County Antrim...need advice, please

Michele Erdvig · Host

RE: County Antrim...need advice, please

Melissa5 · Guru

County Down b&b

Michele Erdvig · Host

RE: County Antrim...need advice, please

Melissa5 · Guru

Hi Michelle, I'm swimming in wonderful country-style b&bs near Belfast.

I really like Fortwilliam Country House in Hillsborough. Also like Clanmurry although it only has twin-bedded rooms. (Not fitting in with my secret plan!

) REally love Edenvale and apparently it's a 5-diamond AA b&b! Whew!

Still no replies to e-mails from Ash-Rowan. Maybe they only take phone calls, changed their e-mail, or aren't open, who knows.

Beech Hill, east of Belfast, apparently allows smoking in one of the public rooms. Hubby and I would prefer a place like Edenvale which is totally non-smoking. (Anybody who's reading this, don't confuse Beech Hill near Belfast with Beechwood in Malahide, totally different places!

So as you can see I have made no progress whatsoever...

But I'm happily swimming in details about Irish country b&bs which all seem lovely to me! I would dearly love to chat with Mavis at Fortwilliam over tea and home-made cakes, or chat with Diane at Edenvale over scones...

Also like the idea of staying in Belfast, to put daughters especially within walking distance of some shopping, cafes, etc. But the only place I really liked in Belfast so far was Ash-Rowan, and I really rely on e-mail, I am reluctant to call them...especially as even though they are in some guidebooks I have only found 1 person who has actually stayed there. She enjoyed the stay.

Thanks for your tips and our fun chats.

Michelle, what is your impression of Belfast, especially south Belfast, near the Unviersity and the Botanic Gardens?

-- Edited by Melissa5 at 16:27, 2006-01-19

Michele Erdvig · Host

Melissa,

Why not make inquiries at all the places you are interested in to see exactly what is available? I think you would love the double room at Edenvale. It is very romantic and beautiful (that's it on the website with the little half canopy). There is a separate dressing/sitting room and a big tub in the bathroom. Rooms are decorated with antiques that are very nice. The rooms have everything you could possibly need. You could arrive naked and with no suitcase and not feel deprived. Bathrobes, slippers, every toiletry you can name, lotions, cotton swabs, shower cap, and Diane can probably even supply you with a new toothbrush if needed. She has everything. And breakfast...Mama Mia...wait that's Italian! But you get the picture.

As for south Belfast, it is the nicest part of the city. There are streets that are main thoroughfares with businesses, shopping, restaurants, etc. There are art galleries, theaters, and quiet leafy neighborhoods. This website has videos and photos of the area: http://www.visitsouthbelfast.com/tourism/

Only one more decision. Have fun sorting through the B&Bs!

Michele

Melissa5 · Guru

Michelle, you are really tempting me, nothing that I like better than arriving naked with no suitcase!

I have noticed that you tend to have b&bs/guesthouses in your book which have friendly hosts, good prices, and are highly rated (sometimes 5 diamonds.) Wonderful!

I am the kind of person who partially chooses my exact destination according to which one has the best places to stay! Because as you mentioned for a woman the nature of the accomodation can make or break a trip.

But the Belfast portion of the trip is trickier, because grandmother happens to be from Belfast, and her parents met and worked nearby and raised their family in Lurgan and then later in Belfast. Therefore this is a case where the destination is dictating the location of our b&b.

Edenvale is still on my list and I know I would love it! I'm just trying to lay out our itinerary, which again is dictated by the desire to re-trace grandmother's footsteps, and see which location is best for our b&b. Anyway you already know this, I just like to go on and on about it!

Thanks for listening and for always having that magic hat handy, where I swear you pull all your info out of, and the greatest web-links too! But the special touch you have comes from the heart, it must.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Melissa,

A number of the places I recommend do have good recommendations from others like AA, etc. I love being the first to discover a really good place though! That is why you will see little feedback on newly discovered places elsewhere. But give it time and they will get in all the "big" books about Ireland and get their 5-diamond ratings.

