We arrive in Dublin and head straight to the Guinness Brewery for my first taste of the Guinness – I swear it tastes just like a milkshake!

 Kevin & Jan Brooks (Annapolis, MD) agree! Kevin is a super bass player. He and I accompanied Mack on a couple of informal concerts during the tour.

Candy, Bryan Murphy (Tamarac, FL) Stephanie and I pose with Molly Malone (famous for wheeling her wheelbarrow through the broad and narrow streets of Dublin selling cockles and mussels and … “other things”). Irish legend has it that they had to turn her statue away from the road as she was distracting the motorists and causing accidents!

“M’self” & “herself” after the parade lost in the sea of celebrating Irish folk. Note Stephanie’s scarf, of the traditional St. Patrick’s green, especially knitted for her by our good friend, Dee Belanger of Baltimore, MD.

The Irish are very proud of their heritage of music & dance and they start them at a very young age. 

Candy, Bryan & Stephanie get friendly with a group of “enthusiastic” young lads!

After a hectic day of “Mayhem & Madness” running ourselves ragged, wandering the streets and bars in search of “authentic Irish music” we finally settle for dinner in a quiet restaurant and another pint of that Guinness “milkshake”. This was the restaurant where a passing comment (the first of many to follow) from an unknown Irish passerby, gave Dan the nickname that stuck with him for the rest of the trip – “The Rhinestone Cowboy”. Seems that people wearing cowboy hats are not a common occurrence in Ireland!

Larry Baggs (Las Vegas, NV) walks through the cemetery of St. Kevin’s 6th century monastery in Glendalough, Co. Wicklow, famous for its round tower, church ruins and Celtic crosses carved in stone.

Mack, Rachel Levy, Jan & Kevin, Stephanie and I pose for photos at St. Kevin’s Monastery.

Another photo opportunity at St. Kevin’s Monastery with Mack & Kevin.

We give our first concert for the group at the Granville Hotel, Waterford, Co. Waterford. I share (from the bottom of my heart – as you can see) with the rest of the group the story of why we are now calling Dan “The Rhinestone Cowboy.”

Bryan, Mack and I prepare for one of the toughest jobs of the trip – sampling the whiskey at the Jameson Heritage Center, Midleton, Co Cork, at 10am on a Saturday morning. If was a tough assignment but somebody had to do it!

Bryan learns the finer points of whiskey tasting. He graduates with honors and is now an expert on the differences between Scotch, Irish and Bourbon whiskeys. Well done, Bryan! We’re proud of you – now who’s got the aspirin!!

With the whiskey tasting behind us Stephanie & I prepare to kiss the Blarney Stone at one of Ireland’s oldest and most historic castles the Blarney Castle, just outside of Cork, Co. Cork.

Getting to the Blarney Stone, located at the top of the castle, is no easy feat but the magnificent view makes it worthwhile!

I “bend over backwards” to kiss the Blarney stone and receive the gift of eloquence!!

Stephanie doing a poor job of trying to fool me into believing she’s afraid of heights!

The 70’s are still alive in Ireland as the colors of the seats in one of our buses clearly show! Maybe another “drop of the whiskey” would help the eyes adapt to the color scheme!

I learn the finer points of the game of darts at the Kinsale Brewery Pub in Kinsale, Co. Cork. My first throw reveals I’m a natural at the game! At least Florence Mosher (Breckenridge, CO) certainly thinks so!

Sue Smith (Costa Mesa, CA), Stephanie and I in front of Charles Fort, built in the 17th century to guard the harbor of Kinsale from foreign invasion. And yes, it was a bit nippy that day.

Mary Ellen Woertz (Glenwood Springs, CO) braves the cold to join us for a photo op.

Mack, Rachel, Carol Mcardell (Aspen, CO) and I wander aimlessly through the back streets of Kinsale.

“I’ll ‘ave a pint and a ‘alf” says Mack who has now developed an Irish accent and a taste for the “Irish milkshake.” Meanwhile Kevin throws caution to the wind and samples a glass of the famous Kinsale Ale. Jan looks on in amazement but Jim Grim (Fleetwood, PA) could care less!

What’s the secret of Irish step dancing? Two young Irish lasses show us their taps

The Kinsale “colleens” display their elaborate and colorful costumes.

Bryan joins us for a few numbers during our second concert at the Imperial Hotel in Cork, Co. Cork.

Dan Forde gets to fulfill a long held dream – to sing his song, “Hey Dad”, in honor of his father and grandfather (who both hale from an Irish background) on Irish soil. There was not a dry eye in the house as an appreciative audience gave Dan a standing ovation! Joining Dan on stage was “Flat Stanley” to prove he really was in Ireland as part of a Florida school’s geography program. After touring Ireland with us Stanley headed off to Scotland to complete his Celtic journey with Amber Alexander (Aspen, CO).

In Ireland they say it only rains twice a week – once for three days and once for four days! The day we visited the Rock of Cashel, Co. Tipperary was one of those days, but the rain did not detract from the experience. Taking a side trip on our tour of the Church ruins we stumbled across the majestic ruins of Hore Abbey surrounded by mist, rain and the legendary emerald green countryside of Ireland.

On our last night in Ireland we attended a medieval-style banquet at Bunratty Castle in the village of Bunratty, Co. Clare. To keep the evening as authentic as possible we had to eat the main course with our fingers – something else that I’m a natural at!!

By the time I’d forced my way to dessert I needed a little help from Stephanie!

Bunratty Castle.

March 22 arrived all too soon and it was time to leave Olde Ireland bound for “Amerikay”. Lynette & Mark Miller (Staunton, VA) Rachel, Mack, Kevin, Jan, yours truly, Stephanie, Dan & Candy (who is now known by her new name, Lolly – Irish for candy) gather for the last round of photos before saying a fond farewell to the fabulous CIE tour drivers, Mick and Jim, at Shannon Airport, Co. Clare.

The crowd dwindles as Sue, Tresa Dupray (Rancho Cordova, CA) and Sandy Gunderson (Detriot Lakes, MN) join us in front of our traveling home of the last 7 days.