Travel in the state next door

 North Carolina's Outer Banks are pretty renowned for their dunes, their waves, and their long stretches of empty beaches.  Especially pre-season.  We spent our 15th anniversary driving a scant three hours to go see them for ourselves.  Nags Head, Duck, Kill Devil Hills, Buxton, Frisco, Avon, Hatteras and a smidge of Kitty Hawk in my first time to the area.  Richard had been here lots of times over the years, but it was my first time seeing them.

I have had Duck donuts before, heard of the Wright Brothers, and knew there were wild horses out there somewhere.  This was an incredible first look at the history making names.  We saw wild deer, but no ponies, as we didn't get to Carova or Ocracoke on this visit.  The ferry times didn't line up for us.

We started in Newport News VA and took a ferry over to the OBX area, which was a surprisingly short journey of less than four hours at even our slow pace. First stop, Duck Donuts.  They do not disappoint, cake donuts, fried to order and topped with your choice of flavored icing and toppings. The Hatteras lighthouse is under construction, so we skipped the tour, but then had an incredible lunch and dinner there after a day of mostly moseying and stopping to walk on the empty beaches on a sunny, cool day.  Lots of Great Egret sightings, and a delightful serendipity of showing up first for the five PM dinner crowd, ensuring us a table by the window.  We recommend the hot blue crab dip and key lime cheesecake.  https://hatterassol.com/

If you see "southern rockefeller oysters" get them.  OMG yummy lunch included baked oysters with pimento cheese and jalapeno with a fish and chips basket.  One of each was shared, and it was plenty.  Along with a vinegar coleslaw that was great.

Another piece of serendipity were the incredible cars in for a car show.  There are only two, sometimes just one road up and down the islands, so you couldn't miss them if you tried!  

Aptly named Firewheel flower on the beach.

Our view from Hatteras Sol at dinner.

Southern Rockefeller oysters.

Day two was more moseying, and stopping to smell the roses along with the food.  First stop, Orange Blossom Bakery home of the Apple Ugly, which is about the largest, loaf sized Apple fritter you could ever want.  Stuffed full of homemade apple filling, and tons of luscious cinnamon.  One could feed a family of four.  Delicious.  

More beach time, but rapid removal to car, as it was raining.  Side note, the public beach parking areas almost all have nice restrooms, but a few have portapotties.  The one bookstore in Buxton was unexpectedly closed, so we hit up the Alien Java coffee house.  Mediocore coffee, coffee mate unless you ask for real dairy, no bathrooms and although quirky, not interesting enough to hit up again.  Onward to Hotline South!  One of a chain of thrift stores, this one is in Frisco, NC.  Came away with a couple of keepsakes.  It's my budget friendly way to bring souvenirs home.  You can always find something local to remind you of your trip in a local thrift store, and frequently be contributing to a charity in the process.

Next stop, the Swell Art Gallery theswellartgallery.com  at the motel we stayed in.  Swell Motel https://www.swellmotel.com/ took the 1960's concrete block and upgraded it.  It smelled clean, the beds and pillows were great, there was a fridge, microwave and Netflix, and it was covered with fun, quirky art. Cheap doesn't mean cheap if you know what I mean:) Check out the mini golf and frozen custard next door, and try the chowder across the street at Diamond Shoals.  diamondshoalsrestaurant.com  Award winning for a reason.  

The gallery was closed by the time we checked in after dinner in Hatteras, so we went back on day two.  So glad we did!  Fun art, a great clerk, and 20% off old stock, so we walked out with one keeper art sculpture and one gifted hat.  

Next was Vintage Vibe, one of many shops in a small antique mall.  Nags Head,NC. https://vintagevibeobx.com/. We picked up a couple more keepsakes to remind us of our Fifteenth wedding anniversary.  You know you found the right one when your favorite things are the same favorite things.  Happy Traveling to you all, and I wish Richard and I many, many more years of Serendipity travels.

Next stop, we found another lighthouse! Bodie Island lighthouse had a nice marsh boardwalk.  More Great Egrets, tons of blooming thistle and another stunning black and white striped light house.  The bathrooms came in handy, too.

Don't forget to travel in your own backyard:)

Best Seafood Restaurant with a View

 This was our frequent Google search in Ireland.  It did not disappoint.  Up the coastline from Dublin there was another winner in the Shoreline Hotel.  I would so stay here next time, the views were magnificent, as was the food.  We went back twice, because this Seafood Chowder and this Fish and Chips may be the best we tried.    Shorelinehotel.ie in Donabate.  North of Dublin.

