Beach Day- North Bull Island

I wasn't really sure what to do today- it was a beautiful sunny and warm day, and because I had finished all of my papers ahead of time, everyone else was stressed out and stuck in the library typing and working and I had nothing to do. I couldn't sit around in my room all day, I wanted to go on an adventure. I had talked to Emily about beaches, and she said that she heard that one called "North Bull Island" was cool, it was a nature preserve and a golf course as well. I mapped out the directions, packed a lunch, and decided to go on an adventure. It was an hour and forty minute walk there, but I figured that I had nothing else to do, it would be nice to explore and be outside. With my camera, phone for directions (and Snapchats obviously), and a lunch I headed off. I started off with with a sweatshirt, but quickly

realized that wasn't necessary and tucked it into my backpack. It was a really nice walk through tree lined Irish neighborhoods, much more pleasant than I expected. After an hour and a half, I reached the bridge to the Island, I was so proud and excited. I stopped to take pictures on the bridge of the island, which was massive. I was just so excited to finally be there, and make it on my own. There was a massive high grass area, clearly the nature preserve, but I wanted to see if there actually was a beach. What I saw more than exceeded even my wildest expectations- it miles of sandy beach, with people swimming, dogs running and people walking all over. It was so huge that despite the decent number of people, it didn't

seem crowded at all. I immediately took off my shoes and walked into the water. It was so rewarding, and I smiled bigger than ever. The only way to describe the beach would be to say that it was a slightly chillier version of Sanibel Island, our favorite spot in Florida. I decided to walk to the very end, which took at least another hour and a half. I laughed really hard, as a guy tried to hold a Husky back, who just wanted to run the beach and was doing everything in his power to escape his harness. The guy was really funny, rolling his eyes saying that he gets that way anytime he sees open space. Further along the beach was a gigantic English Mastiff with a smaller dog, neither of which were on leashes but running free. The two were playing ball, and the little dog got to the ball first while I was behind them

and the Mastiff literally picked up the smaller dog with the ball, only to set him back down when he was scolded. The owners didn't seem phased, neither did the smaller dog, so I would have to guess this was a semi-regular occurrence, but it was hilarious to watch. I stopped along the beach and sat on the bank of the nature preserve and ate my lunch looking at the beach and ocean and listening to the waves crash along the shore. It was amazing, I just sat there in peace and took in the beauty of it all. When I reached the end of the island, I turned around and ventured through the nature preserve for a little bit, which was very irregular, made up of a series of small hills. I left there, and walked down with my feet in the ocean

again. I was starting to get concerned around the time that I reached the beginning again after walking around 4.5 consecutive hours now, my skin was getting red. Not wanting to leave, I went in to the water one last time, but the tide had drawn way out to sea so it was a completely different scene than the morning I had arrived. As I headed back in, I saw one of my Irish friends up on the pier, and he called down to me. I went and hung out with his friends for a while more, and he gave me a ride back to DCU, which I was really happy about. We stopped at a place called Hillbilly Joe's for chicken dinner on the way home, a sort of fancy KFC arrangement in Ireland for dinner. I was exhausted by the time I got back, and I was completely fire-engine red. It was an awesome day, but I knew I'd pay for the sunburn when I showered and tried to go to sleep!