A little late, but just reporting that we are safely home once again. The Saturday drive from Bangor to Heathrow was mostly in rain. For the last hour the sun was out. We said a fond farewell to Winnie who performed admirably for the whole trip. She was returned without a scratch on her. Then we retired to the Heathrow Marriott for the night where we had a pleasant but unspectacular meal.
The Sunday flight to Las Vegas in Premium Economy on Virgin Atlantic was smooth. There were some rowdy Brits in economy that acted up, especially one young couple who did a lot of yelling and screaming. When we landed in Las Vegas, deplaning was delayed for five minutes while the Las Vegas Police came on board and arrested the couple. Their holiday in Vegas will not go as planned. It’s quite possible they were denied entry into the US and also quite possible they would be re-arrested when they returned to the UK.
We picked up our rental car that we would would drop off in Scottsdale on Monday – a Kia Sorrento SUV. Dinner was at Outback Steak House near the Marriott Residence Inn.
We left Las Vegas at 6:30 AM, stopped at McDonald’s in Boulder City for breakfast, and were home before noon.
Next up: Elaine visits her brother in Texas in July; I go to Saratoga for two weeks in July; and we both will drive to Depoe Bay for two weeks in late September.
A couple of people asked about my camera. I used to lug around a big SLR with lenses. No more. Too much trouble. But a camera phone just isn’t my cup of tea. So I now use a Canon G7X Mark II. No interchangeable lenses, but the camera is very versatile. It replaced a Canon G16 which I wore out. Had I not recovered this one, I would have bought another G7X. The links describe them better than I could.
The weather was nice in Dublin on Friday morning and our ferry wasn’t until 2:00 PM. So we decided to visit a cemetery – Glasnevin Cemetery. It is the burial place of many Irish notables including the Liberator, Daniel O’Connell, Brendan Behan, Éamon de Valera, and my favorite Irish vocalist, Luke Kelly. The museum was interesting, and we climbed the 198 steps to the top of the recently reopened O’Connell Tower.
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O’Connell Tower
Me Photographing Realtive?
From Top of O’Connell Tower
O’Connell’s Tomb
Big Tree, Little Guy
Quite a Tree
198 Steps to Top
The 3½ ferry ride from Dublin to Holyhead started in sunshine and ended in rain. It rained the rest of the evening. We drove 30 miles from Holyhead to Bangor where we stayed at the lovely Management Centre, a part of Bangor University. We ate in their restaurant which was excellent. The view from our room and from the restaurant was delightful despite the bad weather. If you are ever in Bangor, Wales, stay here!
Saturday morning we drive on to Heathrow (5 hours) for Sunday’s flight to Las Vegas.
The drive to Dublin was uneventful through alternating sunshine and showers. We made the usual stop in Moneygall at Barack Obama Plaza on the highway. Obama’s maternal great-great-great grandfather, Falmouth Kearney, was born in Moneygall. He visited the town back in 2011, a big event for a small town in County Offaly. We had sandwiches and got back on the road. We arrived in Dublin at about 3:00 and checked into the Croke Park Hotel (where we have stayed before). The hotel is right across the street from Croke Park where the All-Ireland Irish Football and Hurling championships are held each year. Dinner was at the hotel.
But there was a big pleasant surprise before we left Dingle. As I was loading up the luggage for the trip, I reached deeply into the center console in Winnie’s front seat. EGADS! What was in there but MY CAMERA! I felt stupid for losing it and now even stupider for not having known it was there all the time. Stupider but happier.
We had dinner at the hotel. And then we had a good night’s sleep. The ferry tomorrow isn’t until 2:00 PM so maybe we will do som,ething in the morning.
Tuesday and Wednesday were our last two full days in Dingle. Not a lot to say about either day. Tuesday was dreary and rainy. Wednesday was mostly sunny but very cool.
On Tuesday we did pretty much nothing except have lunch at Sheehy’s Anchor Down Restaurant. Elaine did get her second hair cut from Marion’s Hair Studio. Dinner was at home -I barbecued sausages from Mr Kennedy’s Butcher Shop. They were served with potatoes and peas. After dinner we stopped at the Dingle Pub to say goodbye to Richie O’Brien of Dreams of Freedom. (You can buy their latest album, Live from the Dingle Pub, here.) Then we went for our last stop at O’Flaherty’s for some music and drink and craic. We chatted with a couple from Michigan and a couple from Rhode Island.
Wednesday was another quiet day. We walked into town together and then went our separate ways. Elaine dropped off our library books and did a little shopping for items she wanted. I just walked around a bit and said goodbye to a couple of merchants that we know. We had leftovers for lunch at home – the fridge is almost empty. In the afternoon we went into the Dingle Pub to say our goodbyes to Tom, Suzy, and David.
