Irish Vacation - Day 3

Day 3 - aka Sunday - aka Mama's birthday

We picked up our rental van that morning.  Unfortunately we have no pics of it.  But it was an awesome ride and Daddy did a fabulous job of driving on the "wrong" side of the road.

We checked out of our hotel and, upon recommendation of Nikos (our Italian waiter at Temple Bar) headed to Howth.  Howth was just 10 minutes from our hotel and is a darling little coastal village with amazing food.

 We went to Beshoff's Sea Grill which also has a market attached to it.

 The apple juice was so amazingly fresh!!!

A little bread and anchovy appetizer. . . . . so yum.

 More Fish & Chips. . . . we sampled these all over Ireland.

 Mama had the Lobster Risotto.  It was ah-mazing.

 We also had to have dessert - it was my birthday after all.

 I headed into the market before we left and purchased smoked salmon (they smoke their own locally caught salmon!), a red onion, capers and blinis which were our breakfast for the next several days.

Malahide Castle was only a few miles from Howth and on our way to Castle Leslie so we stopped in for a visit.  The Castle was closed to tours but we were able to explore the grounds a bit.  Unfortunately it was raining that day and the kiddos weren't able to enjoy the playground.

Finally we headed to Castle Leslie!!

Castle Leslie is a resort in Co. Monaghan.  The property is truly beautiful and has the castle, a church, the lodge and spa as well as an equestrian center and the Mews which were formerly stables but are now 2 bedroom/3 bathroom accommodations which include a full kitchen and living area.  This is where we stayed.  Once we check in to our home for the wedding festivities we headed up to the Lodge for dinner with some of the other guests who had already arrived.

The decor is amazing - so many antiques and keepsakes.

 The pubs only serve dinner until 9 pm.  As we arrived at 8:40 we had to hurry and order.  The menu in the pub was limited to their salmon special and Fish & Chips.  We ordered a couple of each and divided it among the table.

And that was day 3!!!  This Irish Vacation is flying by.