Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Truly one of mine and Brody’s favorite holidays. I know this blog is usually filled with tips and tricks for brands, businesses and creators, but this week I simply could not pass up the opportunity to act like a travel blogger. So, only a few years later let’s take a deep dive into Brody and I’s honeymoon away in Ireland.

First off, let’s chat about why Ireland & why we love St. Patrick’s Day oh so much. Brody’s great grandma was full Irish. He loves the stories that his grandma used to tell about his great grandma. Since finding out about his heritage he has always loved all things Irish. On the other hand, I do not know if I have any relatives from Ireland, but growing up my family only had boarder collie dogs. When I was growing up I would go with my dad to sheep trials and watch him work the dogs that we had. During that time we met a dog breeder/sheep herder who had a set of puppies. As we were leaving he allowed me to have one. We named him Buddy & as he got older he also became a sheep dog. We actually have a video of me hanging on the pocket of his previous owner as he was giving calls, watching Buddy do his thing. To know me growing up was to know my family’s dogs, but mainly Buddy & Boaz. Together, we decided we should take the opportunity to go to Ireland and learn more about the traditions and see such a beautiful country. While we were over there we fell even deeper in love with the culture and the people.

Now, that you know why Ireland, let's take a deep dive into our trip. I have tagged as much as I possibly can remember. Some things to note; We were both under the age of 25 at the time, so we were not able to rent a car. They do not have ubers, because their taxi industry is so prominent, but they do use an app to communicate with the taxi drivers. (Basically the app is set up like Uber.) The only way to travel without renting a car is; taxi, train or busy. As, far as the weather it was sunny and beautiful until the last two days.

Day 1: We flew into Dublin, Ireland in the afternoon. After we checked into the Clontarf Castle Hotel we called a taxi and headed to the Guinness Factory. We were able to see the ends and outs of how Guinness is made, but what really caught my eye was the fact that Guinness basically revolutionized the art of marketing and advertising. On the way to Guinness or taxi driver gave us the name to his favorite pub, so instead of going off what the movies said we decided to go off the beaten path for dinner. That night we ate at the O’Neill’s Pub. Truly the best idea. Ummm Hello … Welcome to Ireland, try some authentic dishes. Our adventurous hearts were booming.

Day 2: Jet lagged, but totally pushed through and woke up early to take a tour to see Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. We are not usually the touristy types, but this truly was the best way to see as much as possible in one day. Y’all we went from East to West in literally 3 hours. It takes me 3 hours to get to my home town here in Texas. Galway was beautiful! We saw the church where Christopher Columbus stopped before coming to America, we learned about the silver Claddagh rings and we ate the coolest pub called, The King’s Head. What an absolute beautiful city & on top of it all they were getting ready for a flower festival. Once everyone got back on the bus we headed to the Cliffs. My goodness is the Lord and His creation magnificent. We were in complete awe of Him and this beautiful creation. I absolutely loved how the tour gave us plenty of time to set and enjoy. On our way back we drove south on the coast. I am telling you the Lord is so good. Once, we got back to Dublin we of course had to cross the penny bridge. (This was recommended by our dear friend, Cy Cozart and we had to make sure we did this.)

Day 3: The next morning we packed our bags, left them at the lobby and finished all things Dublin. We first walked around the south east side of Dublin, then we headed to The Jameson Distillery. We learned the history and enjoyed the traditions that they still carry today. There was so much pride for Ireland, but also for their industry that when people ask us what is the one activity we recommend we always say the Jameson Distillery. Once, we finished there we of course had to see the St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Gosh the beauty of this Cathedral was contagious. The lord is truly amazing. We only had minutes to spear until our train came so we headed back to the Castle, grabbed our things & took a train to the sweet little town of Tipperary. Now, we were a touch nervous because we noticed that the taxi’s were slim in Tipperary, but on the train we met the sweetest lady who actually drove us to our hotel, which was honestly less than half a mile away, but we made a sweet friend and a sweet memory. Brody loves golf & the second we got there was ready to play, but it was sunset so all we could do was have dinner.

Day 4: Ohhhh this was the one morning I simply could not wait for. We headed down to Killarney where we were going to see sheep dogs do some herding. Once we got to Killarney our Taxi driver of course stopped along the way at all the spots he certainly didn’t want us to miss. The sweetest people and the coolest stories about this town. We made it to the sheep farm an hour earlier, but y’all once we got there puppies on puppies ran to us. We spent that hour loving on these sweet dogs that looked just like the dogs I had growing up. We enjoyed every second of the sheep herding (this dog was going through the hills and valleys, gosh it was beautiful) and the sheep shearing. (the guy shearing the sheep was known for it in New Zealand, so cool) However, the highlight of that day was talking to the header about his life and our life. With our hearts full we headed back to the town of Killarney and grabbed a bite to eat at a golfing pub before our train game. Once, again we got back too late for Brody to golf, but don’t worry Day 5 is next.

Day 5: We woke up super early before our train came so Brody could golf. Up until that point Winstar was the nicest place he has ever golfed at. He had the best time ever and probably was missing his buddies at that moment, but we totally left for our train with a smile on our faces. I was also happy to have a moment to just enjoy, because that evening we took two train rides and one taxi to get to Belfast. Some of our coolest stories are from the taxi drivers in Belfast. We stayed at a lodge around the mountains the next two nights.

Day 6: That morning we finally slept in, well as much as the Wilson’s could sleep in. We had brunch at the sweetened place called, The Crown. We had no plans for this day, so we walked around Belfast enjoying every bit of it. Along the way we found the Titanic museum, this was a piece of history I will never forget. After the Titanic we had to head to the Game of Thrones museum. They still had the setting for the final season all set up, of course it was the torn down part, but still cool. The props that they had left we were able to see. We are fans, but not HUGE fans. However, seeing this part was truly so cool. After that we headed to dinner, where if you know me this next statement is a HUGE deal. We had the BEST tacos ever at this sweet pub. Y’all AMAZING!!! We didn’t stay out too late, cause we knew we needed to get ready for the next day.

Day 7

Simply all of Brody’s golfing dreams came true on this beautiful day. We work up early and headed out to the British Open. We had no idea our plans lined up this way, but when we learned that the last day was going on, while we were there we had to go. This was our first day of rainy weather, some might think how awful, but we were so pumped to have a full Irish day; rain, clouds and golf. Brody was in heaven. We walked around the whole course taking in every moment. We realized we were a head of the last golfer, who was the golfer from Ireland. (At golfing tournaments you walk with the golfer you wanted to see the most, but Brody wanted to see them all. So, we decided to camp at hole 15 and see them all come through. Once the last guys finished at whole 15 we went to hole 18. Such a rush! (Totally not a pun, but it was at PortRush.) & on top of that once, the Ireland native won the crowd went crazy. As much as we would have loved for an American to win, seeing a native Irish man we were way too pumped for them. That evening we headed back with full hearts and cold feet.

Day 8

Our last day. We took a train back to Dublin and a bus to the airport and headed home.

Ireland is truly a place we think should be on the top of everyone’s bucket list. Like most places the tradition and the history is so deep and so beautiful. So, on this St. Patrick’s Day our hope is that your hearts are filled with your faith like St. Patrick’s was, but we also hope that it is filled with the love for your family and friends. Yes, this holiday is filled with a lot of green, but it is also a day to love on your family and friends a lot tighter. This holiday is meant for just that, your faith, your family & of course your friends. Happy St. Patrick’s Day Friends!

& like the Jameson Family motto says, “SINE METU” = Without Fear.

Happy Reading My Friends.