Thursday

Another perfect weather day. And we basically did nothing. I dropped some laundry off. Otherwise we just stayed home. Oh, I did make to O’Flaherty’s for a beer. Fergus, the owner, was tending bar and I learned some very sad news. Mary had worked at O’Flaherty’s for twenty odd years and we knew her well. I asked Fergus if she was still working. Alas, she died suddenly this past year. She worked one night. The next day she collapsed in her home and was DOA at the hospital. Very sad.

Why did I drop laundry off? We do have a washer/dryer. But the wash cycles are long and drying a load literally can take three hours. So we decided to let the local cleaner do the dirty work. I’ll pick up the clean clothes in the morning.

Why am I drinking Harp instead of Guinness? On our last Christmas trip here I was sick (twice). It wasn’t the Guinness that made me sick, but I sort of lost my taste for it. So I am drinking Harp (which is, of course, brewed by Guinness)..

Since we did nothing, there are no pictures. So, here’s a little more of a geography lesson. Yesterday (or the day before?) I included a map of Dingle Town. Here’s one of the Dingle Peninsula with the town circled.

Yesterday’s drive to Slea Head goes west out of Dingle through Ventry, Courmeenoole, Dunquin, and Ballyferriter. From Ballyferriter we doubled back to Dingle. Slea Head Drive continues from Ballyferriter through Murreagh to Brandon Creek from where you go overland back to Dingle. We’ll do that section soon.

The big white blob east of Brandon Creek is Mount Brandon. If you drive northeast out of Dingle Town, you go over Conor Pass (also spelled Connor Pass) to the other side of Mount Brandon. Very narrow roads! You can go to the picturesque small town of Brandon or further east to Castlegregory (the most beautiful place on earth?), numerous beautiful beaches, and eventually to Tralee.

When we go to Tralee from Dingle, we take the N86 through Annascual (home of Tom Crean’s South Pole Inn).. From the N86 you can also bear right at Annascual and go to Inch Beach, Castlemaine (home of the Wild Colonial Boy), and eventually Killarney (not shown). The road from Castlemaine through Milltown and Killorgin is the start of the famous Ring of Kerry. Just past Killorgin, you’ll see Glenbeigh where the local oysters are farmed.

Be back tomorrow (probably).

Wednesday

Well, another stunningly perfect weather day. Is it really Dingle we are in? We both took walks into town going separate routes at about the same time. Oddly enough we met up at the Dingle Library where I renewed our library cards and Elaine got some books. And we ended up back at the house about the same time. We had home-made sandwiches and chips for lunch and then decided to take a ride.

For the ride we headed out to Slea Head, possibly the most beautiful drive in the world. It’s brilliant in the sun! We did about half the normal circuit and then cut off to go back into Dingle. We’ll do the other half (and indeed the whole route again) another time. Pictures tell the story here. Nothing you haven’t seen before, but as beautiful as ever. We didn’t hold a baby lamb.

Click on the galleries below to bring up scrollable windows with full size pictures – the gallery previews may show just thumbnails of the pictures. By the way, the pictures look much better on a tablet or a computer than they do on your phone. Just saying.

At one overlook there was a piper selling wares and entertaining the tourists.

Next is Trá an Choma (Coumeenole Beach) which was made famous in the movie Ryan’s Daughter. Find Elaine. See one person swimming (that’s not Elaine!)? See the baby lambs?

Next along the route was Clogher Strand, perhaps my favorite spot. First pic is from the road above looking down on the beach (see the Three Sisters in the right background?) and then shots from the beach itself. There is a wonderful short hiking route from here that we may or may not do another time. See the island? It’s one of the Blasket Islands and is known as the Sleeping Giant. See why? The actual name of the island is Inis Tuaisceart. The beach here is usually raging surf and very unsafe for swimming. Today it was as calm as a lake with barely a ripple for waves.

After that we cut off and took the back road home. Nap time! Then it was time for dinner. Our favorite restaurant, the Chart House (unrelated to the American chain) is no more. Jim decided to retire and his premises is now an uninspiring breakfast and lunch place. Still, we may give it a chance one day. But tonight it was dinner at Ashe’s Bar and Restaurant, another favorite. I had local Glenbeigh oysters followed by delicious John Dory. Elaine had seafood chowder followed by Thai flavored mussels. We split a delicious fruit meringue dessert. The wine was French, a Beaujolais. Does Elaine looked stunned by the seafood chowder?

Then we decided to stop in for a quick sip at the Dingle Pub. Well, we stayed longer than expected because Richie O’Brien of Dreams of Freedom was performing. We chatted up a nice young couple from Florida (who graciously took our picture) and a nice young man from Canada. My selfie isn’t bad, but the other picture of us is pretty good. The big guy next to Elaine in the green jacket is the Canadian.

And home to bed. We walked into town. It seemed a lot longer walking home!

Tuesday

We slept in on Tuesday morning. The sleep of the dead. That travel day did us in. We recovered in time to go out for lunch at the Fish Box, one of our favorite places. Mr. Flannery, the owner, is a fisherman, and he supplies the fish, so you pretty well know it’s fresh. (I have chatted with him several times over the years in Curran’s Pub.) The old place had just six tables, and it was tough to get in. They expanded into the nearby house, and now it’s spacious. The food is delicious. It is open for dinner as well, but we have only eaten lunches here. It’s really a family-run place. The Flannery children run the front of the house. Mrs. Flannery runs the kitchen. We were well remembered and had nice chats with two of the Flannery kids running the place. (They live in a house just two houses away from our old digs on Ard Na Mara.) I neglected to take pictures of the food and of the new interior. Next time for sure as we’ll be back there again on this trip. I had seafood chowder followed by fish and chips. The fish was hake. (Did you know hake is the common name for fish in the Merlucciidae family of the northern and southern oceans and the Phycidae family of the northern oceans. You’re lying if you say you knew.) Elaine had the spicey fried calamari with delicious garlic aioli. We both had Harp beer.