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Elaine and Winnie
The Dingle Aquarium
Dingle Marina
Fishing Boat Repairs
Dingle Harbour
Dolphin Watch Leaving
Blasket Island Boat Readies
Our last dinner in Dingle was at our favorite restaurant, the Chart House.
The Chart House
Kir Royales to Start
We Both Had Arancini Starters
Rack of Lamb for Me
Hake for Elaine
Delicious Mousse
Apple Creme Brulee
Dingle Whiskey After Dinner
Tomorrow morning, Thursday, will be the start of the journey home. The plan:
Thursday: Drive to Dublin and overnight at the Croke Park Hotel.
Friday: Ferry from Dublin to Holyhead and overnight at the Management Center in Bangor, Wales
Maybe there will be posts along the way. It was a grand trip. I am always sad leaving Dingle, but there is Saratoga (for me), Dallas (for Elaine to visit her brother), and Depoe Bay (for both us at the end of September) to look forward to..
Typical Irish weather day – cloudy, occasional rain, and brief periods of sunshine. There was lashing rain early in the morning just before we got up. It’s an Irish bank holiday. We spent a very quiet day in town. We took our separate walks in the morning. Lunch was at home. In the afternoon we went to Neligan’s and then on to the Dingle Pub for pints. While in the pubs, we watched the final game of Irish football tournament that we attended on Saturday. A local team, An Ghaeltacht, from just west of Dingle on the Peninsula, won the match on a thrilling last minute scoring kick with just seconds left in the first overtime.
We had our next to last dinner out at Out of the Blue. If you like fish, this restaurant is superb. I had warm mackerel and salad as a starter and delicious pan fried haddock (skin on) and gambas (shrimp) for my main. Elaine had smoked and honey cured salmon as her starter followed by a monkfish kebab with mushroom duxelles. for her main. For dessert I had decadent dark chocolate cake and Elaine enjoyed passion fruit panna cotta. The wine was a Weingut Geil Pinot Noir from Germany.
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After dinner we went back the Dingle Pub for some music. After a frenetic weekend in Dingle because all the bank holiday related activities, the scene returned to normalcy on Monday night as visitors headed home.
Two more full days in Dingle before we set out on the long (but enjoyable) trek home via Dublin, Bangor (Wales), Heathrow, and Las Vegas.
Not much to say on a very windy, blustery, rainy Sunday with the odd periods of sun shining through. We drove to Listowel for the day for horse racing at a top tier Irish track. The Listowel Races run just twice a year – two days in June and then a week long festival in September., Today was Ladies Day with prizes for the best dressed ladies. With the weather being what it was, one might have expected few entrants. But the Irish woman shrugged off wind and rain and coolness, and there were plenty of nattily attired entrants about. And most of them would have looked very good at the Kentucky Derby. There are pictures of the winner and lots of entrants on the Listowel Facebook Page.
We got to Listowel at about 11:45 and decided to have lunch in town before venturing to the track. We ate at the Horseshoe Bar on Main Street, a venue we have been to before. Elaine had a chicken wrap with chips and I had the special steak burger with chips. Good food.
The day at the races was uneventful. Good races. A beer at the bar. And no winners. Gambling wise, it has been an unsuccessful trip. Thank goodness there wasn’t much gambling. (We never even made a bet when we were in Las Vegas on the first day of the trip.)
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Gallery One
In the Bar before the Crowds
The Paddock Walking Ring
The Walking Ring from Above
Sun Shines on the Bookies
Gallery Two
Candidates for Best Dressed
Gallery Three
The Track
The Ring Again
Bundled for the Elements
It was home again well in time for dinner at the house. We are emptying the fridge for our Thursday departure, so we just had crackers, cheese (from the Little Cheese Shop), and smoked salmon paté (from the fish market).
It’s a long weekend in Dingle because Monday is a bank holiday (national holiday). And Dingle is hopping because of two events. There is the Páidí Ó Sé Irish Football Festival going on with amateur teams from all over Ireland competing in the one-and-you’re-out tournament. Irish football is a great sport, sort of a combination of rugby, soccer, and American football. Páidí Ó Sé is County Kerry’s football legend. And then on Sunday there is the charity Dingle Way Challenge where people walk across from Ballyferriter to Dingle to Anascual and across Conor Pass to earn money for charity.
On Friday we did separate walks into town in the morning. We met up half way and then both continued singly on our preferred routes. I stopped at My Boy Blue for a sinful breakfast.
Flowers in our Yard
B&B’s at the Top of the Hill
A Wall Along the Way
Hot Chocolate & Carrot Cake
Walking by O’Flaherty’s
Horses in Town
Again
After we both got home we set out in drizzly weather to Gallaras just outside town to watch some Irish football. Despite the rain, it was great fun. We watched the second half of one game at the first field and then the second half of another game at the second field.
