The flight from Greenville to Atlanta was fast but we spent more time on the ground taxiing than in the air. Atlanta was very busy. By the time we got to our gate they were boarding for Dublin. The Dublin leg was fine although the food on the American carriers will never be as good as Air France (oh how I miss those days). I think I slept four hours and felt fine to drive the two and a half hours to Ballymena. Bill B. (one of my colleagues from work) came along and we did fine between my Google Maps printout and the GPS. You just have to remember to keep left and look right.
One thing about Greenville Airport was the football team. Duke University was in town to play the local Clemson Tigers. The game finished with Clemson up 31-7. While we were waiting for our plane the boys in blue (Duke's athletic teams are called the Blue Devils) started wandering up looking a little glum and dejected. In the end about one hundred players, coaches, cheerleaders and support staff came through to board the plane. Then, the buses were on the tarmac to move the gear into the plane. Did I mention the coach had his own state trooper? All I could think of was Dalhousie and SMU and me playing at MUN and how we would jam all our players in a small van or two mini-vans.
Anyway, back to the drive here. We got the rental car and had a bit of a challenge finding it. Once we did that we had to pay for our tolls, ahead of time. That meant going back to the airport to pay ahead of time at a kiosk. The way it works is that you register the plates and off you go. I guess the toll takes place on the highway with a camera at full speed. It seems convenient but it sure wasn't intuitive for me to figure out how to do it.
So far the food here has been good, although I've only eaten once. The restaurant here in the Adair Arms is very nice. They had a nice shrimp salad and a roast pork loin with apple sauce and two kinds of potatoes. The dessert was a strawberry pavlova (I'm thinking of you Rob) with a raspberry sauce.
In Ballymena I've been out around town for a walk. The town has two shopping centers in the old district. We poked around both of them and found some interesting shopping. I hope to go back later this week to shop a little more seriously. I may find some interesting deals for Christmas and maybe for myself, who knows. One of the stores, H&M, is one of Jane's newest favorites. They have a good selection of kids stuff too.
That's all for now...more later.
2 comments:
Glad to hear your flights worked out.
You lucky ducky! I have Ireland on my Places to Visit list, so I am living vicariously through you! Have a nice little pint and think of me somewhere along the line!
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