Day 2 - The Great Scottish Tour

Dublin, Ireland to Stranraer, Scotland

We were up at the crack of dawn on Day Two. It’s amazing how different the city is in the mornings before people (tourists) start moving around. 

Our trip by taxi to Kill, where Celtic Rider is located, was only about 30 minutes and we arrived early – eager to get on the road. 

It was fun to get reacquainted with owner Paul and his daughter, Louise, who was full of stories about filming their new reality television show the months before.

Side Note: After last year’s superb, but unusually hot, dry, and sunny, vacation we knew we couldn’t get that lucky two years in a row. For that matter, we purposely left our sunscreen at home and packed extra long-sleeved shirt. 

It wasn’t as hot, dry or sunny – but it came darned close. Before even heading out to pick up the motorcycle, we stopped and bought a bottle of sunscreen (which we used up before the week was over).

Geared up and ready to roll, Paul took us on a little trial run (“Stay left, look right”) before setting us loose on the open road. 

We had a ferry to catch, so we bombed it up the A1 to Belfast...

...and a quick journey across the sea to the port town of Cairnryan, Scotland.

Then down the loch a few miles to the Craignelder Hotel in Stranraer, where we were staying for the night.

We quickly learned that Scottish hospitality parallels Irish hospitality and were greeted warmly everywhere we went. We spent the evening walking around town, stopping at a few pubs, like The Grapes...  

...The Pub, and Ivy Leaf Fish and Chicken Bar.

We don’t know what was so different about Ivy’s fish and chips, or maybe we were just famished, but we had one of the best meals of any of our adventures there. The cook was friendly and helpful, when we couldn’t decide how much food to get, she just said she’d take care of us and produced the perfect portion of deep fried cod and chips.

At The Grapes, we chatted with the owner and a patron who was also a biker that gave us some great tips on off-the-beaten-path rides and sites to see. 

We always appreciate this, and assume locals know a whole lot more than all the research in the world that we could do.