This flag hangs in the new beer garden at Malin Head's Seaview Tavern and B and B.
Caitriona Meehan and Michael Doherty have taken a family operation on to greater heights during their nearly 50 year ownership of the establishment, which includes a bar, restaurant, convenience store, beer garden and Bread and Breakfast, soon to also be an outdoor concert venue.
There are plans to continue developing the place with more updated B and B rooms. Overall vision: leave it for the next generation.
Bill and I have felt so fortunate to have visited this place three times and to observe the fine precision with which it is run.
Between the owners, their family members and a loyal staff of servers, chefs, general assistants, the place brings in new and longtime loyal customers and expertly serves their needs in a way that they make it all seem so easy.
Great food, meticulous, prompt service, a variety of events and absolute perfection extended and expected with virtually every aspect has made this place something special for everyone who comes here.
We have appreciated this visit, getting to know the family and staff better and enjoying the meals. We don't want to leave, but all good things . . . so we say thank you very much, Caitriona and Michael and Maura and Lauren and the entire staff for the hospitality and wonderful service.
Til next time.
Yesterday, we drove to Northern Ireland (about 30 minutes away from Malin Head) and spent time walking the "walled city" of Derry.
Of course, when Swiss Miss saw the first sight of a building mural featuring the Derry Girls from the Netflix series, she was ecstatic.
Derry, which was once known as Londonderry (and still is in some minds), has an amazing and well preserved history reminding us of the means used to fend off invasions and the sad chapters of conflict in Northern Ireland.
We also learned that aviator Amelia Earhart made her landing near Derry in the first transatlantic flight by a woman.
After Derry, we moved on to Dark Hedges, about an hour away from Derry and in some of the most beautiful countryside imaginable.
Once again, Swiss Miss had an opportunity to see a the real setting for segments of "The Game of Thrones."
It's a truly magnificent experience walking through the long archway of beech trees. The place became so popular after the series that the road through the trees has been closed off to vehicles.
One interesting aspect of the day came at the parking garage where Bill was having a difficult time getting the machine to accept British coins he had saved from a trip in 2014.
After several tries, Willie and Debbie found some attendants who chuckled as they saw the coins and informed them that Bill's currency was no longer used in Northern Ireland. Since our last visit, the country had replaced the coins with different ingredients to fend off counterfeiting.
So, Bill can either keep the money or take it to a bank for exchange.
Today, Swiss Miss leaves by bus to go back to Dublin, while we leave by car. We would have taken her with us, but with suitcases and bodies, our car lacks the necessary space.
So, we'll go to Dublin and see her once more this evening, as her hostel is not far from our hotel on the River Liffy.
We'll have one more Irish experience in Dublin and then head for the airport early in the morning to fly off to Iceland.
Much of the motive behind this trip has been to show Willie and Debbie places we have visited in Ireland which they were unable to see in 2014.
The tables will turn over the next two days; they will show us as much of Iceland as we can possibly squeeze in AND tonight will be the last time we see darkness until we fly back to Seattle on Thursday.
Should be quite an experience.
Ireland, as always, has not disappointed. Last year at the end of our trip, I said to Bill that "I still haven't found any reasons not to come back."
We'll hold on to that thought.
Enjoy the photos.
Happy Independence Day, America.
No comments:
Post a Comment