I'll start with my arrival! I arrived in Dublin Saturday just after 1, amazingly I had slept a reasonable amount on the plane! Off to a good start! I got my car okay and off I went to Enniskillen (only stalled once or twice trying to get out of the parking lot, ha!). I got to Zara's place around 4:30pm and it was so strange to be sitting there, chatting with her in her own place - wasn't she only 14?? Surreal! She had to work in Ballinamallard in the Steak House that evening, so I went with her and walked over to Joey's house. I have dreamed many times over the years about returning to Ballinamallard. In my dreams I am walking the streets, seeing familiar faces, and I always wake up feeling very unsettled. Needless to say I was really anticipating this moment, and it felt very . . . normal. It did not feel like I hadn't lived there for 15 years. We parked at the Steak House and I walked up around the corner past the Chinese that hadn't changed, and past the Archdale Hall and the drop in center (which hasn't been used since I left, but the sign is still up). Went to Joey's house and it was like we hadn't skipped a beat - her wit and humor were as sharp as ever:-D. We had a great night of reminiscing, talking about life now (the first time I mentioned my kids to her was a weird feeling though, that brought me back into the present and my life now!). We walked to a pub on the main street for a bit, still not really my scene - although I did see a guy that was in my confirmation class 17 years ago and he didn't remember me! I gave him a hard time about it, but I told him I liked him then and I could tell he was still a nice guy now:-).
Sunday morning, Zara and I left for the Cliffs of Moher and Galway. I actually slept reasonably well Saturday night which was a bit surprising to be honest! I was feeling pretty confident that I had a bit of a step on this jet lag, which had been such a big worry of mine. We had a lovely drive down to the Cliffs, although I'm pretty sure Google Maps doesn't actually send a human person to scout these roads out before suggesting them as the best route. I am pretty sure we took the smallest, most country back roads to get there, but we did get there in one piece thankfully! The Cliffs were magical, just as I remember them. It was cold and windy, but dry so I took that as a win. We drove into Galway after and checked into our hotel, it was very nice! Mostly senior citizens were staying there, but I didn't mind that at all:-D. We walked along the water into town and had a nice dinner at a pub. Galway is a pretty cool city! We had a delicious breakfast in the morning before heading back to Enniskillen so Zara could pick up her son Jay. We drove out to her Mom's place in the country before I had to meet Joey for dinner. It was so great catching up with Zara over those few days, and really getting a sense for her now grown up life. Her son was such a great little guy, he's a credit to her! I only briefly caught up with Barbara (her Mom) but I would have liked to chat more with her. I worried that it was going to seem too long that I was there, but there were definitely times where I felt like I needed more time, this being one of them.
Back to Monday night! I picked up Joey and took her to a pub in Irvinestown where we had a delicious dinner. I told her how happy I was that she was happy, I never did know what direction her life was going to take. She seems to be doing pretty well, which made my heart happy. After dinner I went over to David and Patricia Beare's house - David was a leader at the Youth Fellowship, and him and his wife were always so warm and welcoming to our youth team, having us over for Sunday dinners etc. Well, they haven't changed a bit! I had such a lovely evening with them, I can't even describe how great it felt to be in their living room, having tea, and talking about the youth work in Ballinamallard. They got me all caught up on who had been there since me, some of the ups and downs they had. There is a healing that happens when you hear about what happens to a place after you leave. Not everything I heard this trip was positive, but even just knowing about it is so cathartic. After my wonderful evening with them, I was off to my hotel in the country, the Manor House. It was a bit of a challenge to find it in the dark but I got there okay thankfully! Beautiful hotel, and they upgraded my room so my room was so nice as well. The breakfast in the morning was delicious as well, would definitely stay there again.
