There are places you visit because they’re on the itinerary.


And then there are places where somebody eventually has to convince you to leave.


Giant’s Causeway was the second kind for me.


We visited Northern Ireland in March 2019, and I knew before we went that I wanted to see it. I’d seen the pictures. I knew what it looked like.


Except I didn’t.


Pictures don’t quite explain what it’s like standing there with the Atlantic crashing against those bizarre stone columns. I could have watched the waves hit them over and over again for hours.


And judging by my camera roll from that day, I basically tried. 😂


I photographed the columns. The water. The waves. More columns. More waves. The same waves from a slightly different angle, because apparently this one was obviously completely different.


Seven years later, I’m looking through those pictures again—and this is still one of the places I’d return to without hesitation.


That’s one of my favorite things about travel. Sometimes the places you’ve built up in your head don’t live up to the expectation.


And sometimes you get there and realize the pictures never stood a chance.


Giant’s Causeway was that place for me.


I could’ve stared at it all damn day. ❤️

Kelly

Keep Collecting Places ✨

Giant’s Causeway is exactly why I say I collect places. If that’s your kind of thing too, come see the ever-growing list of places I want to experience. And if you’re wondering why having kids hasn’t stopped us from going, read We Take Five Kids Everywhere. ❤️


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5 responses to “I Could Have Stayed at Giant’s Causeway All Day”

  1. Speaking of Collecting… Places? That’s a Collection of Mine, Too — And It Keeps Growing! – In My Mom Era Avatar

    […] places that explain this obsession pretty well: Giant’s Causeway, where I would’ve happily stayed all day, and the Bell Witch Cave, where I drove out of the […]

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  2. Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument: Teaching My Kids About History – In My Mom Era Avatar

    […] Travel isn’t only about checking off destinations for us. It’s about what a place teaches us, what we remember, and what the kids take away from being there. That’s a big part of why I started writing about collecting places instead of just visiting them. For a completely different kind of place that stayed with me, read about Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. […]

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  3. The World Through My Lens: Every Animal Deserves a Photograph – In My Mom Era Avatar

    […] about collecting places. And sometimes the destination itself completely steals the show—like Giant’s Causeway, where I could’ve happily kept wandering with my camera all […]

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  4. I Detoured for the Bell Witch. It Was Closed. – In My Mom Era Avatar

    […] Places? for more of that madness. For a detour that actually delivered, come with me to Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, where getting me to leave was the […]

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  5. We Take Five Kids Everywhere — And No, We’re Not Waiting Until They’re Older – In My Mom Era Avatar

    […] road trip with two-month-old twins. And if you’re here for the places themselves, come wander Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland with me. […]

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I’m Kelly

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Feel free to partake in the chaos that is my life! 5 kids, a giant TBR list, dreamer of vacations, researcher of anything remotely interesting. Sums it up in a nutshell. Did I mention chaos? Lots. Of. Chaos.