2024 Ireland Adventure: Introduction

 How the trip came into being

If my memory serves correctly (and events around that time are admittedly a little fuzzy), just before Robert's passing I was texting with a couple of my sisters when we concocted the idea of going somewhere. One of my sisters mentioned Hawaii and I said, "What about Ireland?" And there we were. My Cooper SIL had a tour reserved with Vagabond and Driftwood Tours of Ireland in 2023 but had to cancel so she had credit she needed to use before August 2024. I suggested Driftwood to my sisters, we picked a date and started planning. I decided to stay another week after our 6-day Great Southern Tour so my SIL made plans to meet me and go on another tour with me. 

Decisions, Decisions

We had decisions to make, the first one being which Driftwood Tour to take. The one we wanted was full for the date we wanted so we chose the Great Southern Tour. Robert & I visited some of the places but I was definitely okay with revisiting, and there were plenty of places we didn't see.

I've said that if you go to Ireland, you shouldn't take a tour, but...Y'ALL! This was definitely the way to go! They only do small group tours and go places "off the beaten path". There were a couple of places I didn't think I could have found or would have known anything about. Plus the convenience of just showing up at the front of the hotel with our suitcase at the designated time was incredible. We didn't have to worry about anything. 

Back to decisions...

I went with 2 of my sisters' airline preferences...Delta. I wasn't thrilled about it, but it turned out to be great. Since 1 sister doesn't live where we do, we met up at the Atlanta airport. 

The 3 of them were in the middle row, I was right next to them...with an empty seat between me and the window seat person. Plenty of room to not worry if my blanket or pillow (or anything else) was getting in someone's way. 

Once in Dublin, we easily found Border Control. (Following other people helps a bunch) I think our plane was the only one in line so it was amazingly quick. Then we found the taxi queue and we were off to the hotel. Our taxi driver was wonderful. He talked about things we were seeing and told us they have a special name for dandelions: Pee the Beds. (although he didn't say "pee"!) They were told as children that if they picked a dandelion they would pee the bed that night. A quick Google search tells me that the French word for dandelion is pissenlit, which means (you guessed it)...pee the bed.

Dublin

Only 1 of us slept on the plane and it wasn't me. I felt so bad after a couple of hours in Dublin, but I didn't feel "tired", just "bad". Our first stop was the Long Hall Pub but I forgot to take pictures (again). It was around lunch time and they didn't serve food so the barman sent us to The Hairy Lemon. This was the place that had the horrendous Irish Coffee last trip. It was interesting to be there again; I knew it as soon as I spotted it and remembered exactly where we sat and where the restrooms were. The last time, it was evening and was crowded so we didn't look around the place. I was amazed at how much space was in that building. I still wasn't impressed with the food, but maybe because I just wasn't hungry. Nah, their french fries weren't good at all. 

We walked over to Trinity College, which was close by. It took us forever to figure out how to get in. There's a lot of construction going on and my thought was that they had entrances blocked off to keep people from cutting through the grounds. So, we walked around a bit and found the opening. 1 of my sisters ended up going into the Book of Kells; I really wanted my sisters to see the Long Hall Library but you couldn't do 1 without the other and it was pretty pricy to get in. The sister that went in said that they are getting ready to close the library for 2 years for major renovations and most of the books had already been taken out. So, I was glad we didn't fork out the money to be disappointed.

At that point, we decided to go back to the hotel. 1 of my sisters & I crashed for a couple of hours and I think the other 2 went to the bar. We enjoyed watching Leinster play Leicester in Rugby on the tv. The hotel is on the same road as the stadium so there were a lot of fans stopping in for food and drink on their way to the match. We got to experience "flirty Irishmen" right off the bat: there was a man selling Leinster hats & scarves and he cozied up to one of my sisters.

Dinner at the hotel was amazing: Guiness Beef Stew with Pints. 1 of my sisters commented on how good the Guiness was, but I told her to just wait...that wasn't the best one she'd have!

The Ireland Adventure was off to a "grand" start! Check back for more posts, and check out Flyin' the Coop for more detailed, travel-related posts on this trip.

Friday Fotos 2024 #7

Friday Fotos is a post where I can dump some photos from the previous week. The goal is to make me more aware of the beauty and fun in my everyday life. 

If you're an Outlander fan, you should get this license plate I saw.

I did some "Cemetery Sightseeing" on Saturday. I read about this monument in a cemetery in Knoxville to the Sultana, a steamboat that was hired to carry Civil War POWs from Vicksburg, MS to the northern states. The passenger capacity of the steamboat was 376 but there were over 2000 prisoners on board. Long story short(er), there was a problem with a leak in one of the boilers and instead of having it properly repaired, the owner opted for a quick bandaid to save time (and money). Just north of Memphis, 2 of the boilers exploded. It is believed that 1176 people died, either directly from the explosion or from hypothermia and burns. Why wasn't the largest US maritime disaster (to this date) publicized? It happened the day after John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln's assassin, was killed.

These mushrooms look like a chocolate s'more!

This guy has been making an appearance on the porch. The dogs haven't caught sight of him so he's safe for now.

Speaking of my porch, I finally stopped looking at a gazillion different set-ups and sets and just broke down and ordered one. I've spent almost the whole time I'm home out on my porch since it was delivered. MS put it together in no time at all and helped me arrange everything.

I'm so glad that I went through with having this done. I used to wonder how my daddy could just sit on his porch for hours and now I get it. His wasn't screened in, but I completely understand how and why he did it.

One more upgrade in the front. I think I'm done with the front yard (unless I think of something else to do!)

A closer view of the light. They look like little torches, an idea I got from one of my sisters and my FIL.

Until next time...

A Wordy Hodgepodge

Joyce asks the questions, and we provide the answers. See how others answered at From This Side of the Pond.

1. What are you currently juggling in your life? 

A routine that makes me feel like I'm productive with not being motivated!

2. How often do you buy new clothes? What was the last piece of clothing you purchased? 

I usually go a long time without buying clothes; I'm not a big "clothes shopper". When I retired last year, 1 of the first things I did was get rid of my work clothes. I should have waited a while...I really need some of those blouses I threw away! I'm looking at dressier pants and shirts that I can use for traveling, made out of quick dry material so I can wash them in the sink, hang them in the bathroom, and make sure they'll be dry the next day. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

3. What food festival would you most like to attend?

Joyce gave some international and national suggestions, but there are a couple close to home that I've missed out on in the past and would like to go to:

National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburg, TN (near Chattanooga)

ChocolateFest-Knoxville, TN OR Chocolate Fest-Jonesborough, TN

International Food Festival? Since Bruges, Belgium is on my list of places I want to visit, there's this one: Choco-Late Chocolate Festival

4. May is the 5th month of the year. Tell us something you remember about your 5th grade year. 

Uhhhhh...nothing. I have no memory of that year whatsoever. That was back when there were "junior highs" so I can't even say I remember being one of the "top dogs" at school. That may have been the year I picked the flute as my instrument...or maybe that was 4th grade. I have no idea.

5. What are your favorite five words right now? 

Joy

Peace

Riiiight?  

Pray

Solitude

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The first Ireland installation has been posted on Flyin' the Coop. I'm doing "Lost Mary" posts instead of changing the name of the blog. My goal is to also post on this blog, but change the post a little bit. I started writing a post on how I lived out of a carry-on suitcase for 2 weeks, so look for that as a "Lost Mary" post on Flyin' the Coop as well.