A few months ago, while I was browsing through my monthly
newsletter from the DC based Fagowees Ski Club, I saw a promotion for
a trip to Ireland in January for under $900. My family and I have been
members of the Fagowees since I was a child, which has exposed me to
world travel at a young age. A little history on the name… It represents
a lost Indian Tribe where the chief stands at the top of a mountain and
says, “Where the #$*% are we?” It’s more of a drinking club with a skiing
problem, so ... you get the idea. I had an interesting childhood, probably
one of the reasons Tybee has felt like home as soon as we moved here
seven years ago. It didn’t take long for me to round up some travel
buddies. Carolyn Williams (always my partner in crime), my daughter
Baylie, my brother, sister-in-law and my niece all agreed that a four day
drinking pub tour in January was a fabulous idea. We started making our
trip payments in October and once 2019 arrived, it was time to pack our
bags. Since the group was traveling from DC, the Tybee gals had to make
a little road trip to Virginia first.
Day 1
Our whole crew of 24 people flew overnight from Dulles to Dublin.
Our trip leader, Lisa, had instructed everyone to take a sleep aid on the
flight, as there would be no crying about jet lag and NO SLEEPING at the
bars! We landed in Dublin at 5am and once we picked up our rental car
we hit the ground running. We dropped our bags at Fleet Street Hotel
in the famous Temple Bar area, which is in the heart of Dublin. After a
nice traditional Irish breakfast (eggs, sausage, black and white pudding,
baked beans and toast), we headed straight to the Jameson Distillery.
Admission was $20 per person, which included a drink along the way
and a triple shot tasting at the end, well worth the admission price. The
tour was interactive and really interesting and we all highly recommend
the tour.
Following the Jameson tour, many of our crew headed to the
Guinness factory. However, Carolyn and I wanted more spontaneous pub
experiences than planned tours. Now, if you know Carolyn, you will know
that she knows no strangers! Her routine question to the locals was this,
“You have just been given the rest of the day off work and you are not
allowed to go home - where do you go?” This always pointed us in the
right direction. Our goal in Dublin was to find the Huc A Poos of Dublin.
First pub stop was Dulaney’s. This is where we learned that the Irish
people are obsessed with discussing American politics. Next stop was
36 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | MAR 2019
to the Clarence Hotel, owned by Bono and the rest of the U2 band. Then
on to The Brazen Head, Ireland’s oldest pub, founded in 1198. This is
where we met a couple of American brothers that told us about Frank
Ryan’s Pub just down the street … don’t threaten us with a good time!
We found the place just as the band was loading in their gear. However,
we had just discovered that we had already spent all of our euros and
the banks were now closed. Traveling with only American dollars and an
American Express card, we learned to ask what currency was accepted
before ordering. Carolyn inquired with the bartender and found out they
did not accept anything we had on us. He just said, “I want you to have
a good holiday,” as he handed us two pints of Guinness. A quick survey
of the room and we quickly realized that this place was 90% Huc A Poos
and 10% Quarter Bar (the 10% being the bras hanging over the bar).
It did not take long for this place to feel like our home away from
home. Then we actually spotted one of the license plates stuck on the
wall was from Chatham County, GA. Twenty minutes later, the bartender/
owner (which we referred to as the Eric Thomas of Dublin) handed us
two more pints. BINGO! We indeed found the Huc A Poos of Dublin!! Day
one ended in the wee hours of the morning of day 2, after hitting a few
more pubs and Chinese food at 3am.
Day 2
The cars were packed up and pointed to Northern Ireland. Some of
our fellow travelers took the route to see some castles, but we opted for
the coastal views. Luckily, we had a brave volunteer in our car to be our
sole driver. Carolyn and I decided to sleep in the car in between cities,
since we obviously were not getting much sleep at night.
Our next stop was Belfast City. We stayed in the super modern swanky
hotel, The Mouldron. Let me tell you, this place was classy!! We had a
corner room on seventh floor with city views in two directions. Once
again, we were located in the heart of the city, in walking distance of
everything.
The most exciting part of our visit to Belfast was that we had plans
to meet up with Johnny McKelvey, bass player of the Rumjacks. The
Rumjacks are an Irish Punk band that tour all over the world. Two years
ago, they came through Georgia and Tybee local band, In For a Penny,
opened a few shows with them. We got in touch with Johnny and he
was excited to meet up with us and give us a tour of his home town. His
favorite places were literally across the street from our hotel. These pubs
Tybee Gals
Take Over Ireland
By Wen McNally