The Beginning

After two very long day of traveling, we finally made it to Ireland.  We were very happy to have the hotel in Atlanta where we could have our sleep and freshen up on our never ending lay-over.  Even with the hotel, it still made for an endless trip.

We got into Shannon at about 7:30am and had a full day to get through so the jet lag wouldn't be too bad.  We got our car, a tiny Nissan that magically fit all of our stuff comfortably, and found our way North to Kinvarra.  We ended up staying at Fallon's B&B for the night.  They didn't have a room ready when we arrived around 10am, so we walked down the road to a pub for a nice Irish breakfast.

  When one is jet lagged and trying to make it through a full day, it is not wise to eat a large traditional Irish breakfast due to it causing a nice food coma. ;-) 

We walked back to the B&B about an hour later to find our room three flights up at the top of the stairs.  After a hot shower, I was still sleepy, but determined to get something accomplished for the day.  We decided to drive back down to Gort to visit W.B. Yeats' tower house there.  Of course, since it was off season, it wasn't open but it was fun none the less to roam around the property.  The tower was hidden down a typically tiny Irish road, but well worth the drive as there was a quaint little river running behind the house that made for great pictures!  After Yeats' house, we decided to do an Abby in the area.  We thought we had the correct road, but apparently, we missed the sign for the turn-off and just ended up driving further and further into the country.  After the mis-turn, we decided I was absolutely too tired to be driving so we headed back to Kinvarra where I couldn't do any vehicle or property damage.

Liz suggested we grab some food at the hotel "Merriman" across the street from our B&B then go back to our room to rest and plan for the next day.  This sounded great to me since I was barely able to keep my eyes open.  We walked over to the restaurant and found it a nice combination of pub and restaurant.  Since it was so early, the place was deserted, but that didn't stop us from ordering our first Guinness of the trip.  Although the pint was greatly appreciated and the bartender was nice and cute, it just made me all the sleepier.  We headed straight to our room.  With the intention of a quick nap and bed around 10p, both of us were snoring by 5:15p and didn't wake up until 3am.