After lunch we had a short walkabout and a return visit to Supervalu for things we forgot yesterday (mayonnaise, sandwich bread, cold cuts, lettuce, and crackers for the cheese. (Cheese and potato chips don’t make a great cocktail hour combination.) I took a few snapshots all within a few steps of the Fish Box. All the pictures so far have been with my phone (Google Pixel 7). Tonight I’ll get the camera (Sony RX100 VII) out and operational. Dick Mack’s is directly across the street from St. Mary’s Church. The Fish Box is just steps away. See the banner for Féile Na Bealtaine? That’s an annual weekend festival with lots of entertainment of all kinds. When I booked this trip, it hadn’t been scheduled yet, but I expected we would be in Dingle for it. Alas, the last day of the festival was yesterday’s bank holiday Monday. The other church like building (located right next and slightly behind the church is the Díseart Institute of Irish Spirituality and Culture. There is a nice garden and some great stained glass windows by Harry Clarke here. Maybe more about them later if we visit the center. Don’t I look tired in that picture? I was. See Elaine in one picture?

For those who ask and for those who have been here, here’s the town layout. X marks Water’s Edge House where we stayed several times. Y marks where 18 and 23 Ard Na Mara are located. We stayed in both a few times. Z marks our current house location.

After lunch I slept some more. Tough getting over these travel connection days. I had planned to go to Curran’s for a beer, but decided to put it off for another day. Rose Byrne, our house manager, came over at 5:30 to see if we needed anything. (We don’t.) We arranged with Rose to have the house cleaned and the sheets and towels changed every Tuesday.

Cocktails were at the usual time and dinner once again was cheese, this time with proper crackers. We watched some tv (mostly The Chase – one of the most successful and longest running game shows on UK television. It’s been on over here since 2009 and has an American version that we have very rarely watched.). The chasers are like old friends as we watch this show every time we come to the UK or Ireland.

I should probably wait and post tomorrow (Wednesday), but I’ll just do it now. The weather, by the way, has been fantastic – cloudless skies and nice warm sun. Temps in the 60’s. Perfect.

Tuesday Morning

Click on the galleries below to bring up scrollable windows with full size pictures – the gallery previews may show just thumbnails of the pictures. By the way, the pictures look much better on a tablet or a computer than they do on your phone. Just saying.

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.

Sunday Morning

So we are off again to Ireland. We are spending a couple of nights in Boston to visit family – my sister and Elaine’s cousins. Then we will jet off to Shannon Airport (near Limerick, Ireland). I won’t be posting much from Boston in this kickoff post. Or will I?

From the plane approaching Boston.

Rental car (unnamed) from Alamo. Black Chevy Equinox. Nice car. We are staying at the Marriot AC in Medford located in the Station Landing complex right next to Wellington Circle and busy, busy roads. But Station Landing is a nice development with lots of expensive apartments for rent – not busy, very good for walking, and quiet as could be with nice restaurants to walk to. When we first got to the hotel, we walked two minutes for dinner at Regina’s Pizzeria just down the street. Same ownership, but not quite the same pizza as the pizzas that you get at their original location in the North End. If you’re from Boston, you know about Regina’s Pizza.

We spent one day in Rye, NH visiting my sister Sue, her husband Jeff, and my cousin Heidi. We’ll all had lunch at Ray’s Lobster Pound in Rye. No pics of our visit with Sue, Jeff, and Heidi. (My bad! I meant to.) We were too busy reminiscing and eating – lobster rolls, fried clams, fish and chips, onion rings, etc. Fried food frenzy. (No dinner that night!) We used to go to Ray’s almost seventy years ago when we were just kids. My mother especially loved Ray’s. I did get a couple of pictures from the road of the area around Wallis Sands Beach where as kids we were beach rats and where I had my first ever jobs – dish washing at Florence’s Restaurant and then behind the counter serving and fast food cooking at Dinnerman’s. Those places are long gone. (See those cabins on the right in the background of the picture of Dinnerman’s? Those were the Rosecliff Cabins which were owned by Heidi’s late husband’s mother and father. The cabins are still there, now converted to very nice small residences.)

Day two we were to meet Elaine’s cousins, Patrick and Mark, along with Mark’s wife for a meal at the Union Oyster House in Boston. Alas, Mark and Sharon had to cancel because of a family situation, but it was great to see Patrick again. Elaine and I were early, so we stopped for a beer at the Pine Bar. It’s interesting that the Pine Bar serves only beer, wine, and liquor made in New England. The Union Oyster House is an institution and arguably the oldest restaurant in America – Daniel Webster ate oysters at the bar here. (He and I have something in common.) More good food! Patrick and I shared some oysters and then we all had lump crab cakes. See Elaine with glasses on? She borrowed my readers to read the menu.

Sunday we were off to the airport to board our Aer Lingus flight to Ireland. We’ll get there at 5:30 am Monday morning, pick up our rental car, and drive to Dingle (about 2½ hours). Our new digs will be ready when we arrive in Dingle. More about them once we arrive.

So the next post will probably be sometime on Tuesday once we have settled in. I think probably I will post every other day on this trip rather than every day. But that’s not a hard rule if I get inspired. If you’ve followed the blog for awhile, you won’t be seeing much new in the way of sights. There are a bunches of old posts of previous trips to Dingle, and much of what you will see this time has already been posted on those old posts.