Travels in Eire #53

Cailin opened the door to the pub and stepped in. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the darkened atmosphere. It was a quiet afternoon. As she scanned around the room there was only one customer sitting hunched over it the corner. It was Rorey. As she entered he raised his head and a grin started to form on his face. Before he could say anything, from behind the bar came a deep pitched shout, “Well looky here, she's come back home again!” It was Brendan moving his bulky body from behind the bar right up to her for a huge hug. Cailin was almost breathless from his squeeze.

“Hi, Brendan. What a wonderful welcome. I thought it was time I paid a visit here, now that I'm living in Derry,” Cailin tried to get as much information out quickly as she could. “Rorey, I'm so glad you were here. Saves me a trip wandering all over town looking for you,” she smiled as she approached Rorey.

“Well, my Irish lassie. Good to see you haven't forgotten your roots here in our little town of Mullaghmore. And Derry it is... Guess the big city American girl needed a big city over here as well,” Cailin could tell this was a little criticism as Rorey would have liked to see Cailin settle down closer to family ties.

“First things first. Brendan, do you have a room for me tonight? I'm planning on staying over until tomorrow afternoon when I need to get back to Dungannon to catch the bus to Derry. I'm a working girl now and need to be home for Monday morning.”

“Lassie, I will always have a room for you. Same one as before, right?” you could see how happy Brendan was that Cailin would be staying over. “And I”ll have an ample breakfast for you in the morning too. You look to need a little meat on them bones,” Brendan grabbed his middle and chuckled.

“And Brendan, I've got a terrible thirst here. Can I get a cold pint for Rorey and I?” Cailin had come to enjoy the cool stout that was part of all Irish tradition. Guinness was best when pumped regularly at pubs and it didn't travel well, so she only drank it when in Ireland.

Cailin moved until she stood next to Rorey. “Well, do I even get a greeting here?”

Rorey's grin grew bigger and he stood to properly welcome Cailin back. She felt so at home once again. Like she had never left.

“Rorey, I have so much to tell you. My life has just been so amazing since we first met when I came over here on vacation less than a couple of months ago. This is the first time I've been able to take a weekend and come back here to Mullaghmore and see you,” Cailin was trying to ease into her news slowly, but she knew that wasn't going to happen.

“Ahhh, Cailin, you've found yourself a lad. Look at you, you are as bright as the sun on a day with a shining rainbow, and beaming all over. I know that look. I've seen it before. So first tell me how you came to move here after your vacation. I didn't think I'd be seeing you this soon again,” Rorey was ready to hear Cailin's story and she didn't disappoint. She recounted everything from how she met Darren, to her decision to leave her job in New York City and work remotely from Derry so she could be close to Darren and get to know him better and see where things were going. She talked about Darren's parents and filled Rorey in pretty completely.

“So Cailin, when do I get to meet this lad? You do know you need someone here to approve of him?” Rorey's eyes were sparkling with mischief.

At first Cailin thought Rorey was being extremely serious, then realized that he was teasing her. “Rorey, I'm sure that Daren would hold up to any checking out that you might have in mind,” she replied laughing.

And so the afternoon wore on. Cailin and Rorey finished their drinks and headed out of the pub for a walk around town. They planned the rest of the day and the following morning. They would go to the small church in Ardboe and stop by the Ardboe Cross and cemetery. Then Rorey would drop Cailin off in Dungannon to catch her bus back to Derry. They had a hearty dinner in the diner in Mullaghmore sitting by the window where they had sat when Cailin first met Rorey. The evening finished back at the pub sitting by the fire with Rorey telling stories of the family members that Cailin had never had the chance to get to know.

As Cailin headed up the stairs to bed, she couldn't help but remember the first time she had ended up here, soaking wet and lost. She wasn't lost anymore.

On the way home

This is Hamish the Highlands Cow, friendly, but a bit hairy I'd say. LOL

Tyrone Crystal makes the trophy for the All Ireland Champions and over the last couple of years it has been for their home team Tyrone. This is a copy of the 2008 trophy that was given to the team.

7 July

So here I am on my Aer Lingus flight back to Chicago. Tomorrow I'll be on a Southwest plane back home. I'm always a little melancholly at this point. Lots of time to think and reflect on about the last 3 weeks. It's doesn't really seem like it was that long. I really coul have found tons to do over another week or two or three.

I briefly touched on our last day with the flight delay from Glasgow and then a relaxing day for me in Dublin topped off with going to Riverdance at the Gaiety Theater. The theater was a restored older theater and just magnificient. It was small, no more than about 800 people, but it was packed this Monday. We had seats just off center in the second row. Perfect from my perspective. Seeing the show live was definitely an experience. A great end to a vacation that was way too short.

I keep thinking about next year and wondering if I can swing another trip then. I've tried every other year, but keeping find more reasons to return sooner. The B&B experience is the way to go. Small towns and small pubs. Sitting at the bar and talking to the regulars. And giving all the towns their own chance to show off their own craic.

Once I get home and life starts to run away with me again, all this will be a very special memory. I'm hoping to scap most of it, like I have my other two trips. I'm thinking this will have a little different slant. I will be putting up a selection of pictures as soon as I can sort through the 700 or so that I've taken. I may actualy have to do more than one slide show. No decisions there yet.

We arrive in Chicago in about 2 hours now. I've spent the first part of the flight catching up on some much needed sleep. I think I run on adreniline while traveling and now I'm all out of it. Sarah and I are hoping to meet up with Becky and her mom tonight or late this afternoon for a little while. We'll both be heading to the Midway Airport around 5am on Wednesday.

Three weeks, where did it go?

A