Close to the heart; JILLY BEATTIE dreamed of an anniversary abroad but found all she could have ever wanted in Co Tyrone.

Byline: JILLY BEATTIE

WHAT BETTER way to celebrate a first wedding anniversary than a chilled weekend away from the stresses and strains of ordinary life?

New York might have been an obvious choice had it not been for the creaking dollar, long-haul flight horror stories and a certain someone's missing passport.

But in a moment of inspiration Beloved decided he could still surprise me and all I had to do was pack a bag and lock the doors behind us.

With no passport on hand, I eagerly grabbed my driving licence and waited to hear where we were flying to.

And while I was hedging my bets between London and Edinburgh, Beloved was leaning closer to home, much closer to home in fact -Tyrone to be precise.

With our honeymoon spent in Rome and on the enchanting island of Capri, it was indeed a change.

But here's the laugh - we had a blast and the weather was even marginally better!

We stayed in amazing accommodation, ate wonderful food over three truly relaxed days and even squeezed in a little shopping along with a National Trust meander.

Our Dungannon destination had started with a trek through the internet for Beloved's idea of a Moroccan break with spice markets and exotic souks.

Somehow he ended up at a link to Spice Cottages just outside of Moy and after one glance at the website, he was hooked.

The cottages accommodation was part of a special group promoting the area, called Flavour of Tyrone.

So there were oodles of restaurants, accommodation and ways to pass the time to choose from.

We set off on Friday evening after work and arrived at our holiday destination about an hour later.

Our delightful selfcatering cottage slept four people, had two en suites, a very comfortable lounge and a rather swanky dining kitchen. It even had a washing machine, tumble drier and outside there was plenty of room for parking. Owned by Olive and Perry Reid who live in the vast neighbouring thatched farmhouse, the place was perfection.

Olive had thought of everything the traveller might need to start a relaxed break after a hard week's work.

She not only left beautiful flowers, but bread, eggs, butter, tea, coffee and a endless little surprises, edible and otherwise, that we discovered over the weekend.

Our first food pitstop was a brilliant little Italian called Canos where the simple menu offered just what we wanted.

Everything is freshly-sourced and cooked and served by wonderful staff who genuinely welcomed us out-of-towners.

Then it was back to Spice Cottages for a relaxing bath and a couple of glasses of wine.

The following morning we were joined by friends and plumped for a light lunch at the Deli on the Green and immediately regretted booking an evening meal elsewhere because the selection here was fantastic.

Chef Bob McDonald was on hand to help us and we were spoiled rotten.

After lunch we shopped at the Linen Green - no explanation needed there - suffice to we bought lots of essential non-essentials.

But the hard work had to continue and while the girls were treated to an afternoon spa, the boys went fishing.

The Lavender Health Spa is in Clogher Valley and while I admit we cruised over there with some doubt in our minds, we returned to the cottage leaving a se-rieof return appointments dotted across the year.

Beautifully created by owner Helene O'Neill, Lavender offers more than most hotels or plush city centre spas in an amazing atmosphere and beautiful surroundings.

It specialises in small parties and couples, and can be booked out by just two people.

And what other spa do you know offers all the treatments followed by the finest coffees with home-made scones and jam? While the ladies relaxed in full pamper mode, the boys tried out fly fishing at Dungannon Lake and claimed to have narrowly escaped death by swan on two occasions.

Of course when we all went to investigate this killer swan it turned out to be a beautiful Aylesbury duck with a rather enchanting quack.

Despite the big stories, the fly fishing was a success and may even prove a winner one day when the boys are allowed to attach a hook to their lines.

After more relaxing back home at the cottage, local taxi driver Martin Mulgrew arrived at Spice Cottages in his chariot and carried us off to "Dine" at Dungannon Golf Club.

We were expecting scampi in a basket and some antacid medication but ended up instead with one of the best meals we've had in Ireland. Ingredients are sourced within 15 miles of the restaurant and cooked and served with a flurry of imagination and talent.

It's safe to say that it was pretty obvious we were strangers to the area because we had a series of smiles and welcomes that made me want to break out in national costume.

The wine was good as well so it was fortunate that Mr Mulgrew was on the late shift and managed to get us home.

After a lazy breakfast the following morning, we packed up but instead of leaving the area we hoofed over to the Argory in Moy, a beautiful stately home with an impressive barrel organ that was in full swing during our tour.

I'd seen the M1 road signs to the Argory hundreds of times and never bothered to indicate left but it's well worth the trip.

And while scrambling for coffee money in a cavernous bag, guess what I found - my passport!

It was a relief but I wouldn't have swapped our weekend in Tyrone for New York.

We had loads of fun, we laughed, we relaxed and slept well. We ate fantastic meals at good prices and met wonderful people.

And after all that, we were home in no time with our sights set on another staycation later in the year.

Perhaps it's true that there really is no place like home.

CONTACTS

www.flavouroftryone. com

Killymaddy Tourist Information Centre, 190 Ballygawley Rd. Tel: [phone]

Spice Cottages Olive and Perry Reid 142 Moy Rd, Dungannon. Tel: [phone]. Web: www.spicecottages. com

Lavender Health Spa Helene O'Neill 54 Errigal Rd, Ballygawley. Tel: [phone]. Web: www.lavewnderhealthspa. com

Canos: Cathal Gormley and Noreen Lafferty, Unit 6, The Butter-markeCentre, Feeney Lane, Dungannon.

Dine @Dunagannon Golf Club: Karen Lambe, 34 Springfield Tel: [phone] Lane, Dungannon. Tel: [phone]

Deli on the Green, Linen Green, Moy Rd, Dungannon. Tel: [phone]. Web: www.thelinengreen. com

Fly Fishing Dungannon Park, Moy Rd, Dungannon Neville Simp-soTel: 028 8772 8690

AM Taxi Martin Mulgrew. Tel: [phone]

The Argory, 144 Derrycaw Road, Moy. Web: www.nationaltrust.org.uk Tel: [phone].

CAPTION(S):

LAP OF LUXURY: Lavender Health Spa in Clogher EVERYTHING NICE: The warm surroundings of Spice Cottages, Moy, Co Tyrone PIZZA THE ACTION: Canos Pizzeria in Dungannon PARKLIFE: Lake in Dungannon Park