Elaine’s Video of the Game
After lunch at home and an nap we drove into town to try a new pub once again. This time it was O’Sullivan’s Courthouse Pub, famous for its nightly music sessions.. We parked and passed some rowdy and drunk football players in the street. The Courthouse Pub was quiet as a church when we arrived and ordered our pints. One guy came in and we struck up a conversation. It turns out he was a player in one of the games we watched earlier in the day. Small world. We had a great time with him and also met some of his teammates as they started coming in. They weren’t drunk . . . . . yet.
Three Footballers
For dinner we returned to Land to Sea where we had eaten back in our first week. We had the tasting menu with a nice bottle of Pinot Noir, and it was grand.
After dinner we stopped into the Dingle Pub for one. With the football tournament going on, there was security on both doors. The bar was filled with rowdies and for the first time ever I saw a young girl, drunk as a skunk, ejected by security. Numerous warnings were issued to people. Our least favorite band was playing and we left after one to walk back to the car in heavy rain.
Tomorrow (Sunday), depending on the weather, we will probably drive to Listowel for the horse races.
It stormed all night. Heavy rains and wind. I am usually up at 6:30 but I stayed in bed until almost 9:00. Lazy bum, me. I had my usual breakfast – a microwaved poached egg, BBQ bacon & cheese on a thin bagel.
Quiet day. Elaine walked into town to the fish monger and bought monkfish for tonight’s dinner. She also bought some fresh local calamari.
Mid afternoon we went into town to scratch another of Dingle’s pubs off our list – the Adams Bar. I had a Guinness while Elaine had a Hophouse 13. Elaine walked home and I went to the Dingle Pub for a pint and met Kevin, a local retired coach driver.
The weather was generally cloudy but the sun shone through at times. Elaine took a nice picture of Dingle Bay in the sunshine on her walk.
I grilled the calamari on the BBQ for an appetizer. Quite good, served with just lemon.. The gas BBQ grill has been great for home cooked meals. (Thanks, Bob, for properly reassembling it – I’m still on the same tank of propane.) The monkfish was superb with a nice spring salad from the Farmer’s Market (which runs every Friday).
Life is good. Six more days in Dingle. Made reservations for tomorrow night at Land to Sea and for Monday night at Out of the Blue.
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At Adam’s Bar
Dingle History Factum
Little known Dingle was put on the tourist map in 1969 when MGM and director David Lean filmed Ryan’s Daughter here. It starred Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, Trevor Howard, John Mills, and Leo McKern. While it was not critically acclaimed, the film grossed $31 million. It was nominated for four Academy Awards and won two: John Mills for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Freddie Young for Best Cinematography. It is often described as the film that changed Ireland forever. The poster below is on a building in Main Street across from the Dingle Pub.
The other film most closely associated with Dingle is the Ron Howard directed Far and Away starring Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise when they were a couple. It is often cited as Cruise’s worst movie ever, and Rolling Stone rated it one of the worst movies of all time.
We spent a quiet Thursday in Dingle. Next Thursday we will leave on the four day journey home with overnights in Dublin, Bangor (Wales), Heathrow, and Las Vegas. It was a generally rainy day with occasional bright spots. I returned some library books and got a couple of new ones. We did some minor shopping at SuperValu. Lunch was at home and I took a nice nap. In the afternoon we drove into town and hit up a new (for us) pub, the Barrack Height. This pub is slightly off the tourist route, so it doesn’t get a lot of Americans. We chatted up Liam, the young bartender. He was surprised that we knew a lot of people in town that he knows well. Their was a fabulous live Calla Lily in the fireplace and a nice painting of local boy Jack Kennedy who is now a top jockey in Ireland and the UK. The painting is him winning the Dingle Derby back in 2014 on Coola Boula, trained by his father, when he was just 15 and riding in flapper races.
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For your information today was a milestone day in Dingle history: Dingle now has a traffic light! It went into operation today. AND today I got my first ever haircut in Dingle from Justin the Barber. (€10).
For dinner we paid our final visit of the trip to Ashe’s Restaurant where we were treated to complementary after dinner drinks after yet another fine meals. You may recall that the Ashes of Dingle are related to Gregory Peck who was once a frequent customer. After Kir Royales to start, Elaine had her favorite, sea scallops and pork belly while I had the turbot special (after six delicious Glenbeigh oysters).
Finally it was off to O’Flaherty’s for some beer and good music before returning home very late to bed.
So we had a great road trip . . . except my camera is gone. Where it is, we do not know. Best guess: I set it on the roof of the car and then drove off. But it’s gone. I was taking pictures on Monday but on arrival at our B&B Monday night there was no camera to be found. So the pictures from now on will be from Elaine’s camera or occasionally from my Moto G4 phone. Hey, it’s only a camera and it will be replaced when we get home. Stupid to lose it, but things happen. Fortunately I download all my pictures from the camera at the end of each day, so the only photos lost are the ones I took on Monday.
