My appetite for meat and potatoes knows no bounds. Ditto bread and butter. So when I find an abundance of all four and more while road-tripping around Northern Ireland, I am beside myself with delight—and I’m not the only one: food tourism is trending here. When food is such a big part of the culture, … Continue reading Northern Ireland →

posted on Saturday, April 11th, 2020 by Doug Wallace Posted in DESTINATIONS Comments Off on Northern Ireland

Left-hand drive is easier than you’d think—once you get the hang of it, of course. Mind the curb. With left-hand drive, it’s not so much driving on the other side of the road that’s the challenge, it’s driving on the other side of the car that takes some getting used to. Opt for GPS. This … Continue reading UK and Ireland: Driving Tips →

posted on Saturday, April 11th, 2020 by Doug Wallace Posted in DESTINATIONS Comments Off on UK and Ireland: Driving Tips

The historic Newforge House guest home about a half hour southwest of Belfast on the outskirts of the village of Magheralin is run by owners and chefs John and Louise Mathers. John converted the Georgian family home in 2005, relocating his parents to what his mother refers to as the “pig houses” at the back of … Continue reading Northern Ireland: Newforge House →

posted on Saturday, April 11th, 2020 by Doug Wallace Posted in HOTELS Comments Off on Northern Ireland: Newforge House

BALLYCASTLE, NORTHERN IRELAND—Dara O hArtghaile treated us to a lesson in sourdough at Ballycastle, Northern Ireland, at Ursa Minor Bakehouse. The big secret: He uses methods that can be traced back hundreds of years, long before the birth of commercial yeast.

posted on Saturday, April 11th, 2020 by Doug Wallace Posted in FOOD & BOOZE Comments Off on Baking in Ballycastle

CROSSGAR, NORTHERN IRELAND—We take a 30-minute drive from Belfast to a town called Crossgar in County Down—seriously you can’t make this quaintness up—then head to its outskirts. When we find a property that we think the GPS is trying to send us, I lean out of the car as far as I can and start ringing doorbells…

posted on Saturday, April 11th, 2020 by Doug Wallace Posted in FOOD & BOOZE Comments Off on Sweet on Shortcross Gin

I’m one of those people who always has a bottle of backup gin, should the actual gin ever run dry. It’s the larger size, a two-litre bottle, which we call the Super Big Gulp. People laugh, but they’re more than happy to partake in said backup when the need arises. My interest in gin began … Continue reading Belfast: Gin Jaunt →

posted on Saturday, April 11th, 2020 by Doug Wallace Posted in DESTINATIONS Comments Off on Belfast: Gin Jaunt