Staycation in The Sunny Southeast Summer 2020
We normally go away every year for our Summer Holidays but this year, given the current circumstances we decided to do our first ever staycation.
We based ourselves in a small little village in Wexford called Blackwater and stayed in a mobile home in one of the many mobile home parks that Wexford has to offer.
Driving from Dublin it took us as a leisurely 1.5 hours which was mostly motorway and a few backroads which itself brings its own challenges. Google maps do not seem to tell you about the tractors you will get stuck behind or the 10-minute wait while the farmer and his cows cross the road. Our 6-year-old thought this was the funniest thing ever and I will take this any day over the gridlocked M50 as rush hour!!
As we were based in between Gorey and Wexford town we checked out both towns, which are large enough and have lovely little boutique shops that you could get lost in all day. There are also many small cafes and restaurants to get a great bite to eat.
Heading South we ventured out the beautiful Hook Lighthouse at Hook Head. This is the oldest working lighthouse in the World and is breathtakingly. We did the tour which was excellent, and we got to see how it worked in the years gone by. Now its all computerised so nobody mans it, but it was excellent to see how it works. Due to covid restrictions, everything must be booked in advance, even just to get into the carpark needs to be booked. You do not have to do the tour; we went back another day and just had a picnic there overlooking the sea. They also have a good playground to entertain the kids whilst we had a great coffee.
When the weather allowed, we headed straight to the sunny beaches of Wexford. From Morriscastle to Curracloe the long stretch of sandy beaches are amazing. So clean and the water was warm which we loved and spent hours there when we could.
We booked our 6-year-old into surfing lessons in The Surf Shack on Curracloe Beach. This was such a confidence builder for her, 3 days spent on a surfboard battling the waves was great and luckily, we got the weather for that
We headed on down to the lovely little scenic fishing village of Kilmore Quay. Wow just great to see all the local fishermen bringing all their fish from the trawlers and heading to the local restaurants. It was raining quite heavy this day so did not get to explore all that Kilmore Quay has to offer but we did manage to grab lunch in one of their famous seafood restaurants so that alone was worth the visit
We had booked in for Kayaking on the River Slaney, but Storm Ellen made sure we did not get to do it, but we will be back for that one
One of our last days was spent Crab Fishing at Cahore Pier. So much fun with this and no crabs were harmed as anyone we caught we put straight back into the sea.
So, what did we learn from our Staycation in the Sunny South East? Well for one it was not always sunny! However, with so much to do from beaches to walking and cycling trails and pet farms to just getting lost exploring the local towns and villages. There is also lots to do to keep the kiddies entertained we were blown away and now it is just wanting to make us do more staycations. Wexford you did not disappoint, and we will be back!