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| Saturday, May 5th |
| Teresa made us another fine breakfast to send us on our way happy. Our plan was to drive down to Ennis over the Irish Burren to do some shopping and have lunch. The countryside on the way was dotted with large sheep pastures and ancient rock tombs. After exploring the various interest sites it was lunch time and we had lunch at a very nice pub called O'hallorans. It was time to get to our final nights stay at Doolin |
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| Doolin is a very small seaside village and presents a very unique view when approached from the hills above. It is know throughout Ireland as a great place to come on a weekend to experience great Irish music and have a good time. We arrived about 3 o'clock and for the first time met our hostess, Martina O'brien. The house was just finished and she gave us all beautiful big rooms. After settling in we went outside to just look around and get the lay of the land. I had been waiting for this day because a good friend who lives in Dublin and worked with me at IBM was going to meet us here. We had to keep an eye out for him because the B&B did not have a sign up yet and we had arranged for him to stay at the same place. He introduced us to his wife Betty and suggested we all go to McGann's for some Guinness. We sat and talked of our adventures for a while and the thought it would be a good idea ot walk around and watch the sunset. It was a beautiful evening and the views out to the Aran Islands were very picturesque. We all had a very tasty dinner at McDermott's pub. Dad took out his plastic to pay the bill and was informed that it was a cash only place. Being the last night I had pretty much got rid of my Irish punts. Without a word all the boys and Leo started to shove money at me. I'll never forget it. The boys stayed behind at the bar to listen to the music. Leo Betty and I went outside to walk and view a beatiful full moon. We went down to Oconnors pub to listen to some music before calling it a night. The boys came into my room late after they got in to make me up and thank me for a wonderful trip. It was very moving. |
| Early the next morning Ken and Art left for Shannon because they were flying over to Scotland for a few days. The rest of us had our last big Irish breakfast prepared by Martina and her 2 children. She really was very gracious and went out of her way to make us all comfortable. It was a beautiful clear morning, very befitting for our last day, so we all took a long walk over the narrow winding lanes that traversed the village. |
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| Well, it was time to go so we said goodbye to the O'briens and packed the cars. Leo suggested that we stop in Ennis. He & Betty wanted to give us an Irish sendoff. We spent a very pleasant time and bid them goodbye. It was time to head for Shannon, we had a4:55 flight back. |
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