Muileann na Buais go Béal Feirste (Bushmills to Belfast)

What a full day! We woke up to rain, which here, is not a big surprise. We had planned a full day of activities that were mostly outside, so the weather was a bit of a bummer, but we forged ahead anyway. First stop was back to the hotel restaurant, The Porthole, for a wonderful breakfast. After checking out we decided to mix up our original plans in hopes that some of the rain would subside, and headed of first to the Old Bushmills Distillery. Unfortunately due to the volatile alcohol that hangs thick in the air, we weren't permitted to take pictures of the tour. We were, however, able to use our cameras afterwards at the bar.

Admittance to the tour gets you one free drink at the end, and on top of that our hotel had given up tickets for a 'tasting experience'. Bushmills no

longer does the tastings, but our bartender set up a mini one for us where we got to learn about and try each of the types of Whiskey that they produce. We then proceeded directly into the

gift shop and dropped a ton of cash. This is how they get you!!! :)

Moving on, we stopped at Giant's Causeway, just down the road. It was interesting to see the abnormal rock formations, but unfortunately it was still raining pretty hard. We were still able to get some good pictures though!

Our last planned outing of the day was the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, a rope suspension bridge linking the mainland to Carrick Island,

spanning over 65 feet across and hanging nearly 100 feet above the crashing waves below. Once on the other side, the tiny island offers great views, and also a great location for a marriage proposal! We took a few pictures of the scenery when Jean asked a passerby to take our picture. As we prepared to take the picture, Jean got down on one knee (in the mud!) and asked me to 'cross back over the bridge and be [his] wife'. I, of course, said yes!! Photo sequence below...

After leaving Carrick-A-Rede and ready to celebrate, we headed southeast into the city of Belfast. After checking into the lovely Park Inn hotel on Clarence Street, we started sharing our happy news with family and close friends. Afterwards we wandered down to the hotel restaurant for a wonderful dinner of lamb shank and gourmet cheeseburger. We were meeting our friend Stephen at 8:30 PM, so after dinner we headed back up to the room to rest and catch a little TV before heading out again for the evening. After grabbing a few drinks with Stephen, we walked throughout the city centre, stopping in to visit Scott at McHugh's and taking in the sites of City Hall and the Belfast Wheel (which was unfortunately closed by this time).

All in all it was a long and eventful day, but one that I'm sure neither of us will ever forget!

Before

The Proposal

The Acceptance :)

After

The Ring