Skebbereen and Ballydehob

Our itinerary is planned ... likely within an inch of its life. I tried to leave lots of "holes" for input from the other three travelers but I fear it will be like so many itineraries before it ... once "distributed" the travelers follow it zealously. We will talk about it on the flight to Dublin. What could go wrong? We are flying to Chicago ahead of time to spend time with Sabrina and parents ... John and Jean are flying in from Denver and we'll all meet in the international departure terminal at O'Hare. Before all that happens, however, Rob and I will be back at O'Hare to get our Global Entry interview under our belts ... what could go wrong there? And then there IS Sabrina ... who believes, bless her non-Irish heart, that she is going with GeeCee and G-Sir to Ireland. (Another trip, sweetheart ... we promise!)

So ... Skebbereen and Ballydehob? I wrote to our hostess in Kenmare, where we are staying in a 3-bedroom townhouse ... 3 bathrooms ... $352 for two nights ... divided by the 2 couples. I asked for directions and she replied with the scenic route from Kinsale to Kenmare. That route involved something like 15 different hamlets but these two ... Skebbereen and Ballydehob .... caught my fancy. John has agreed to be the primary driver (it will not be easy ... they also drive on the wrong side of the road ... or we do ... or ...whatever!). John spent some time with us when we were in Cambridge and he was definitely our chauffeur so I'm comfortable with him driving. Heck ... if he can fly a 757 ... he can drive in Ireland. (Although Nate and Kristen, when driving in Ireland ... did manage to take off a side mirror. And he a pilot as well.)

A side note about Kenmare ... when my dear friend Marsha toured Ireland some years ago, she also went to Kenmare. It's a bit of an obscure little village over on the West Coast of Ireland. She took a picture of the Kenmare bookstore for me ... and I've wanted to go there for all these years. Why? Because I have inherited Rob's mom's Waterford crystal .. and quite a fair bit of it ... and the pattern is Kenmare. It's a difficult pattern to find here in the U.S. (And that's even when people are off-loading their Waterford like crazy for the sake of more casual living ... which I wholeheartedly endorse but this crystal has sentimental value.) If you don't know ... most if not all Waterford is named after towns in Ireland. We are stopping at the Waterford Crystal Center ... and I may know more then. Today I know that I'm lucky to have such a great friend who remembers such tiny things about me. One of the many reasons I love her!