have to do now?

Great times.

We spent the next day at the Bushmill's Distillery and then in Derry (or Londonderry to you UK folk) exploring the city.  

Drew in his happy place at the Bushmill's Distillery - sipping a drink after the tour.

The Bushmill's Distillery is a pretty cool and informative tour, and we liked it cause they actually still make whiskey there.  Usually a lot of these places are gimmicky and touristy and nothing's actually made, but they take you right into the vats of booze and show you the bottling conveyor belt.  It was pretty nifty to watch.  And the smell of that fermenting stuff...woah baby.  It's strong.    I dug the tour though, it was neat.

Brothers!  Laughing for once!

Me and my pal.

He's having a great time!

We got to Derry, ate some lunch, and then decided to walk around the city walls built in the 17th century and see some sights in the rain.

Drew pretending to shoot Blake.

Hook 'em.  Again.  Everywhere we go.  It never gets old.  (Yes it does.)

Blake having some fun with a statue.

Huh?

We stayed at a pretty B&B outside of Derry, the Beech Hill Country House Estate, where you could walk around the trails through the woods on the grounds and then pop inside and sit by a fireplace with a bottle of wine afterwards.  We got there around 3pm and never left because it was so idyllic and lovely.  And they had good drinks and food too.  Yes please.

This place was also famous cause it's had a lot of cool guests.  The Kennedy boys, the Clintons, the Reagans, and lots of other ballas.  There used to also be a Marine base here, so now the hotel has lots of displays with declassified information from WWII laying around.  My dad woulda loved it.

A picture and note from Jack and the boys.

We got back Friday afternoon, ate some Indian food that night, and said our goodbyes bright and (too) early the next morning.  We hate it when fun guests leave.  We had a great time with Blake (obvi, above) and loved being with our chill, laid back funny Bethie too!  And big thanks to Suz and David for making this whole trip happen and for spoiling all of the children and for loving all of us as much as you.  Aw.  We really did have an amazing week together.  Happiness!

Drew trying to wrangle his peeps on the walk home from din.

One last sibling pic.

Thanks for a great trip!  Many more amazing ones to come.  Cheers!

The Solomons Take Northern Ireland

I don't even know where I've been but I've been busy and frazzled, as per usual.  My life is SO HARD and no one understands.    Just kidding.  I know that's what I sound like and I don't mean to.  I just really don't know where the time goes....during the day, or in life.  Particularly with this blog.  Anyways, back to the Solomon's visit!

We decided to take a little 2 day trip up to Northern Ireland, because Drew and I hadn't been there, we'd heard amazing things, and we wanted to show the troops some authentic Irish countryside and scenery.  We rented a van and Drew drove us up to the Giant's Causeway and to see the iconic Rope Bridge, on one of the most glorious days on record.  We were so super fortunate with the weather.  

And I'm telling you...this scenery was magnificent.  It's some of the coolest, most beautiful stuff I'd ever seen and it's all right here in our backyard.  I'm not sure if anyone else thought it was as amazing as I did but I don't care.  I was in awe!!  It was only a 2.5 hour drive from Dublin so I'd put it on the list if you're coming to Ireland.  It can't be missed.

We first went to Carrick-a-Rede, a famous rickety rope bridge that connects a rocky little island to the mainland, that people like to cross for the views and the thrill of almost falling into the water.  The bridge itself seems solid, but there's a thin strip of...material that you walk on, with big empty gaps on either side of it.  And it's scary.  But fun.

Bethie and I shared the front seat so we wouldn't vom.  Lovely.

You park and pay a small fee and then walk along the cliff tops to get to the bridge and the island. 

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.

And you wouldn't believe how green and crystal clear the water is!  It looks like the kind you'd find in the Caribbean.  

Big green fields right on the edge of the cliff.

Oh hey!

The five Solomons.

A look back.

A look ahead.

Climbing down the super steep "staircase" (if you can even call it that) to get to the bridge.

The siblings Solomon.

Deep thoughts on the island.

Mother and son.
(And we also heard that the land over there was Scotland, though I remain unconvinced.  Maybe it was the land BEHIND that island thing?  No clue.)

Sistas.

I smell a Christmas card photo!

All smiles here!  We both had a death grip though.

An angsty teen in the parking lot.  (Blake.)

Next, we drove 30 minutes up the road to the Giant's Causeway.  The Causeway is a big group of interlocking basalt rock formations from a volcano, and they're all hexagonally shaped kind of...step-like.  The legend says that a giant, Finn MacCool, built this causeway when he was challenged by the Scottish giant Benandonner.  There are naturally two endings, an Irish one where Finn wins and Benandonner flees because Finn is too big and the causeway is destroyed, and another where Benandonner wins because Finn's a big scaredy baby.  (And there are similar rock formations on the Scottish coast, making this story TRUE!!!)  You can't argue with geology, people.

Anyways, again, you park, pay a fee, and walk down a large hill with the blue water on your left and some gigantic mountainous cliffs on your right, and you feel small and insignificant and blessed to even be there.  Ahh.  And then you get to explore and play around on the "steps".  It's great fun.

The long and winding cliff road thingy.

That's what you saw when you looked up on your right.  Stunning.

The cool rocks!  Can you believe they naturally formed like this?  #nerdalert

Hook 'em.  Naturally.

There was also one part that formed a "wall" of "columns" - or stones stacked on top of each other.  This is cookoo.

Lots of gorgeous sites and good times with the family.  We drove over to Portrush and stayed at a cute B&B that overlooked Royal Portrush (a famous golf course that Drew dreams of playing at), ate a delish din on the water, and got ready to taste whiskey in the morning.

A breathtaking day was had by all!