First things first – The Brushing of the Teeth. That shower was pretty righteous too.

Ugh…a very rough night. I have never had food poisoning and I can now mark it off my anti-bucket list. I was horribly sick until the wee hours and woke up feeling really bad in every way. But, we got places to go. Big boy pants on and we are hitting the road.

It was a cool morning and we had to wait for the windows to defrost but waiting was painful. The cool moist air did feel really good after last night’s festivities.

We had to go back through Killarney to head out of town. We stopped by and got a look at the local cathedral.

It is a beautful morning and it is going to be a nice drive along the Wild Atlantic Way.

The Wild Atlantic Way is quite a drive along the Atlantic Coast. It goes through many towns and villages and it is a beautiful drive that everyone should take while visiting Ireland. The villages are charming, the people are friendly (it IS Ireland…), and the scenery is much better than any coffee table book picture. Seeing the ocean really made me miss Washington and the salt water. And boats. But first, we had to cross the Shannon River.

We were heading to Galway and we had two options to get there. The first was drive around through Shannon then over to the coast, or the second was getting over to the coast farther south. We could have gone around and cut some distance off, but we wanted to drive the coast. So, we went to Tarbert and caught a ferry across so we could see more of the coast.

It was a really nice drive and well worth the extra time. The road is very winding and so much fun to drive a stick shift. On the left side of the road. On the right side of the car. Seriously, it was really fun. The road was nothing but curves and around each one was a great place for a picture or five.

Part of the WAW is our next stop – The Cliffs of Moher. It was on our list of stops, and even though I had been there before I wanted to see it again.

There had been massive erosion of the top of the cliffs. There was a huge, nasty storm that went through late 2024 and it laid waste all over Ireland. Part of the damage was several feet of the bluffs fell into the ocean, so the trails on the bluff are being relocated back several feet/meters. It was not as windy as the last time in 2020, but it was still breezy and a little chilly. Still, it is a beautiful place. And, again, it reminded me of my time in Washington. We got out and did some tidepooling – seeing what is in the little cracks & basins filled with water (and sea life) when the tide recedes. It is always fun to see what you can find. We did not see much, but I remember in Washington we used to see all kinds of things.

My travel partner decided to hike up to the top to see the ocean if possible. It was fenced off pretty far back because of the damage. It was breezy, and I still felt less than stellar so I just waited below. I’ll get up there next time.

We got back in the car and headed north to our hotel in Galway. I remember driving some of this in 2020 and it was more beautiful coastline for a little way. Then, we started getting into more traffic, buildings, people, and city.

Our hotel was on the street that is one of the prime party areas in Galway…and it is a Friday night. And I just couldn’t play. Unfortunately all I could do was walk around a little while after we arrived. I was exhausted and, quite literally, drained. I told my accomplice to get out and enjoy Galway for both of us.

We were on the 2nd floor so I was able to look out over the fun. Dammit…this was the reason I booked this hotel; at least I could see and hear the fun (there’s a reason the Front Desk gives out ear plugs) and it sounds like there’s a lot of fun happening. The street has been closed off and is a pedestrian area much like the rest of the area.

But…lemons and lemonade. At the very least, I AM in Ireland! And at least I did get to see the fun and that was okay. I’ll be back in fighting condition tomorrow.

See you in the morning.

Shawn