TLDR – Kids are off for a week, Dad is off for most of the week. We got a new cat we should not leave alone overnight – Day trip to W5 and Little Wing Pizza in Belfast
How the trip happened – history
Last time we were in Belfast taking the kids to Vertigo we found a wood-fired pizza place called Little Wings Pizza we fell in lust with. The idea of heading back for more pizza has been tossed around for the last month. Michelle did some looking and we thought we might book an overnight in Belfast for the kids week break in October. While looking into the overnight Michelle also found a science center of sorts called W5. On a parallel track Khaleesi’s on a mission to adopt a kitten from DSCPA. A week earlier we’d selected a kitten to bring home while the kids were off school for a week.
New Kitten means no overnight, plus the America trip used all of my holiday days – I’ve been working early 0400-1000 shifts to cover the Asian shift at work. Monday I worked both Asian and EU shifts. In an act of revenge, my boss said I was not allowed at work Tuesday – Saturday; I’m being forced to take the week off; Oh darn. Week off + new cat = a day trip to Belfast. The New kitten came home on Tuesday the trip happened on a Thursday. Kitten came from DSPCA about 15 minutes from our house; we live close to so many things
Took about an hour to pick up the cat along with 5 or 6 other families. The DSPCA gave us a quick class on what to expect, boxed up the cats in cat carriers, then set us to the front desk to pay and take off home. Girls were all kinds of excited for a few cat.
Road Trip – W5
Out the door around 0830 – first stop at McDonald’s to pick up hash browns. Somehow the car did not charge the night before. The next stop was an apple green rest stop on the M1 for a rapid charge to add some electrons. Michelle picked a parking garage between w5 and Pizza with a row of chargers. After finding the chargers full on the fifth floor Michelle and the kids took off while I waited a bit for a charger to open up.. Saw a guy pulling out who told me I could not have his spot because he swapped cars in and out of that spot all day long because the chargers are free.. mmmmm– this does not seem cool but oh well.
Not a fan of driving to cities for this reason – parking – Drove about 8 minutes down the road to a pay-to-park lot with another charger and left the car under a bucket truck working on a Billboard. 30 minutes later family is all together to carry on exploring w5. W5 was great craic, minus all of the other people. Come on people get out of way so we can see all of the things!
Pizza and home
Twenty-minute walk with worn-out hungry kids into the no-car streets and Little Wing Pizza – 40-minute wait; UGGG. We decided to wait on the street sitting on a bench. While waiting we went to a dealz for drinks and pretzels; kids needed something MIla was breaking down. Michelle Checked out a thrift shop, the kids ate Toblerone, Michelle went to a Tresspass and came back with hiking pants for Maddex. 30-minutes later the gal who took our name at the pizza place came out, found us on the street, and invited us in for an open table.
Finally – Pizza and dough balls smothered in garlic butter. An order of bread sticks and bread balls for each kid, plus a massive pizza to share between us. Khaleesi is mega anti-eating pig. We cut around the pepperoni creating a bunch of cheese pizza slices of various shapes for her. After filling our bellies we walked to the van and drove home. Had charging issues at the first Apple Green. The Rapid charger kept kicking off saying car error. Ended up giving up and driving to another Apple Green rapid charger which worked without issue. –
Oh ya, the headlights. I thought I was getting super old with horrible night vision when we first started off home. Had to read the car manual at the first charge stop to work out it’s the van not me. There is a dial on the dash looking like the interior light dimer. Less dash lights at night are nice; I turned the dial all the way down ages ago – Turns out the dial moves the headlight aim up and down. Had to change from 0 to 6 which moved the headlights from about 80% of a car’s length of vision to 5 car lengths. – I’m not totally blind, just needed to read the manual.