Tuesday morning I went to visit Donna in Kesh. Had a great visit with her! She also did my nails which was a lot of fun:-). So strange to see her all grown up with her own business and her own kids, seems like she is really happy and settled. I had some time in the afternoon where I wasn't seeing anyone so I decided to drive to Cuilcagh mountain boardwalk, close to the Marble Arch Caves in Fermanagh. The weather got progressively worse as I got closer to the mountain, by the time I started walking it was blowing rain pretty hard! I walked as far as the boardwalk (about 3km) and then decided that I should really turn back since I was soaked and would have to change my clothes at the hotel before heading back into Ballinamallard to visit Sarah Vaughan. It was a stunning walk, even in the rain. I can imagine on a clear day it would be a spectacular hike. Will definitely be back to do more of that walk in the future! Had a great visit with Sarah, she had been doing the youth work in Ballinamallard for the past 3 years. Very interesting to get her perspective. After my brief visit with her, I drove into Enniskillen to have dinner with Nicola Kilpatrick (now Cinnamond, she is married with 3 kids!). What a lovely catch up! She is just as sweet and kind hearted as I remember her. I got back to the hotel a bit earlier so I had to chance to chat with Brian and the kids a bit more before bed. I didn't get to see everyone I would have liked to see, but there were people that I wasn't expecting to see that I DID see so all in all, a great visit in Fermanagh:-).
Wednesday morning I set off for the east of Northern Ireland! I drove off to Donaghadee to have lunch with Sonya McCullagh (now Anderson). I knew her a bit from Prairie, and she is great friends with my sister Mary, but I wasn't sure how much we would have to talk about since we didn't know each other super well. It was a great visit! We walked around Donaghadee, which is a beautiful town by the sea, and had a great chat. I really enjoyed my time with her. Arlene met me at the church (as it turns out, Arlene and Gary are going to Sonya's church so they knew of each other. Small world!). Seeing Arlene again and hearing her voice was another instance of healing for my soul. We went to a coffee shop and chatted as though only 13 days had passed and not 13 years. She is still as encouraging as ever! We went back to her place and got ready for dinner, Fiona Agnew was able to join us which was wonderful. Philip couldn't come but thankfully I was able to catch up with them in Belfast (more on that later). Raymond Prentiss was also there, his wife Heather sadly just recently passed away from cancer. She was a lovely woman, I remember her well. We had such a great evening together, how I wish they lived around the corner so we could hang out more often!
After my time with Fransuer and Rachel, I made my way over to East Belfast to Neil's house. From the moment I stepped into his house, it was like we were back in the days of Ballinamallard with him making fun of me and me not caring:-D. Their little guy Blayne had drawn me this really lovely picture to welcome me, I felt very special! We got some Indian food and got caught up on all the years that had passed. Kylie was lovely as well, she made me feel so welcome and did so much with the kids while I was there so Neil was free to hang out with me, I loved getting to know her better as well!
Friday morning we took off on our trip up the North Coast. First stop was the Gobbins Coastal Walk. The weather was fantastic, what a beautiful walk! We drove up the coast, took in the scenery and chatted like old times, it was a great day! We stopped and did the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and the Giant's Causeway, ending the trip with some delicious bonafee ice cream in Port Rush, yum! It was such a good day, I can't believe how lucky we got with the weather!
Saturday morning, Neil and Blayne took me to their favorite breakfast place, the Peppercorn. It was delicious! We drove into Belfast downtown so I could do some souvenir shopping, it was fun being downtown Belfast again! After shopping, I headed over to Philip and Fiona's house for a few hours. It was so lovely to catch up with them, Heather and Chris stopped by as well which I really appreciated. They are such a great family, I love spending time with them! After my time with them, I met Neil and Kylie at a restaurant for dinner. After dinner, we went back to their place, where Neil convinced me to take a bus downtown Belfast to go for a few drinks. It was a fun evening, definitely giving me the full Belfast experience haha! A nice last night. Sunday morning, I had breakfast with Neil and Kylie and then off I went back to the Dublin airport for my long flight home. I was sad to leave but it was time for me to get back to real life, my family was waiting for me to come home. What an amazing trip, hopefully it won't be nearly as long before I can come back again!
