Don't be Intimidated!

I recently ventured to Carowinds to ride The Intimidator: the longest, tallest and fastest coaster in the Southeast. Three minutes and nearly three hundred feet of exhilaration! My comrades and I hit the ground running: from the Vortex (standing) to the Afterburn (suspended) with a dousing of White Water Falls inbetween. One experience I didn't expect was the rush of memories that a visit to the amusement park brought on. Growing up about 30 minutes away, I held a season pass which meant I would often spend my days searching for the shortest line and the fastest ride. They didn't have nearly as many coasters back in the day, but I managed to have fun all the same. As Carowinds is on the border of the Carolinas, one of my favorite activities was straddling the state line. This was my little version of "the four corners" and I thought I was totally cool.

While the park is full of plenty new (there wasn't a waterpark back in the day) there was also plenty that was the same. I have to admit I appreciate the advancement in coaster technology - after riding The Hurler (an old wooden coaster), I was surprised how painful and jarring it it was. Luckily, I have my chiropractor on speed-dial. The new coasters provide a much smoother ride, although the anticipation of climbing that first hill is still the same and makes me question my sanity.


After a full day of being barrel-rolled, corkscrewed & turned upside down, I thought the perfect ending would be a trip up the air-conditioned, rotating tower that used to be sponsored by Eastern Airlines (now it's the Carolina Skytower). It offers a birds-eye view of the park, allowing the perfect vantage to appreciate how large The Intimidator really is.

And after that view, how could I resist one last ride???

Dublin Pub Crawl

Since we weren't able to participate in an "official guided musical" pub tour of Dublin, Mel and I decided to make do on our own. After all, we're from the south. If anyone can get their drink on, it's us southerners, right? To get some culture in for the day (because there's no need to feel guilty about being surrounded by so much history without taking in a little education), we headed to Trinity College to view the Book of Kells. Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed, so I can't share the visuals with you, but suffice it to say that those monks had skillz.

With the proper amount of culture and "wow" behind our belts, we were free to crawl about as one might say. Stops along the way included The International Bar, O'Neill's on Suffolk, The Old Stand (most charming bartender.... think Irish grandpa who takes pride in his craft), The Library (a quiet upstairs lounge with wing back chairs, a fireplace and books), and for dinner, The Stag's Head.


Dinner was delicious! We shared mussels in a wine cream sauce, Mel had potato pancackes with smoked salmon and I sampled my first Irish Stew! If only I could get such complexity out of potatoes, carrots & lamb. Dee-lish! Kept on "crawling" and wandered back toward The Temple Bar.


We likened this to the "Irish Hard Rock" that is, until we saw the Hard Rock just a few blocks down. At any rate, it's a charming area, albeit touristy, and the overpriced Irish Coffee was the perfect pick-me-up!


From there, we hit The Auld Dubliner, which was our first encounter with live Irish Music. Well, if you count a guitarist crooning Me and Bobby McGee as Irish. Nevermind, it was music and we were having fun. Next stop: The Porterhouse Brewery. Delicious local brews. And a veritable rat maze of seating areas. Next up, Turk's Head... very cool mosaic tile work. By this point, we really needed to be heading back in the direction of our hotel. (Did I mention we extended our stay at the Croke Park Hotel because we just couldn't fathom the logistics of finding new lodging, repacking, getting there, unpacking, etc?) So one "last stop" at Sine. (note: that last "e" is supposed to have an accent over it, but this novice blogger hasn't figured out that sort of sophisticated maneuver yet). So THIS is where you go to meet friendly people.... the north side of the Liffey!

So, the bartender, Moe, was most amiable. AND, we met a couple of local musicians who were due back in the Temple Bar (aka Tourist Central) for a gig. Naturally, since this promised to be our closest encounter to traditional Irish music, we tagged along. John Gogarty's pub proved to be our last stop for the evening, but Mel was able to show them how to Irish dance - southern style.


And.... in case you haven't figured out by now that this day could very well have been longer than the last, we overslept. And what happens next? We bag the rental car and take the train to Galway. Slainte!

The Longest Day Ever

We made it! Suffice it to say that the JFK airport could use some serious signage overhaul, but all flights were on time and we found our way to the Croke Park Hotel with no problems. We opted to leave the rental car at the airport until we're ready to leave the Dublin area, which should be tomorrow. After showering the travel grunge off, we rallied and enjoyed the brisk air while walking the 20ish minutes to the city center. We stopped off at the Kingfisher upon recommendation of our concierge and had our first full irish breakfast.

After breakfast, we hopped on the double decker tour bus to get our bearings of the city. Naturally, we decided to hop off the tour bus at the Guinness Storehouse - it was after noon after all and we had yet to enjoy our first true Irish guinness. The Storehouse was pretty impressive. Here's a photo of me and Melissa in front of one of the key ingredients: water.

We also sampled the finished product at the Gravity Bar, which is located on the roof and offers a panoramic view of Dublin.

After Guinness, we strolled past Christchurch and wandered through the Temple Bar area. Though the area seems to cater to tourists, we managed to have a good time and even heard some traditional music.

Exhausted, we cabbed it back to the hotel so we could have a nightcap and toast our first day in Ireland. We figured out that we'd basically been awake for about 30 hours with about a 3 hour nap on the flight over the pond, so we felt quite proud of our accomplishments on Day 1.

And what happens next? Hopefully we'll continue updating you daily, but we haven't been terribly successful with finding mobile access points. That means we'll have to rely on our lodging to provide internet access. I've also got to figure out how to streamline the uploading and positioning of photos. If any of you bloggers out there have tips and tricks, feel free to share!

Snow Day

We were just blessed with a beautiful 8.6 inches of snow in the midlands - a rarity. How peaceful to walk in the snow. Everything is hushed. The silence reminds me of visiting the Grand Canyon. It's not so much the beauty - everyone has seen pictures of the majestic canyon or the serene snowscape - but the change in atmosphere that strikes me. Tranquility and awe are things to be experienced, not seen.

So, speaking of weather, in gearing up for next week's Irish adventure (and the whole pseudo-purpose of this blog), Mel and I have been religiously checking the weather forecast. You see, dear reader, our package includes a rental car. And if there is one thing you know about both me and Mel, it's that neither of us are particularly fond of driving. Particularly in a foreign country. On the opposite side of the car. On the opposite side of the road. Monitoring the rearview mirror on the left, not right. Going clockwise around traffic circles (as if I spend much time going around traffic circles, period). So, we've decided to let the weather dictate where we go and whether or not we drive ourselves. We may pocket the $500 in additional insurance and allow the Irish rail system to do the grunt work. Today's forecast indicated FOG. And I thought the fog would be whiskey induced! The forecast changes daily, so stay tuned for the final decision.

It also occurs to me that I'm going to spend a week without cooking. Now while most people love this concept, I'm coping by spending my snow day in the kitchen. Tonight's menu: braised short ribs with a chocolate and rosemary sauce. (Giving a nod to St. Valentine and the supposed aphrodisiac qualities of both chocolate and rosemary). And what happens next? Well that depends on the effectiveness of this recipe...

and we're off!

Wow. I feel so modern. I now have a blog. Suddenly, Hank Moody pops in my head and I smile.

What does one discuss on a blog? Funny that a blank screen seems as daunting as a blank page. Do I have blogger's block? Say that five times fast. I'm guessing that this will get easier with each post, but for now we'll keep it simple.

Today, some pals are introducing me to the ladies of Ab Fab. It's been awhile since I've seen any British humor, so it should prove entertaining. In the meantime, I'm going to go make a quiche. A girl's gotta eat.