Day 1 of Ireland Holiday...Dingle

The flight across the ocean was uneventful and quiet. I managed to get two hours of sleep, but that's all until I crashed at the Dingle Skellig Hotel my first night.

The drive from Cork to Dingle - about two hours long, was winding and pretty. Green everywhere you looked. The closer I got to Dingle, the narrower and more curvey the roads became.

Beautiful shoreline on parts of the drive then you hit the center of town with its colorful buildings and a marina. Big rock walls edged the smooth as glass water. That's what I saw on my first visit into Dingle. That and lots of tourists. Lots of folks, about 5000 people for just the Dingle half, full, and ultra marathon. About 3500 of those were actual participants and the other 1500 were their families and friends. There were also a bunch of folks passing through on their way for the big Navy Notre Dame game in Dublin.

My first afternoon/evening in Dingle, I wandered the main streets and shops. Imagine colorful storefronts and inside are arts and crafts by and about Ireland. I walked into one jewelry store, yup, cuz I'm a girl I do things like that. I walked into John Weldon's jewelry store, a tiny little shop that can hold no more than a handful of people and what do I see? I see my Celtic knot!

Celtic knots are all over the place in Ireland, but this one is special and I have never seen the design except for the day I found it for my tattoo a year ago. Anyway, I see my knot in a necklace set in yellow gold and I have to have it, but not in yellow gold and not in a necklace. Guess who I got to meet? You bet! I met John Weldon himself who is going to make me a pair of earrings. John makes most of what is in his store. You have to love a handcraft artist. I'll be getting these earrings in about a month and it will be a sweet remembrance for a terrific trip.

Oh! The other store I located in town was the local bookshop. Well, duh, you knew I had to go there! Another shop the size of a snack box, but neat and tidy with a friendly owner who helped me locate a book that the receptionist at the Dingle Skellig Hotel recommended about running.

By the time I finished enjoying the fresh air and the beautiful town, I returned to the hotel and ate at the Blaskets Bar. I ordered the hot and spicy wings and of course...a Guinness. My first beer in Ireland in 2012! My friend Steve would have loved the wings. They were actually hot and spicy. I even ate almost all of them.

Then I crashed!