On our way...

The festival was being held in Bushmills, Co. Antrim, No. Ireland, right on the north coast, a very beautiful place.  We found after the fact that we had booked a flight to Belfast that had only existed for a couple of weeks before we left, and we were glad they had started this route since it cut down on the number of connections we had to make, and with the dulcimer checked as baggage, the fewer connections the better I like it.

The flights were uneventful, though the food on the flight across the pond was really bad, and we were 1/2 hour late taking off due to problems with a tray table in First Class.  I did get some sleep on the way over.  I know because I woke up.  And I did that about 5AM Irish time.  I witnessed probably the most amazing sunrise I have ever seen there at 33,000 feet.  There is no way to adequately describe it, so I won't try, and ther eare no pictures of it since my camera was packed away in the backpack in overhead storage, and to get it would have meant waking several people up.

We arrived at Belfast International Airport at around 8AM, about a half hour after we we scheduled to.  The pilot had not made up any time in the air, but, for us, it made no difference because this was our destination anyway - another nice thing about few connections.  Belfast is a relatively small airport, and on the arrivals side, it isn't much - just the basics.  We had hoped to get breakfast there, but they had nothing more than what we had gotten on the plane with over-abundant carbs and little protein.  We got our luggage, got through Immigration and Customs, and waited for a while before we got our car.  But we did get it a bit before 9AM, and made our way down the walk to the lot where we found it, loaded up, inspected it for damage (always do this!), and drove away!

Arrival in Ballintoy

We arrived at the Sheep Island View Hostel in Ballintoy about 9:30AM or so, found Josie and Seamus McShane, the proprietors, and checked in.  After unloading and unpacking, we promptly took a nap (10AM), expecting to sleep for a couple of hours, then get up.  However, we awoke at about 4PM!  We had an ensuite room (this means the bathroom is in the room, not down the hall), so we showered, dressed, and headed out to find food to buy for Wednesday, and some supper before we headed off to Ballybogey for the first concert.  We found food for the morrow at the Co-op in Bushmills, and ate at a very nice Pub, The New Mill.  The food was excellent and abundant, so much so that we took some home with us for breakfast!

The Ballybogey Concert

Ballybogey is a community at a staggered crossroads with a store and a pub, and that may be it other than houses and the Community Hall.  I have no pictures of the Ballybogey concert, but it was indeed a treat for us, and the people in Ballybogey, I think.  It was held at the Ballybogey Community Hall, which was a Quonset Hut with some add-ons, but it held a good number of people, and was big enough.  Performers for the evening were Dick Glasgow's band, Scad the Beggars, made up of Dick on fiddle, His wife, Sabine, on Clasarch and whistles, Greg Gault on Guitar and Bouzouki, and Alan Wade on Scottish Smallpipes.  Then Danielle and Ann-Marie Brown treated us to some song and a bodhran solo - now I know what you're thinking - Bodhran solo!  But you haven't heard this young woman play bodhran! Quite nice. (OK, so I walk toward bagpipes, too. So what!?)  And the singing was wonderful.  Greg Gault also gave us some North Antrim Rhymes in the Ulster Scots brogue.  Wonderful stuff!  Then Nat Magee and William Rea, both relatives of John Rea, gave us some tunes on hammered dulcimers, matching hammered dulcimers!  Nat's father built both these dulcimers, and they are exact copies of John Rea's dulcimer.  I even got to join them on a tune or two, and got to play some tunes myself.  Nothing like getting right down to it the first day!  Then it was back to the hostel for an early night - midnight!

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