Strangford / Portaferry - Gala week

Some of the best holidays are in places 'just down the road' ......... places that never disappoint ..... places like ......... Strangford and Portaferry. 

Marguerite, Jude and Ben were on their annual trip down to the shores of Strangford Lough in County Down.  First stop was the beach. 

Ben loves the beach! 












Tyrella beach is between Downpatrick and Newcastle.  And a very nice spot it is indeed.















Ben was quick to get rid of the shoes and socks. 















This is take 3 of Marguerite's piece of 'Tyrella Beach' writing.  Why 'Take 3?  well the first two were spelt wrongly ...... seriously ...... you can't make this stuff up folks!

Marguerite and Ben are looking for sea shells, sea weeds and sea creatures! 
  












'Now son ........ let's check how cold this is'.

'Ok Mummy'. 












No trip to the beach should ever be made without a football. 

Ben maps out the pitch and then gives the orders about when to kick and where to kick it too!











Jude just does as he's told!

You can lose the pace ...... lose the hair .... lose the style .... and whatnot ...... but never the first touch, you never lose the first touch!

Today Ben is wearing his County Down top.  He loves it! 

In fact he's in the middle of a little period right now where he awakens every day and his first words are ..... 'where's my County Down top? 

For some peace and tranquility Jude can be often times be spotted taking the top off Ben as he sleeps in bed, sticking it in the washing machine .... at like 10pm .... before hanging it out to dry ...... in good time for the next day.  Wha?

Action shot!

You just can't beat an hour at the beach ..... works every time..  

Soon they were on their way to ........

......... Strangford ...... and in particular The Cuan.

Look closely in the car there ......... that's Ben laying there sleeping. He's having a wee nap .... bless him.

When in Rome ...... or in this case .... when in Strangford do as the locals do - for starters Marguerite tries the Cuans fantastic Crabs Legs.  Very nice .... yum, yum!!

One hour of peace and quiet.  You gotta make the most of these moments.  Dinner and a few beers was in order for these two. 

Ohh and Jude enjoyed the Crab's Legs too.  Highly recommended.

Before long Ben was up again. 

And was quickly back to being a messer.    















Thankfully the Cuan has great food, great service ........ and a great big wide footpath for Ben to play on! 

Family pic in Strangford! 

Later that evening it was time to get the boat ........















...... over to Portaferry. 
















........ Ben loves the view from the ferryboat.

First stop was the Ice Cream shop for a wee treat. 

Then a visit to Ben's cousin Aideen's house in Portaferry ..... and a game of football with big cousin Megan in the front garden. 

With Ben having lots of fun Jude slid off to meet his friends Barry and Denis down in Fiddler's Green.

Ben waiting for the Ferry boat ........

....... to arrive. 















The scenery on Strangford Lough is beautiful ..... dawn or dusk ........

...... and anytime in between.














The next day is Friday ..... float day at the Portaferry Gala.

There's no better way of starting a day than doing Peppa Pig's favourite activity .......... jumping in muddy puddles! 

A classic old school telephone box.  The odd thing about this pic is that Jude clearly remembers someone in it when he was taking the pic ..... that's why he took the pic ..... because he remembers thinking that it was odd nowadays to actually see someone in a call box making a call.  Is the man in there?  Was he skinny and is behind the red corner?  Can't quite see ...... but he was there, he was definitely.  Strange.  Odd. 







'Daddy, let's go for a walk around Strangford'. 















So Ben walked and Jude followed.

You can make the mistake of scooting through wee places like Strangford and 'blinking and missing them' so to speak ...... better to stop the car, get out and about ..... stretch your legs and whatnot ....... and you never know what you'll find ....... 








...... like a nice big house maybe! 















Mind how you go son! 
















Ben marched around town with his fishing rod .... or crab net or whatever it is. 

Strangford Castle. 

There must have been a lot of important folk back in the day ..... the De Courcey's and Savages and the like ....... built themselves great big castles everywhere in this area. 











Down on the lough and teams were getting in some late practice for next weekends World Skiffle Championships to be held on Strangford Lough.














Today Ben has his County Mayo kit on and pretty cool it is too.  

Ben has caught a fish ...... it's a slow moving Jellyfish ..... but it's a fish all the same. 














Cool boats in a cool pic.

Discussing how to find the best sea shells as the Ferry comes in.

Ben's Nana joined Marguerite, Jude and Ben for lunch today.  They all drove out to Castleward and settled in this cool courtyard for lunch.  Here is Ben opening up a gift his Nana has bought him. 

Ben was having lots of fun spending time with his Nana .......















....... and trying to ride his bike on the stones .....















....... and generally messing about.

Game of Thrones scenes are filmed here and it's easy to understand why ......














......... the scenery is just class.














Another castle ......... exactly one mile from Strangford Castle ....... as I was saying. 

Game of Thrones followers might recognize this scene!

It's Friday night and a couple of quick pints in the Cuan ......













...... before heading back over to Portaferry on the Ferry boat.

Every time Jude is down here he rambles on about how wonderful it would be to have a wee boat like this ...... but that's all he does is ramble on about it .... he never buys one! 

In Portaferry the streets are packed for the final night of the annual Gala week.















Ben loves watching the floats.

















Two nights in a row Ben got to spend time with his cousin Megan. 

Here is Ben running around the Square having fun. 

And here he is watching the floats.

As always the floats were class, though this character in the green did frighten Ben a little .....













......... as did this big Panda .......

 ....... and of course the big dragon.  When Ben saw this coming he freaked out and they all had to run across the road and back into the Square ........ in case the big dragon got them like!










The bands add a bit of nice music to proceedings. 













And as always the artistic design on some of the floats was just great. 

Ben bumped in his friend Georgia and they wasted no time in running around having fun and playing games.  

Friday night at Gala week is always a great event and tonight was no different.  Here are Jude and Ben making their way back to Strangford on the Ferry Boat. 

And it being the busiest night of the year ...... both boats were on.

Even breakfast in the Cuan is great. 

A room with a view.  Actually that is the view of Strangford Green from the bathroom!!

Jude says if he won the lottery he would buy one of the house along the front of Strangford.  But he doesn't do the lottery!!! 












Ben loves it down here because he gets soooo many runs on the Ferry boat. 

Now it's Saturday and he's headed back because Marguerite has her eyes on some Art she spotted in the Portaferry Art Gallery.










Note: Ben's Down top washed and back on him!

It's only a super cool ..... sunglasses on ...... scenic background ....... trying to keep a straight face ... pic. 

Guarding the stairs ........ just keeping Ben safe. 

A view of Strangford from the boat.















Portaferry was a lot quieter today than last night that was for sure. 

A year or two back a friend of Jude's commented, 'when you come down here now it's like a holiday to you', and he was right. 

And here's the proof ........ Jude, Marguerite and Ben visiting the Tourist information office in Portaferry.  Sure that's alright!

And to finish this post ....... here's a cool pic of Jude and Ben at yet another Castle, Portaferry Castle this time.