We expected stores to be closed down for Christmas. We even expected most places to be closed on Christmas Eve. What we did not expect was that everything will still be closed the day after Christmas, a day affectionately known as Boxing Day. Now to those of you who are American, and have no idea what I am talking about, think of Boxing Day as a combination of Black Friday and any federal holiday. The stores that are open put everything on sale to make room for new stock, and everything else: restaurants, postal services, and public transportation, shut down to enjoy the extra day of vacation.
But I am getting ahead of myself. We began the day by trying to wake up earlier, so that we could do more exploring, shopping, and sight seeing. After a quick breakfast we hopped in the car and drove to the nearby town of Port Ballintrae, where we took a walk around their golf course. We then went to Portrush and visited their golf course, which will host the 2019 British Open, we did some shopping in their gift shop before leaving again.
Getting back on the road we took some time to visit the graves of my Great Grandmother and Great Grandfather, who had lived in Northern Ireland all of their lives. It was an opportunity to really remember that this beautiful country is, in some sense, home. I had met my Great Grandmother once, when I was really young, and I don’t remember much about her, but it was nice to go and pay my respects.
We then made our way into the town of Coleraine for lunch, but as I have stated previously, almost nothing was open. While we were able to see this lovely city, and the Saint Patrick’s church located within, we ended up leaving to hopefully find better options for food.
This search led us to Port Stewart, and our third golf course of the day (I am beginning to see a pattern). We were able to find an Irish Pub to eat lunch/dinner at, and boy was the food welcome. We took a little walk through the promenade overlooking the beach, and some of the shops that were open. We then drove back to our little cottage to enjoy the rest of the evening.