Page 71 - WDT MAGAZINE IRELAND ISSUE WINTER 2018

here was only one little problem with our
planned road trip around Ireland’s West
Coast: The Irish, from our perspective, drive
Ton the wrong side of the road. And to make
matters worse, they put the steering wheel where the
front-seat passenger should be. Actually, that’s not so
unusual; my wife Mary drives from that seat when I’m
at the wheel here in San Diego. Anyway, I reluctantly
agreed not to drive in Ireland. So we had to go to plan
B - public transport.
That plan would have been OK in cities and large
towns, but would be difficult in the countryside --and
what’s an Irish road trip without driving through the
natural beauty Ireland is known for? Fortunately, our
friends at Visit Ireland devised a perfect solution with
plan C – Denis O’Connor and his shiny black Mercedes
van. We found the pot of gold before we even set foot
in Ireland!
That problem solved, we turned to our itinerary. First,
we wanted to explore the Wild Atlantic Way which
runs around the island’s scenic West Coast. Next, we
wanted to enjoy hospitality in the bucolic countryside
with its resorts, manors and historic castles. Finally,
we wanted to visit the James family’s former farm in
Derry and see if we could discover the fate of family
members left behind when my great grandfather times
2 boarded a ship headed to America in 1852.
Our road trip adventure began right after our Irish
cruise adventure finished. We only hoped that the
land trip would be as enjoyable as the one by sea
we experienced on the Celebrity Silhouette. The ship
docked at Southampton, where we took a bus to
Heathrow for our flight to Dublin. Our driver and guide
Denis O’Connor would be waiting for us by the big
yellow sculpture outside baggage claim. Bags in tow,
we walked into the waiting area where there was no
big yellow sculpture – not even a little yellow sculp- Our driver and guide Denis O’Connor, the
ture – in fact, no art whatsoever. However, there was a VIP of our Ireland Adventure.
friendly looking chap looking in our direction, holding
a sign with our name on it. Sculpture or not, we had
found Denis or vice versa.

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