Monday
We headed out for County Clare at about 9:00 AM. We drove north through familiar territory to Tarbert where we caught the Shannon Ferry to Kilimer in County Clare. We were the last car onto the ferry for the 25 minute crossing.
In Clare we drove first to Carrigaholt Bay and Carrigaholt Castle. Just a brief stop there and it was on to Loop Head Lighthouse where we did the tour to the top of the lighthouse. Up until we got there the weather was cloudy and drizzly, but the sun magically came out just after we arrived. We stopped at the the Bridges of Ross which used to be three natural bridges but is now one, two having fallen into the sea.. Beautiful area but we didn’t walk far enough the see the natural bridge.
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Carrigaholt Castle
Loop Head Light
At the Bridges of Ross
We stopped for lunch in Kilkee at the Stella Maris Hotel. Then it was on to the Cliffs of Moher, one of the most famous sites in Ireland. On the way we passed Trump Doonbeg, Trump’s luxury golf club in County Clare. We flipped it off as we sped by. (Trump is coming here soon and invited the Irish Taoiseach, the Prime Minister, to visit him at the Golf Club. The Prime Minister turned down the invitation. Bless him. They will meet briefly at the airport.)
As is normal, the Cliffs of Moher were crowded with tourists and tour groups. It’s big enough to handle it, but I cannot imagine the crowds in July or August. While the cliffs are spectacular, there are cliffs almost as spectacular in counties Clare and Kerry that you can enjoy with nobody else around. Still, one has to stop. It was very windy!
After a walk along the cliffs we drove on (four miles) to tiny Doolin where we spent the night at the lovely Twin Peaks B&B. Doolin is four pubs, a couple of gift shops, and lots of B&B’s. And one more thing which I will talk about on Tuesday. We had a lovely dinner at the Ivy Cottage where we met and chatted with owner Frank Dineen. (For the Murphy’s, we asked if he was related to Kathleen Dineen in Dingle, but he was not.) The food was delicious. Crab cakes followed by Fish and Chips for me. Soup (Butternut Squash, Peanut Butter, and Chili) followed by Tagliatelle for Elaine.
The Ivy Cottage
Wedding!!
Squash, Peanut Butter & Chili
Crab Cakes
What Are They Having?
Tagliatelle
Fish and Chips
See Our Shadows?
Tuesday
The plan for Tuesday was a pre-booked boat trip to Inis Oirr (Inisheer), the smallest of the Aran Islands. The worst thing would have been a rainy, foggy day. We got up to breakfast at Twin Peaks to beautiful sunshine. After a nice breakfast we drove the two kilometers down to Doolin Pier. As I eluded to above, the other thing that Doolin is famous for is as a boating gateway to the Aran Islands. The small dock was teeming with tourists for the several boats running to the Islands. We were booked with Doolin2Aran Ferries for the thirty minute crossing to Inis Oirr (for a three-hour stay on the Island) followed a return ride to Doolin with a cruise directly under the Cliffs of Moher. No vehicles on this ferry, only pasengers, so Winnie stayed in the huge parking lot in Doolin. Nothing in Doolin is big except the parking lot!
The boat trip and the walk about on Inis Oirr was delightful. The sun shone brightly. We had a nice lunch at Tigh Ned (Ned’s Pub). The pictures tell the story.
Cliffs of Moher from the Boat
Upon redocking at Doolin, we jumped into Winnie the Peugeot for the two hour ride back to County Kerry via the Shannon Ferry. It was the 50th birthday of the ferry service. Happy Birthday Ferry! We stayed in Ballybunion for the night at McMunn’s Hotel where we had a nice room and a very nice dinner. From our room window we could see the Ballybunion (Bromore) Cliffs, Ballybunion Beach, and Ballybunion Castle. Ballybunion is probably most noted today as a golfing center. In the past it is famous as having been the spot from which Guglielmo Marconi (who was married to an Irish woman) made the first ever radio transmission across the Atlantic to Nova Scotia. That was in 1901. That explains the Irish, Canadian, and Italian flags flying at the ruins of Ballybunion Castle.
Wednesday
Not much to say. Before we left Ballybunion in the rain, we stopped for a picture with the Statue of Bill Clinton in front of the Gardai Station commemorating his visit here to play golf. The ride home and the rest of the day were uneventful. I barbecued chicken beasts, ground lamb skewers, and asparagus for dinner. Then to bed, to bed.
The pictures above are all from Elaine’s camera, some taken by me and some by her. Since it was a photo worthy road trip, here are some more pictures that I took with Moto G4 phone camera. It does pretty well in bright light, not so well in darker situations.
