It's hard to believe that there are only a few more days left on this tour. Time has flown by.

This morning, we left Leenane at our usual time, around 9:30am and drove along the road to Westport. We stopped at a few gorgeously scenic locations. One with waterfalls and rhododendron out the wazoo! It was spectacular, even with the light mist of rain. And the mountains… oh! They were covered with scintillating mist. They were just delicious.

We stopped just outside Westport to visit an old abbey and statue of a famine ship that commemorated the deaths of thousands of Irish as they were deported from Ireland during the 1840s. Then off to Westport.

Westport was a cute little town. There were a number of shops that I wanted to venture into. But before I hit the shops, we went to eat. There were a number of restaurants listed in Rick Steve's Ireland, but we arrived before noon and none of them were open. So we found one just down from Matt Malloy's. I ordered Irish Stew, and all the food was tasty. Yes, I snagged a few bites of others. 😉

Afterward was shopping time, but I wasn't in the mood. So I visited the cathedral and then as I was walking around town, John Wilmott mentioned Matt Malloy's again. So we went back the pub and found it open. Inside, I ordered a Guinness. We chatted, and I even met a local musician, also in for a pint.

Then it was back to the bus and off to Hennessey's Irish Heritage Center. The center was a delight. We started with tea and homemade scones. Then we went into this old Irish home where the proprietor told us stories about his family living in this now three room house for two hundred years. He collected stories from a lot of people in County Mayo and had some great tales to tell. The house was fascinating and full of preserved history.

The rest of the tour varied. There was a lot of history about Irish people, tools and what not. It dragged a little long, but it was the personal stories that really stood out every time. My ears would perk up excitedly from beginning to end.

We left the heritage center for our final destination, Tubbercurry in County Sligo. It's a nice gem for a somewhat dirty looking town. But there was a nice restaurant and pub across the street, and the whole of us went there for dinner, followed by one of the last Irish ceilis.

Apparently, the ceili is dying in most of Ireland. John said the Scottish ceilidhs are full of young people, but this was mostly elderly folk. But that didn't stop it from being an awesome event. Set dancing, brooms, accordions, poetry recitations, solo singers and more. Andrew and I played a few songs, and now I can barely sleep.

I must confess that this trip has me daydreaming about doing more vacation tours. I have all these cool creative ideas for them. I just wish it was a viable option. Ah well. I reckon I need to crash as we have another busy day ahead, and I'm already plenty sleep-deprived.