The Ireland 2023 Adventure Begins

Flew to Boston. Easy flight. Spent Wednesday driving to New Hampshire (Rye) to visit my sister and brother-in-law. We all met at at cousin Heidi’s house in Rye. Lunch was at Ray’s Lobster Pound in Rye (where we used to enjoy lobster rolls 65 years ago – still going strong!) Everyone had lobster rolls (or clam rolls) except me. I had the fried clam dinner with onion rings. OMG good! Big fat juicy clams, onion rings made right, and LOTS of food. We ate, reminisced, discussed relatives, and had a grand time. No pictures. My bad!

Thursday we had lunch with friends Bob and Barbara at Tony C’s at Assembly Row in Somerville before heading to the airport. Aer Lingus flight was uneventful except for entertainment system not working at our seats. With lay-flat seats, I got a few hours sleep. We landed on time at Shannon (5:45 am) and picked up our rental car (yet to be named). Amazingly it was a bright sunny day, a rarity in Ireland at any time. It’s only a 2.5 hour drive to Dingle, so we had time to kill before our house was ready. We stopped in Tralee at about 9 am and did some shopping at the Tesco Superstore. We had planned on getting wine and vodka here, but, alas, you cannot buy alcohol before 10:30 am in Ireland.

Then we spent some time around Castlegregory (once described by National Geographic as “the most beautiful place on earth”) and took some photos with my Pixel Pro 7 phone – the camera was still packed away. It’s only about 30 minutes from Dingle.

After that we drove into Dingle, walked around a bit, and had lunch at John Benny’s pub (no relation to Jack). We both had the delicious JB’s fish pie and I got my first pint of Guinness since we left Dingle about 11 months ago.

We did some more shopping at SuperValu where we finally stocked up on wine and vodka. Then we checked into 18 Ard Na Mara, our house for the next four weeks (pictures forthcoming later). We had cocktails outside in the nice sunshine. Still full from lunch, we had wine, cheese, apples, and crackers for dinner. Early to bed after the long overnight flight and long day. View from the patio below

See you tomorrow.

8 thoughts on “The Ireland 2023 Adventure Begins

  1. Glad to hear that you made it safely to Dingle. Beautiful scenery, especially with the blue skies and sunshine.

    Enjoy.

  2. I have a friend with her husband (and group) who are passing through Dingle in the next week or so, so say hello to all American visitors who pass your way – Enjoy Your visit!

  3. Glad you both have arrived safely. LOVE the pix, so nice and sunny. Can’t wait to see the house. Enjoy!

  4. Glad you arrived safely. Alas, I can spot something wrong in one picture! That is not a Smithwicks in the Smithwicks glass! Looks like a lager or blonde ale to me…

    Enjoy your trip – looking forward to reading the blog each and every day!

  5. We are glad you landed safely and are settled in Dingle. Know seeing Jeff and Sue was a wonderful visit. Happy that happened for you all. Bill loved his brothers surprise birthday visit and made turning 80, a lot easier! Great view from the backyard!

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