There are some places I recommend that no one has ever heard of. A few are not even approved by the Tourist Board (oh horrors!). My thinking is if a place is good it is good. A shamrock sign out front doesn't necessarily mean it is any good. It all depends on who owns and runs it. So I do have some little offbeat places listed that do things to a different drummer.

Hope you find just the right place to stay.

Michele

Melissa5 · Guru

Michelle, I like your philosophy, and I agree, if a place is good, who cares if it's as yet undiscovered and hasn't been awarded its well-deserved stars yet. In fact when I plan trips I like to mix some well-established places with some places that sound good but I am taking a bit of a chance as there's insufficient info, it's a bit of an adventure.

I feel that way about Fortwilliam Country House in Hillsborough, the only info I can find on it is it's in Alastair Sawday's book. It doesn't have any guest reviews anywhere on the internet. It sounds good, but for me it's a bit of an adventure if I choose it, not as much info as I would like. Now, if it was in only one guidebook, and that guidebook was your Best Little Guide to Ireland, then that would be all the info I would need!!!

I know I would like Edenvale near Newtownards. As far as location I am torn between staying near the Ulster Folk Park and Transport Museum (Edenvale) or staying near Hillsborough and the Lurgan area where grandmother was born. I may have found the place where great-grandmother used to work and met great-grandfather, but I'll never know for sure. The 2001 Irish Tourist Board Ireland Guidebook says "Lurgan (an Lorgain, 'the strip of land') was once prosperous from the manufacture of damask linen at nearby Waringstown." I think it is likely that this is where greatgrandmother and greatgrandfather met, as they met working in a linen mill. Grandmother was born in Lurgan, and the whole family later moved to Belfast.

I cannot find any more info on Waringstown, County Armagh, except for mention on-line of some b&bs and pubs. I don't want to stay in Waringstown, I just wondered if you know a link where I might find more info on the former linen manufacturing in Waringstown. Waringstown is right under Lurgan, on a map in the book I mentioned above.

I'm going to e-mail both b&bs, honest, tonight probably, as you suggested, and see if either one has rooms available for us, that would certainly be the deciding factor, as you suggested!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Melissa,

These links may be of interest:

http://www.armaghorange.org.uk/6lurgan.htm

http://www.libraryireland.com/isearch2/index.php

http://www.oldtowns.co.uk/Ireland/Down/manufactures.htm

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/AEmblem/Linen.html

Michele

Melissa5 · Guru

Michelle, thank you kindly for those lovely links about linen manufacturing in County Armagh area... I had a peak at them and am looking forward to having a longer look later. Time for bed, I am needed by family tomorrow...

Melissa5 · Guru

Michelle, a miracle has occurred. I actually e-mailed an accomodation for County Down...no, actually, I e-mailed both of them!

I took your advice and decided to see what they will say. (If one of them is already booked up or doesn't answer, that makes the decision a lot easier!)

Thanks for putting up with me and my obsessing over details. I e-mailed both Edenvale near Newtownards, and Fortwilliam Country House near Hillsborough.

Somehow we have wandered in our subject from County Antrim to County Armagh to County Down!

Now I really can go to bed...

Not allowed to talk any more.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Melissa,

The trail of our conversations may be convoluted but all roads here lead to Ireland! I'm glad you have sent emails to both B&Bs. Is this the last decision? Do you have reservations at Beechwood yet? Your trip is shaping up.

Michele

Melissa5 · Guru

Michelle, nope, I don't have reservations at Beechwood yet. I should make them soon. (Unless by some miracle Green Dragon shows me the magic secret to getting invited to tea with Anne McCaffrey, in which case I would drive out of our way for such a chance!) But on the other hand, even if I was having tea with Anne McCaffrey, I would still need reservations near the airport for our last night, wouldn't I? I will take care of that tomorrow. Need to rock in my rocking chair and get to sleep. Stressful day today, but I was needed and I did good deeds.

Also, I should probably e-mail a 3rd choice for Belfast area, in case the other 2 are full...Holywood area could be the 3rd choice (Rayanne House in Holywood.) Or Beech Hill which you have mentioned could also be a 3rd choice. Not that they are any less great!

Thanks for holding my hand the whole way!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Melissa,

Happy to help as always. That's what I'm here for...a bit of hand-holding!

