A brief rundown of courses: golf and food

26 July 2008

Baltray: 91- w

Lunch: Baltray C.C.- caesar salad
Dinner: Wheelhouse- Duck spring rolls, shrimp salad



27 July 2008

Stacktown C.C.: 97- L

Lunch: Stacktown C.C.- soup
Dinner: Cilo- fried squid rings, steak

28 July 2008

Island Course: 89- w

Lunch: Island Course C.C.- lasagne
Drive to Northern Ireland
First look at Royal County Down
Dinner: goat cheese bruschetta, chicken/salami/mozzarella dish, creme brulee

29 July 2008

Royal County Down- 97, Eagle- w

Lunch: RCD C.C.- soup and tuna sandwich
Drive back to Sutton
Dinner: squid rings, Aqua, swordfish in oriental sauce, brownie sundae, Bailey's coffee

30 July 2008

Siobhan's country club

Lunch: at hotel, ham & cheese sandwich
Dinner: Fitzy's with Brendon, Siobhan, Gary- goat cheese salad, steak, coffee

First Golf Day, Baltray: 26 July 2008

First Links Course

Baltray, Co. Duluth course. I shot a 91 but I gave myself and 89 because I took a mulligan and parred the hole, so I did not count the 2-stroke penalty.

Andre shot an 84, Tim 91. Andre and I won by 4 holes. It was a challenging but enjoyable. This is going to be one of the easier courses that we play.

“Chicken Caesar salad” meant a small amount of Caesar dressing on a random bunch of vegetables, some lettuce and a sweet teriyaki-type of chicken and bacon combination. The salad was very odd, I have never experienced a Caesar salad like that.

Nap, dinner in Howth. My first Ireland driving experience. Only ran over one curb and struggled though parallel parking. Not bad for doing all of this on the wrong side of the road (not American is wrong). Experienced duck for the first time at a cool little restaurant called the Wheelhouse. Lovely dish.

Had some Pimms at a bar to see if I would get any odd looks because it is a distinctly British drink. The only odd looks I got were of me looking in the mirror because it is really not a tasty drink.

Decided that tomorrow Marc will drive and I will navigate. This should be interesting.

Last day of the JMU Ireland Program… First day of the Grand Keane Gentleman Adventure in Ireland: 25 July 2008

A day of farewells and hellos. I really hate saying goodbye. Fortunately and unfortunately I will be seeing many of these faces only too soon. In exactly one month we will be back at JMU. A month that I hope stretches on for an eternity or two. Senior year, enough said.

Lunch at The Atlantic was good only because I knew it was going to be the last time I would be in Ireland with these people who had become such good friends. Stuart was the first to leave. Everyone joked that I was going to cry. I thought that was funny but I held in my tears so as not to give them the satisfaction. Just kidding, Sam and I walked him to the bus stop and exchanged our last volleys of insults while saying goodbye. He was the first leaf to fall from the tree. Colleen came next, then Jackie, then myself.

I had emailed Marc of where I planned to meet him after he had picked up Tim and Andre. He was there at 2.30, I was not. I, being the gifted navigator, had given Marc a different gate to meet me at than the one that I had intended. I was sitting there for 15 minutes or so before Marc came looking for me. He was as shocked as I was at my silly mistake. It could have been quite a costly mistake though. His cell phone, which I had attempted to call several times, was dead. Marc had no way of contacting me and I had none of contacting him, Tim or Andre. That would have been quite the predicament. Apparently Tim had made a similar mistake earlier in the day and told Marc the wrong flight that they were taking to Dublin. Marc arrived at Dublin international and saw that Tim and Andre were not where they were supposed to be, so he walked to the information center to figure out how to find them. And there they were, without a care in the world, hanging out waiting for Marc. These are signs that the trip was meant to happen and will be a complete success.

Meeting Siobhan Smythe (pronounced SH-uh-vahn) was the next challenge. She is a Keane that Marc had been corresponding with because he was friends with her aunt who recommended we all meet. They had never actually met in person.

First I dialed the number she had given us, then Marc did and to no avail. A random woman continued to pick up the phone and tell us we had the wrong number. Of course we were using the payphone while Tim was standing and watching, checking the time on his cell phone because we were taking so long. After so many attempts I looked over and realized Tim had a phone we could use. It was pretty funny. Siobhan was finally reached courtesy of the operator. Seven pm was the meeting time, we took the Dart to a station near her house and her husband Brendon would pick us up.

DINNER.

Dinner was a great time. Siobhan and Brendan were grand hosts, serving us steak, potatoes, several appetizers, wine, and of course, Guiness. Considering we had never met these people before we took to each other very well. The night was filled with lots of laughs and good food. Siobhan certainly put to bed the idea that the Irish can not cook. This was my first homemade meal since home and I could not have asked for a better family dinner.