We spent two nights in Northern Ireland in this beautiful b&b, our nicest home on the island (and that is saying a lot). Our stay at Drumcovitt House cemented our belief that we would return some day to Ireland. The cottages were so comfortable, spacious and chocked with homey amenities that it really felt that way—like home. Our lasting thought was what an idyllic retreat Drumcovitt would be for the summer.

Along with shots of the gorgeous estate here are photos of a few random stops on our way back to Dublin, the day before our long flight back to Seattle.

Dark Hedges is a hedgerow of ancient beech trees in County Antrim. I didn't find out about the place until we arrived in Dublin. It was actually a Northern Ireland tourism promotion poster at the end of the gangway right as we stepped off the airplane. I saw it and instantly new I had to go.

Not being a real tourist destination it is actually a little difficult to find. There are plenty of maps online, but there are no signs whatsoever. I was lucky to be able to get into the area while driving around for Tillie's nap, and we just had to keep our eyes peeled while careening down country roads. But then, lo and behold, we saw the trees while passing a junction. And what a beautiful sight.

The Giant's Causeway is a formation of basaltic rock covering several acres on the north coast of Ireland. Formed from a lava flow some 50 to 60 million years ago, the basaltic rock rises in primarily hexagonal pillars. Just a few miles outside of the town of Bushmills (yes, that Bushmills), The Giant's Causeway is not to be missed.

According to Irish folklore the Giant's Causeway was built by sometimes high king, sometimes giant Finn McCool. Finn McCool built the causeway over the North Sea to Scotland to fight another giant named Benandonner. But it turned out that Benandonner was a much larger giant than Finn, so he ran back across the causeway to hide. Finn asked his wife Oonaugh what he should do and she told him to hide under a blanket and act like a baby. When Benandonner came looking for Finn he saw the baby and, growing frightened by the thought of the size of Finn McCool if his baby was that large, ran back across the causeway and tore it up behind him as he went.

On our way to our next destination in Northern Ireland we stopped at Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery, a grouping of about 30 visible tombs built back in the day, about 5,500 years ago. The largest tomb on the Carrowmore grounds is a stone cairn 13 feet high and 112 feet in diameter. Buried in the center of the cairn is a large limestone dolmen. The cairn has been excavated on one side so you can enter the structure and see the dolmen. Cool stuff to see.

Carrowmore is just over three miles south of the town of Sligo, where I found the surname Duncan is relatively common (whereas I didn't find it in any other part of Ireland). Could my mother's ancestors have come from this area? Seems very possible.

One more exciting thing happened while visiting Carrowmore. While out walking the grounds of the cemetery we ran into none other than Tilia's French friend Louise and her family. It was a great surprise and Tillie was beside herself with joy to get to play with her newest friend again.

Connemara is the wild western coast of Ireland. Sparsely populated, dominated by mountains, forest, bogs and moorland, this is Ireland of the rugged outdoors.

A step away from the rolling green pastures that make Ireland famous, Connemara is home to Ireland's natural vistas. We were excited to take a day trip through the region, but once again the day did not cooperate and we were socked in a heavy downpour for nearly the whole journey.

We didn't take in nearly half of the scenic vistas we expected, but I still really enjoyed photographing the rugged views. The downpour actually added something heavy and almost oppressive, a stark outline to the environment that I think works well.