Travels in Eire #44

As they headed out of the plane Keith headed toward the EU passport line and Cailin toward the “Other” passport line. Her line was longer and busier. Cailin was anxious to get through the line, but knew that she had to be patient. Keith told her he would look for Darren in the luggage pick up area, and let him know that she would be along after processing. Finally she was passed through the immigration officer, had her passport stamped and headed toward the luggage pickup area.

As she approached the carousel for her flight, she spotted Darren chatting with Keith and sneaked up behind him.

“Sure glad to see you waited for me!” Cailin said as she wrapped her arms around Darren from behind.

“Seems like it took you forever. Were you giving those immigration officers problems?” Darren turned and gave Cailin a big hug and kiss on her cheek as he flashed the smile that she just couldn't resist.

“So you two, what's the plan?” Keith was patiently waiting as Darren and Cailin reconnected. Darren had filled in much of what Cailin didn't tell while they were waiting for her arrival.

“Time to head to the parking lot. We have a little bit of a ride ahead of us. Luckily I got a bigger care to make sure I could carry Cailin's luggage, so we can handle Keith and his guitar too!” Darren teased Keith.

Once they had everything loaded into the car they headed out on the motorway toward Derry. Cailin wanted to let Keith sit up front with Darren because of his long legs, but Keith insisted he would be fine in the back seat with the luggage that would not fit into the trunk of the car.

The trip from Dublin to Derry would take a good three hours and as they headed out on the motorway Keith was the first to suggest that they detour off the road after Armagh and stop in a small town to see another friend and have lunch at a carvery there. That would take them just short of 2 hours and be a perfect time to stop. Darren agreed to the plan and mentioned to Cailin that Keith was a voracious eater and this place would be perfect for him!

So who was this friend that Keith wanted to see. From the conversation Darren knew of this person too. Keith was on his cell making the call and from what Cailin could get from his side of the conversation, they would all meet up at the carvery in The Moy. Cailin asked about this town and Keith filled her in about how this little village was just barely a spot in the road where their friend Ryan, another musician, lived. Darren knew of Ryan but had never really worked with him, and was looking forward to the possibility of having Ryan perform at a future musical fund raising event. Darren also knew that if Keith was friends with this person he would definitely be a quality musician.

Cailin was busy staring out the window while Keith and Darren chatted away. She realized how happy she was to be back in Ireland. Her concentration on the scenery was suddenly jarred with a poke in her arm.

“What's got you so quiet my dark haired lassie?” Darren had noticed how quiet she had been.

“Just enjoying the Irish landscape all over again. I didn't know just how much I missed it these last few weeks while I was back in New York. And this is the same road I took when I got lost that first night in the rain. We just passed Mullaghmore where I ended up stuck in the mud and my whole life changed from that point on!”

“Ahhh, another American falling in love with our country,” Keith chimed in from the back seat. “And here we Irish are just loving America. Yeooowww!”

Other than the time Cailin was traveling back to Dublin when she flew home, this was the fist time she really took the time to enjoy this road and the lush green countryside. It wasn't long before they pulled off the motorway and onto a local two lane road to The Moy. Keith gave directions to Darren and they pulled into a frontage road in this small village. There was a handsome dark haired lad sitting on the short wall in front of the restaurant. Cailin assumed this was who Darren and Keith had been talking about. As they pulled past the front of the restaurant Keith pulled down his window and leaned half his body out shouting hello to Ryan and received a welcome wave and a big smile back.

Lunch was fun listening to the 3 lads chatting about music and ideas for supporting some of the work that Darren does for the hospital. Cailin realized that here she was with three very handsome and talented Irish lads. What more could a girl hope for. Keith and Ryan knew each other for a couple of years and had worked together with a group that toured the US. This was the first time that Cailin had heard about them. There were others in the group and Darren told her she was sure to meet at least one other who lived in Derry like Keith. As Cailin listened to the discussion she wondered if hanging around Darren and his music interests she would become a groupie? This was a strange thought as other than listening to Irish trad music on her iPod, she had never really been around bands until she met Darren. She smiled to herself as she thought about all the twists and turns her life was taking. It did make her happy.