St Patrick's Day in Ireland

Our friend Rich came for a long weekend at the beginning of March and requested a trip to the Ring of Kerry in the SW of our little island. Of course he didn't have to twist our arm very hard!
Ring of Kerry with Rich:


A few days after Rich's departure Travis' sister Suzie and her husband James came for a week long visit that wrapped up with a day out in Dublin on St. Patrick's Day! We had a blast, even as the weather changed from nice and mild to cold and windy. We even had snow on the 2 days following their departure. Good thing they boogied out of here when they did. Yes, we did it! St. Patrick's Day in Ireland. What fun it was, even though we did a low key day. Of course, like all obnoxious Americans at the parade we donned our silly hats, although as the wind picked up it was difficult to keep them on our heads.

The parade was fun, very colorful and having grandstand seats made all the difference for us. I got to sit for 2 1/2 hours instead of being bumped and elbowed in the crowds and we all were a little protected from the rapidly deteriorating weather by the partial enclosure surrounding our grandstand. It was also nice to have the commentators explain what a lot of the groups were and what their costumes were supposed to be.