Larne to Portaferry, a bit of a haul

   Slept like I was dead last night; I am hooked on camping.  It just takes the right gear and a nice place to set up camp.  Bed and Breakfasts are way over rated, too many pillows for starts.  Being single going it alone makes traveling simple and dirt cheap; no needless weight on the drag strip.  

     Blew out of Larne at 7:25 before rush hour got underway.  Woke up early after crashing around 8:30, so I was over an hour ahead of schedule. A reall nice ride along the coast.  A few miles short of Belfast, I met up with two bikers. That Irish Brogue is a bear.  Peter was taking the ferry to Scotland; Norman was on an electric bike commuting to work. Listening to them talk to each other was almost unintelligible.  Norman, an engineer who once worked in the ship yard, has a metal shop where he designs and builds artistic pieces, nice guy.  He led me to the Titantic Museum, showing me the sites as we went alone.  Once at the museum, I sprung for a ticket and spent two hours going through a well done interactive exhibit.  The building is a ballistic design, built where the bow of the Titantic was built.  Checkout my photograph of it.  

      With twenty-eight miles on the odometer, I headed out of Belfast for Portaferry twenty-five miles away. Decent ride by the water but too much traffic and a lot of small hills.  Perhaps the hottest day so far; mopped on the sunscreen before I left this morning. Arrived in Portaferry, found a hostel, but couldn't get a bunk room and had to pay extra for single.  Took a bath for the first time, luxury.  At a local bar I had fish and chips and two drafts, a Smithwicks and a Guiness. It is at least twenty percent more expensive in Northern Irelan.

I am on a bare bones budget, as usual; a real good reason to head south.