Top of the Mountain to you

We ended up taking the train down to a southern suburb of Dublin, where Nuala and Stephen awaited us. They live in Dún Laoghaire (Dun Leary is how we pronounce this).  Which is also home to Bono.   The Wicklow Mountains are a National Park, and we had regretted not stopping for a visit when we drove by them from Cork.  Lucky us, Nuala and Stephen drove us up to the highest pub in Ireland, in the middle of the mountains!  Johnnie Fox's.  So we got another fish and chips, more lamb in a stew, and a delicious Guinness Beef Pie.  And great company.  It's a lovely little mountain range, good company, and even a flat tire didn't dampen our spirits on the rainiest day we were there.

Nuala also schooled us on how to drink a Guinness (they had the non alcoholic everywhere, as well, unless sold out).  "First, you let it sit, then when you drink the first drink, bring it down to the label on the glass (about 2 fingers).  Then sip the rest slowly."  We ended at a nice, local pub near their mechanic to get their tire changed out.  The fix a flat got us down the mountain in a rainstorm just fine!

Guinness Beef Pie

We sat at the table on the right, below.

Lamb Stew, delicious!

From Cork back to Dublin

 The next day, we went up the coast towards Dublin and googled "best seafood restaurant with a view" on our way back to the Airbnb.  In Bray, we found Butler and Barry met the brief.  But first, a delicious Affogato with homemade Italian Gelato to tide us over.  And a lovely rock from the seashore while we walked about until the restaurant opened.  https://ginosgelato.com/

ButlerandBarry.com doesn't seem to work from my US computer, but that is the website, and they are worth a stop, just for the glazed pork belly bites, with a honey and sesame topping and a coca cola reduction.  OMG, maybe the best bite of the trip.  Then a hop over to a coffee shop before heading back to the Airbnb.

From Galway to Waterford via Cork

 We debated how long to stay in other places, given our Airbnb was for the full two weeks.  So even though the country was small, we stayed two nights elsewhere.  We scooted over to Galway, a lovely seaside town I would visit again, and our ongoing mission to find the best chowder and fish and chips continued.  They have a lively main street and every town was dressed for the holidays, so night time was magical.  

We left Galway and stayed just outside of town at the Lady Gregory in Gort, Ireland.  https://www.ladygregoryhotel.ie/us-visitors/. Such a welcome respite!  Lovely stairs, a very staid and decorated establishment, and Richard finished the night off with a steak from their restaurant.  They have an indoor pool as well, but we brought no suits.  In our three, almost four hours of driving that day, we saw numerous sheep on a hill, but only Richard spied the lone "black faced" sheep.  It's ok, I bought a stuffed one for Benji at Malahide:)

After leaving Lady Gregory we headed to Cork!  There are two things you must have, ok, three, if in Ireland.  Ok, four.  A full Irish breakfast, a Guiness Steak Pie, a Lamb Shank, and Fish and Chips.  They do all of these things equally well.  It's hard to pick a favorite.  

In Cork, we found a Mediterranean restaurant that served "the best" lamb shank in town.  Orso Kitchen and Bar.  https://www.orso.ie/  Then we wandered over to the indoor food emporium known as "The English Market."  But on the way, we were passed by a pretty large demonstration against the horrific crimes in Gaza.  It's a very big deal in Ireland and genocide is frowned upon.  The US needs to stop arming Israel.

I would love to visit Ireland again, stay in Cork, and drive the Ring of Kerry and visit Dingle.  Next time!

Then it was onto Waterford and day one of their Christmas Market.  We tried battered sausage on a stick (very good) and just missed the parade and fireworks, which were at 5:30, just as we checked into our hotel.  Avoid the Travelodge in Waterford, very dicey.  Heat is timed to go off every two hours, and the place is locked up like a prison.  Nice receptionist, but no thanks. We were lucky to get any room, as it was the first night of the Christmas Market.  Grateful for the bed.

We had a great time wandering the market, which was more a combination of a fair and Christmas Market.   There were a small amount of booths set up with goods, and a lot of street vendors with foods.  The video below shows a hanging grill over a wood fire with sausages.  Too crowded for us, so we bought the battered sausages from a chippie shop down the way. We did not buy their other offering, a Czech pastry rolled onto a wooden dowel and cooked over flame.  But I got the photo:)