Don't worry - the early parts of the game are really open-ended and still quite accessible after you get back to Athkatla (assuming that's where your travels take you
). You didn't really give up any significant adventures by going to the Asylum.
As for priest spells - not all divine spells are open to all divine casters. For instance, druids and rangers cast from a pool of priest spells which is only partly available to clerics (and vice versa). For example, ironskins (a great protection spell) is not available to clerics, while (un)holy smite (an attack spell that keep on givin') is unavailable to druids/rangers.
By the way, great to hear I'm not the only old guy playing this game! Still remember how much fun Ultima II and Questron were...
EDIT: shamrock_uk beat me to it. Dang those slow typing fingers.
[ 02-04-2005, 04:13 PM: Message edited by: Feral ]