Ireland Part 2- Day 2 The Final Night at The Thatch
After waking up from our night pretending to be rock stars and welcoming in our 34th birthday as such, we got a slower start to the morning than we had hoped. We had to get ourselves back out to the airport to pick up our rental car and then make the 2 ½ hour drive to Gene’s. Because you know, it was Wednesday and you know where to find me if I’m roaming around Ireland on a Wednesday PM.
Apart from making it to The Thatch for music, our priorities were to drop off some laundry and take Gene out to dinner. Napping would have been nice if we could make it work. So we made the drive that we've become very good at. Driving from Dublin airport to Gene's or from Gene's to the Dublin airport is one that we've made four times already on this trip alone.
We set off for Gene's and made it there in relatively good time. And by good time, I mean just enough to grab our laundry at his house and drop it off at the brand spanking new laundromat that just opened two days earlier in town. Score! We pulled up to his house and he was clearly set out on a day of household chores. When we popped out of the car, he barely stopped mowing the lawn long enough to fill us in on all that he'd done around the house that day and when I asked if there was anything we could do, he quickly replied with "You could always wash the windows if you want."
For the record, Katie and I had every intention of doing just that but when we dropped off our laundry, we opted to stay in town and have a late lunch and wait for our clothes to be ready instead of driving back and forth. I've spent a lot of time in Carrick-on-Shannon and it's a pleasant place to walk around with a bustling "downtown" and lots of options of places to eat and drink. Driving through Ireland, there are more than a fair share of sleepy towns, but Carrick-on-Shannon isn't one of them. So it was fine to walk around and spend a little bit of time waiting for our stuff to be ready.
When we got back to Gene's, we had essentially just enough time to say hello and try and talk him into going back into town to eat dinner. Percy was still under the weather so it was Gene's responsibility to open up the pub. Although there was some back and forth, Katie and I did go back into town and took Gene to dinner at the Victoria Hall- formerly some sort of a church now restored as a restaurant.
Despite phone calls asking when he was opening up the pub and the fact that we had to still stop at the store to get some cream for the Irish coffees, Gene seemed too interested in the conversation to rush through to attend to his responsibilities at the pub. Good for us, bad for the people waiting outside the Thatch wanting a pint! I love that about Gene though. While it may be maddening to other people, Gene's concern isn't always about making a buck, but making a connection. And I appreciate that about him.
But all that had to come to an end and off we went to The Thatch.
It was our last night at The Thatch on this trip. Although there was crazy amounts of driving on this trip to ensure that I was there each Wednesday, I'm glad that I did. Each week offered a unique and fun experience. I wasn't sure how this week was going to play out because Mick and George were in Spain and Percy was sick. But it turned out that it was maybe the busiest of all the Wednesdays I'd been at the Thatch. People piled into the pub right up until playing time and there were more musicians than the two previous weeks.
Because Percy was gone, I got to get behind the pub for much of the night and it was a fun experience except for these two guys who came in and completely dulled my buzz almost as soon as they started talking. Both of them were named John and both of them bothered me. It takes a LOT for me to not like someone and for some reason they both rubbed me the wrong way almost immediately. There was just something about them that didn't jive with the fun and happiness I was finding at the Thatch before they arrived. Sadly, for me, they took up residence at the bar and stayed there for most of the night. So I had to navigate their annoying banter for hours and rebuff J1's attempt to buy me a drink all night long. I referred to them as J1 and J2 to easily distinguish one John from another.
All that aside, the music was wonderful. The Thatch was hopping. People got up and sang and told stories and entertained us for hours. It was a fantastic send-off. And, even though it was a busy night, Gene was up for hanging out with just me and Katie talking for hours after everyone else left. I made a ton of Irish coffee- even had to make more cream- and we talked and hung out until nearly 3am when Gene and I finished cleaning the pub, washing all the cups and shutting down the pub.
While I will miss this place all year long, until my next visit, I most certainly feel like I made the most of all my time at The Thatch and with Gene and all the other amazing people who have become my friends.
Until next time!
Apart from making it to The Thatch for music, our priorities were to drop off some laundry and take Gene out to dinner. Napping would have been nice if we could make it work. So we made the drive that we've become very good at. Driving from Dublin airport to Gene's or from Gene's to the Dublin airport is one that we've made four times already on this trip alone.
We set off for Gene's and made it there in relatively good time. And by good time, I mean just enough to grab our laundry at his house and drop it off at the brand spanking new laundromat that just opened two days earlier in town. Score! We pulled up to his house and he was clearly set out on a day of household chores. When we popped out of the car, he barely stopped mowing the lawn long enough to fill us in on all that he'd done around the house that day and when I asked if there was anything we could do, he quickly replied with "You could always wash the windows if you want."
For the record, Katie and I had every intention of doing just that but when we dropped off our laundry, we opted to stay in town and have a late lunch and wait for our clothes to be ready instead of driving back and forth. I've spent a lot of time in Carrick-on-Shannon and it's a pleasant place to walk around with a bustling "downtown" and lots of options of places to eat and drink. Driving through Ireland, there are more than a fair share of sleepy towns, but Carrick-on-Shannon isn't one of them. So it was fine to walk around and spend a little bit of time waiting for our stuff to be ready.
When we got back to Gene's, we had essentially just enough time to say hello and try and talk him into going back into town to eat dinner. Percy was still under the weather so it was Gene's responsibility to open up the pub. Although there was some back and forth, Katie and I did go back into town and took Gene to dinner at the Victoria Hall- formerly some sort of a church now restored as a restaurant.
Despite phone calls asking when he was opening up the pub and the fact that we had to still stop at the store to get some cream for the Irish coffees, Gene seemed too interested in the conversation to rush through to attend to his responsibilities at the pub. Good for us, bad for the people waiting outside the Thatch wanting a pint! I love that about Gene though. While it may be maddening to other people, Gene's concern isn't always about making a buck, but making a connection. And I appreciate that about him.
But all that had to come to an end and off we went to The Thatch.
It was our last night at The Thatch on this trip. Although there was crazy amounts of driving on this trip to ensure that I was there each Wednesday, I'm glad that I did. Each week offered a unique and fun experience. I wasn't sure how this week was going to play out because Mick and George were in Spain and Percy was sick. But it turned out that it was maybe the busiest of all the Wednesdays I'd been at the Thatch. People piled into the pub right up until playing time and there were more musicians than the two previous weeks.
Because Percy was gone, I got to get behind the pub for much of the night and it was a fun experience except for these two guys who came in and completely dulled my buzz almost as soon as they started talking. Both of them were named John and both of them bothered me. It takes a LOT for me to not like someone and for some reason they both rubbed me the wrong way almost immediately. There was just something about them that didn't jive with the fun and happiness I was finding at the Thatch before they arrived. Sadly, for me, they took up residence at the bar and stayed there for most of the night. So I had to navigate their annoying banter for hours and rebuff J1's attempt to buy me a drink all night long. I referred to them as J1 and J2 to easily distinguish one John from another.
All that aside, the music was wonderful. The Thatch was hopping. People got up and sang and told stories and entertained us for hours. It was a fantastic send-off. And, even though it was a busy night, Gene was up for hanging out with just me and Katie talking for hours after everyone else left. I made a ton of Irish coffee- even had to make more cream- and we talked and hung out until nearly 3am when Gene and I finished cleaning the pub, washing all the cups and shutting down the pub.
While I will miss this place all year long, until my next visit, I most certainly feel like I made the most of all my time at The Thatch and with Gene and all the other amazing people who have become my friends.
Until next time!
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