This was my second visit to Ballintoy Harbor in Northern Ireland. I'm happy to see that Faded Rose and Irish Rover are still there. The first time was in the company of friend Evelyn McCullough… this time was with a new friend, Gary Loughran , who’s also doing his best to show Ireland in its best light... take a look at his stream here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/144405441@N07/ and give him a good word.

I posted a tighter view from here a little over two years ago when Evelyn brought me here the first time… this image and the following dialog are a small tribute to her… she died this August 20 after an astounding battle with cancer, setting an example of how life can be well lived, regardless of our problems. "Can you be up by 4:30 in the morning?" What she actually meant was could I be out by 4:30, as she was waiting outside the door of the inn, right on the dot... ol' Sol's parabola puts it quite high in the summer mornings of Northern Ireland, and Evelyn McCullough's no slouch at beating him to put such scenes as this in front of her camera.

She took me for a quick (Top Gear kind of quick... she's a lot of fun!... and yes Rodney, I'd ride with her anytime) jaunt down the B15 Coastal Highway for one favorite scenes after another in the golden hour of this fine morning... she's the consummate photo tour guide, so much so that the BBC (Ireland) feature many of her photographs in their news broadcasts. The name of the white boat in this image is "Irish Rover", which is somewhat descriptive of Evelyn as well.

After breakfast, we also caught up with friends Mari www.flickr.com/photos/22784225@N07/ and Rodney www.flickr.com/photos/rodneyharrison1966/ for second breakfast (just like Hobbits!) of pastry and coffee... a good thing too, as we needed the energy for our last full day before returning to North Carolina. Evelyn made sure it was a day full of wonderful memories, including meeting Laurena and George... and discovering what flapjacks are in Ireland! It is a beautiful country made more so by beautiful people.

Check out my gallery at www.pixael.com/en/pictures if you want to see more pictures.

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