Fall in New England is always glorious!

Have been taking drives up to New Hampshire. On the way back we stopped at Anascomet Pond in Hubbardston, Massachusetts.

Dungarvan, a Special Place

Looking over where my grandmother was born. Mary Agnes loved Newport because it reminded her of home.

Dungarvan

Cemeteries and Coves

Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry

Sleah Head

Along the Coast of Kerry

Burrens in Clare

Desolate Clare

County Connemara's Mountains with Rainbow

Pretty cool.

Beach Achil Island

A day trip from Westport, Ireland, that is.

Newport, not Rhode Island

Hmmm

Knock Thursday

Our Lady appeared to 15 people here in August 1879.

Slieve League Cliffs

Wednesday. The highest cliffs in Europe.

Belfast, a Divided City

The "Troubles", if not over, are at least on hold, but there is constant reminder that while in Belfast you are in a divided city.  There is an actual wall. In the Catholic sections, street names are in English and Gaelic. I bet no one there knows Gaelic. But the conditions for the Irish Catholics were very descriminitory.

I

Sailortown church in Belfast

Saint Joseph's Chapel, now shut and deteriorating, was very active during The Troubles in Belfast. 

The plaque memorializes 2 little girls killed byo a car bomb.

See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny%27s_Bar_bombing# 

Ann Gaynor's Home Town

Around 1850 my great grandmother Ann Gaynor and her husband came to America. They settled in Newport, Rhode Island.  Ann's birthplace, Annagassan, in County Meath reminds me a little bit Newport. It resembles more the other side like Galilee or over in Portsmouth and Tiverton. Annagassan is very small and rural. Newport has been a city since the 1700's.

The ocean seems to be more treachurous.

It is very religious here.

Airport Hotel in Dublin

At the Clayton Hotel in Dublin we were very amused by the view from our window on the 8th Floor.     Horses frolicking from morning to night along with planes coming in every 15 minutes. So after a huge tasty Irish breakfast we stopped to meet the horses before getting on the road (left side) off to Bruna Boinn archeological site which has the oldest Neolithic Graves in the world.

Looks like Rhode Island

It is eerie how much Howth, near Dublin, resembles home.  Same rocks, same seaweed. Same seagulls!  However you better keep to the left on the road.  We feasted on some tasty Mussels in White Wine and Cream at Bershoff's Market Kitchen.

Back Home (but that may be a bad idea)

Hey Weather, you got it all wrong. It's not February anymore. It's nearly April and it is spring.  I put all the shovels away. And I am not getting them out again!

Philly Cheese Steak at Pat's

"About signing, I'm sick of Baked  Beans and hate Hush Puppies. Everyone is crazy for their cheese steaks. So, can we meet in Philly?"
Correspondence John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, 1776

Aerospace Museum

More planes and Bruce is very happy.

Ships plus pralines

In addition to shops selling sweet pralines, Savannah is a port city. Bruce never tires of watching the ships go by. Some are delivering luxury cars from Europe. Savannah is also the final resting place of many of the Patriots of the Revolutionary War, including Rhode Island's Nathaniel Greene.

Wiley's Pulled Pork in Savannah

Yes, pulled pork, sweet potato casserole and a half rack of ribs is the order of the day.

Shrimp and Grits .... soooo good!

QUESTION: If you eat shrimp and grits every day, will you turn pink?

Wild Georgia Shrimp with Cheese Grits

Roseate Spoonbills and Wood Storks on Jekyll Island

http://galesphotoblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/roseate-spoonbill-et-al.html

Happy Saint Patrick's Day in Savannah

No cornbeef and cabbage. How about a Guiness with shrimp and grits?

Hero colleague distracts me on vacation

This trip I have been distracted by Boston, specifically by trial currently going on there. Above a former colleague, Officer Macclellan who worked at the WHS health center,  receives the Medal of Valor.
See  http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/vice-president-joe-biden-awards-watertown-massachusetts-news-photo/463192136.
Today Officer Macclellan is testifying at the trial.
See Boston Globe  http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/03/16/tsarnaev-trial-resume-with-focus-expected-shift-shoot-out-watertown/JynJgOHnQvM7tdyDlfpJFN/story.html

Jekyll Island again

Quiet. Warm weather. Comfortable affordable place to stay.

Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, Florida

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_of_Flight
Bruce loved this collection cool planes which all fly. The staff loved their jobs. They adore their boss whose collection rivals that of the Smithsonian.

Dinner with Marilyn and Dan

A great meal of roast beef, mashed potates, asparagus and stuffed tomatoes. Such a fun time and loads of stories.

Everglades

It is over 80 degrees. We have to run the ac as we drive though America's largest wetlands, stopping often to see birds, alligators, and the rare American Crocodile. We saw the bulbous Manatee too.

Jekyll Island

It's close to 80 degrees. Perfect for walks on long quiet beaches. As for food, here ALWAYS order shrimp and grits. It never gets better than Georgia wild shrimp.

Coolest welcome sign in the whole USA

No state comes close to Georgia ' welcome sign. I hear Ray Charles singing every time I come here. Then there is Savannah, Wiley's Barbecue, pralines, peaches, peanuts, and so much more. AND NO SNOW. Warm and balmy.

500 miles south of Boston no snow

.

If you drive 1500 miles you will be rewarded with alligators, Key Lime milk shakes, and 80 degrees weather. Sometimes you have to drive through snow and sleet. We are 1/3 of the way in Doswell, Virginia. It's still freezing cold, but no snow.