Tuesday Morning
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So, on Sunday we had some time to kill before heading to the airport for our flight. We took a ride through Melrose and then by Tufts where I went to college. Reliving the past. Here’s a picture of the Geoghegan family house for fifty years – 4 Chestnut Park – and a view looking up Chestnut Park as well as one of the Chasse house (yellow) across the street. The Chasses were good neighbors. The Chasse house used to be owned and lived in by Robert Friend, the founder and co-owner (with his brother who lived in the next house down) of Friend’s Beans. They made (in Melrose at their factory) the best baked beans of the day. I was never a baked bean fan! Robert Friend used to drive in and out of his driveway well into his nineties when we were kids. I don’t every remember speaking a word with him. The flowering tree in the front yard of our old house was planted by my mother as a birthday gift for Elaine back in the 1980’s. Looks like it’s doing pretty well.
Then off to the airport. Our Aer Lingus flight left on time Sunday night and we arrived at Shannon Airport near Limerick forty minutes early at 4:50 am on Monday. Being early as the first flight in has advantages and disadvantages. We sat at the gate for fifteen minutes before the staff arrived for work to connect the gangway to the plane. Elaine and I were the first ones through Immigration (I used my Irish passport), and the luggage was already on the baggage carousal when we we got there. Then we had to wait fifteen more minutes before the Enterprise Car Rental staff arrived. Once we got our car we were off for the 2½ hour drive to Dingle. Our car is a nice deep blue Peugeot 3008. It will officially be known as Gorm (Irish for Blue) and our GPS helper will be Fiona. Did we have a car named Gorm once before? Can’t remember. Anyway, this one runs on diesel. Please let me remember not to put unleaded gas into it! I did that once in France. The results are not pleasant.
The drive to Dingle was uneventful under beautiful sunny skies (are we really in Ireland?) and the roads were almost empty that early. By the way, Monday is a Bank Holiday in Ireland. We arrived in Dingle before 9:00 am but our new place was ready for us as we had paid for the previous day. Our address is 11 Marian Park. It’s not as large as our old places, but it’s perfectly fine. Three bedrooms – one with a single bed (downstairs) and two with double beds (upstairs). Since we would kill each other sharing a double bed, we each have our own bedroom. Oddly, there are no wardrobes or bureaus or closets in the bedrooms – just simple hanging areas. But it’s all fine. The single bedroom is our closet/bureau. The TV gets LOTS of channels – much better selection than our old houses). The kitchen is small but perfectly functional. Two full bathrooms – one upstairs and one down. Washer and dryer and dish washer. Nice back yard with a picnic table. And it’s easy walking distance to town. It’s located on the other side of town than previously. Pictures follow.
After unloading Gorm and sort of settling in, we took much deserved and much needed naps. As noon arrived we revived and heading into town for some lunch and some grocery shopping. Because it’s a bank holiday, Dingle was very busy. For lunch we ate at Paul Geaney’s Pub. Tom Geaney, our friend, runs the Dingle Pub which is right next door. In 25 years of visiting Dingle we had never been to Paul Geaney’s. We had a nice lunch and nice chat with Paul Geaney who forgave us for not coming in for a quarter of a century. I had steak and Guinness stew; Elaine had the house special sandwich. We both had Harp beers. Harp is made by Guinness.
Then we stopped in at the Dingle Pub to say hello to Tom and also saw his son David, the Irish dancer. We had just seen David a few weeks prior at his performance at the Irish Cultural Center in Phoenix. We chatted and had another beer. Then it was off to Supervalu to get the essentials – wine, vodka, breakfast stuff, shampoo, soap, Coke Zero, water, cheese, etc.
After that we were knackered – the travel and the time change caught up with us. We struggled to stay awake for the rest of the afternoon and early evening. Dinner was very simple – wine, cheese, and potato chips. At 8:15 it was off to bed. Bed never felt so good. The mattresses and pillows are very good, by the way.
Stay tuned.
Lots of fun times in the Melrose house. I remember your Mom and Dad.
Place looks great. And always superb to have an uneventful travel day! Trying to look as I gaze past your house into town there with the water, are you across from the Skelling hotel our tour stayed at?? Enjoy your time there, with that early arrival, paying for the extra day was oh-so wise!!
We are up the hill from Doyle’s if that helps. I think you ate there.
Hi Cindy. Yes, it was great to see Joe and Elaine in person. It’s been a while. We had lots of laughs, talked about the good old days, and ate some great seafood.
Wow, Joe, great pictures of the old neighborhood. I haven’t been back to Melrose for a few years now. Our house has a new paint job since I was there last. It looks good. Yes, the Chasses were great neighbors. We have an oil painting that Denis Chasee painted for us years ago. He became quite an artist and had a studio on Cape Cod.
Your new place is definitely smaller but very nice. Where would you sit to watch TV? It looks like all the seats face away from it. Not that you probably watch much TV anyway. But it’s great to have a washer/dryer and two bathrooms. Gorm is very nice. I remember the story of you putting the wrong gas in a car when you were in France.
Your lunches look great and it’s nice that you got to see old friends right away.
Yeah, the tv is oddly located. There is another chair that you can’t see that was also facing away from the tv, so we turned it so it faced it. But the wall recess hid half the tv until we realized the tv pulled out from the wall. So two people could sit on the end of the couch, one with their feet up, and see tv. Now the other chair can also watch tv. So it works ok for the occasional watching.
That explains it.
The Geoghegan family manse looks great. Elaine made us a memorable Mexican feast there about 40 years ago, YUM, even more delicious than the one we had last night to celebrate Cinco de mayo. Lovely that your birthday gift was in full Spring bloom, Elaine. It looks like one of the pink dogwoods that used to be so prolific in New England. Most of them are gone, felled by a strange virus. The main ones we have now are the disease resistant Kousa dogwoods from East Asia, Beautiful in their own way with creamy big flowers, but just not the same.
The new Dingle house looks fine and is really well located if you can walk into town. Lots of space, too. I’ll be right over to occupy that remaining single bed! As for the lack of closets, I remember people in France telling me that they used armoires because the government taxed a closet as if it were another room. More likely in Ireland it’s just that it gives the house more living space.
I knew your time together would be special Sue. No surprise you had great seafood in Boston. We just can’t get that here in Denver. Your old house looks wonderful. I had some good times there with all of you and dear Peg. Well, Joe and Elaine, looks like you found a good place to land in Dingle.
No surprise you had a great lunch and some nice, cold beer and an early bedtime. Glad you arrived safely. All good with family.