Michele

Melissa5 · Guru

Michelle, are you the little blue bald one or am I?!

If I disappear for a week I don't want anybody to think I have died. I'm going to the Caribbean with hubby in February! We plan to do more travel than we had time for when the kids were growing up. We figure we're "in-between". (In between having little children and little grand-children.) Therefore we should enjoy our temporary freedom. Besides I look at our parents and realize eventually you reach the time when your travelling days are behind you. By then I want to be satisfied, we saw the world together.

Today was very exciting, I got a glimpse of what Ireland might be like, sitting next to a couple from Belfast at an Ireland festival at a church here in California! Singing (they knew the words and I learned the choruses), watching an 86-year-old man dance with all the young women...Eating potatoes and bangors and potatoes and drinking Guiness

and eating sort sort of pea and beef pie with...potatoes!

Date: 5:05 AM, 01/29/06

Who cares? Please stop rambling.

Sorry Michelle, I know this has to be the first ugly post on your board. But this incessant, inane, blathering drivel is driving me crazy.

Thank you, I feel much better now. I'll go quietly back to my hovel now, and hide beneath my rock.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Anonymous,

Welcome to the forum! No need to hide beneath a rock. You are as welcome here as everyone else. Please feel free to post your own subject and I will be happy to answer any questions you might have about your trip to Ireland (with no blathering).

As you might have noticed, although this forum is moderated it is not edited. The members here may post as they please and everyone is welcome to their respective opinions. If there is a particular person who annoys you, you might want to skip over their postings.

Everyone has their own style when it comes to planning a trip. Some just want the cut and dried facts. Others find that a stream of consciousness type post helps them to distill their thoughts and actually discover what is most important. Whatever way works best for you may not work for another. I suppose what some would call blather others would call a distinct personality.

We have had thousands of different postings on the forum and met hundreds of wonderful people over the years. I try to make the forum a warm, friendly place where all feel welcome. Please feel free to join in. Your opinions are as valued as every other member.

Michele

Date: 1:16 PM, 01/30/06

By the way here are my two nitpicks and a thought

It's Michele not Michelle ....

Guinness not Guiness ...

And since the topic was Melissa's to begin with, it is hers to do what she likes.... If it was your topic and it was "hijacked" then that would be another issue.

Now I feel better!!!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Anonymous,

Glad you got it off your chest and are feeling better. You're right it is Michele with one "L" but the most common spellling is with two "Ls". Blame my mother!! My favorite misspelling was Erdpig instead of Erdvig. I got a good laugh out of that one.

As they say "Don't sweat the small stuff".

Michele

Melissa5 · Guru

ANONYMOUS: Let's make a deal. If you register with a name, so I know which "Anonymous" you are, you can start a new post of your own. I won't post any replies under your post, if you avoid my posts as well. Also, now that you have gotten it off your chest, kindly edit your post above.

To the other ANONYMOUS: Thanks for pointing out that since this is my post I can use it as I wish.

Melissa5 · Guru

Michele, oops, sorry for all the times I spelled your name wrong. Now, as for Guinnnesss, the more N's and S's, the better it tastes.

-- Edited by Melissa5 at 03:45, 2006-01-31

Irrover · Veteran Member

Actually Melissa, you got it wrong again It is the more you taste, the more "n"'s and "s"'s in your speech....

Another beuatiful day in SOCAL!!!

Irisheyes · Senior Member

Yes, another LOVELY day in SOCAL. I told my kids that the weather here today in JANUARY, will be exactly like JUNE in Ireland. Throw in a little "mist" and you got it.

Melissa5 · Guru

Irrover, guess I am in big trouble then, since the last Guinnnnessss I had was on Sunday, and today is Tuesday, and look at all the N's and S's I still have left over!

Melissa5 · Guru

Irisheyes, yeah, aren't we having great January weather here in So Cal this year? (Read it and weep everybody. Sun every day this month. Last year at this time it was raining nearly every day, a record rain.)

Okay, I'll throw in a little mist, some soft rain for a bit, and a rainbow, and pretend I'm in Ireland. I'll have to half-close my eyes and imagine all the green that we don't have here...

Melissa5 · Guru

County Down