|
Ireland Roots Trip, 2002
When: September 5-11, 2002.
Witnesses:
Billy Stokes, Dan Burke, and Amy Burke Bessette.
I arrived in Dublin, Ireland about
10:30 a.m. on September fifth, 2002. I flew a smaller jet (Aer
Lingus) from London via American Airlines. It was an all day trip to
get there. My flight out of Tucson, AZ left at 7:00 a.m. on the
fourth, so I was pretty tired by the time Billy arrived at 12:30 p.m.
We collected Billy’s bags and meet his
friend from the seminary, Chuck Lathrop, at the arrival gate. Chuck
was accompanied by his 21-year-old son Cathal. The Lathrops drove us
out to their house on the north side of town where we decomposed for a
bit. After a hot bowl of soup and some good conversation, I decided
I could take being upright no longer. Cathal was kind enough to
escort me, via the Dart (local train), into town to where we were staying.
We got to the Morgan Hotel, in Temple Bar, in no time. The hotel was
very chick. I dropped my bags off in my room, and Cathal and I
strolled down to at local pub for my first pint of Guinness in Ireland!
While there, he filled me in on the mysteries of Irish culture for about
an hour, then disappeared with a slight beer buzz and a handshake.
It seems I had only been
napping for seconds when Amy and Andre called. They were in their
room and ready for dinner. They arrived safely around 6:30 p.m. and
knocked on my door around eight.
We slipped into an Irish
diner at a restaurant named Golddiggers. The food was great and the
waitress, very cute. After dinner we huddled in a corner at an
upstairs joint where we listening to Irish folk songs and caught up on old
times. It was great to be in Dublin, Ireland with my little sister
and brother!
Billy arrived at our
hotel after breakfast the next morning in a picnic. He wanted to
bail town, but we couldn’t. Andre needed to leave Saturday, so we
spent Friday touring Dublin with Cathal as our guide.
We went to Trinity
College, visited the Book of Kells, went to Grafton Street, then finally,
on a tour of the Guinness factory. The tour was extensive and
beautifully laid out, but the reward was even better. On the seventh
floor was a tasting room and a 365-degree panoramic view of Dublin.
We hung out there for some time. Billy had a non-alcoholic bottle of
brew and we all drained the best Guinness ever poured.
 
Next
|
