Ireland’s Coasts from North to South - Day #1 - San Francisco

Sharon and I are off again exploring the world. Over the next three weeks, we will be exploring both Ireland and Northern Ireland. Although we were originally targeting France for this fall, we pivoted to Ireland when Holly and Van signed up for an Ireland trip. After a couple of days on our own in Dublin, we are joining the Road Scholar Ireland’s Coasts from North to South tour.

Thirty-five years ago, Tomasin, Bachman and I toured Ireland, Wales and England with the Tennessee Long Rifles Rugby Football Club during the 1991 Rugby World Cup. We played rugby, watched rugby and drank beer, but didn't do much sightseeing. I have always wanted to get back to Dublin. Over the last month, I have finished writing about the 1991 trip in my novella.

We rolled from Carmichael just before 11:30 am. With a driver change at the Hunter Hill Rest Stop, we pulled up to Terminal 1 at the San Francisco International Airport at 1:45 pm. I dropped Sharon and her luggage at the curb.

Like we did when we went to Eastern Europe, I dropped the car at the airport long term parking. Compared to then, the outside parking was fairly empty. I will write in the last post for this trip about why we have started driving ourselves rather than using a shuttle... Dragging my luggage, I took the Airtrain back to Terminal 1.

I am surprised that our Aer Lingus flight nonstop to Dublin is leaving from a domestic terminal. Even more surprising when we come back, we land at the domestic terminal. Apparently, we will clear U.S. immigration, customs, and TSA-equivalent security directly on Irish soil through a specialized U.S. CBP facility on the way home.

We breezed through the Aer Lingus check-in and then security with CLEAR and TSA-Pre. We had a late lunch at the Bourbon Pub; it is a casual dining concept by celebrity chef Michael Mina. Sharon had a caesar gem salad with salmon, while I had chili.

Scheduled to leave at 5:35 pm, our flight boarded late and pulled away from the gate at 6:10 pm. In spite of the late start, we are scheduled to arrive on time in Dublin.

For the first time in a while, we are flying economy. Aer Lingus doesn't offer premium economy and the business class seats were almost ten times the cost of economy. Almost the cost of another trip! Once we got settled in the seats, Sharon looked at me and said "never again." The seats are very tight with little room to move around. Luckily, it is a 2-4-2 configuration. We have 37H and 37K on the right side of the plane; I get an aisle and Sharon gets a window.

Thankfully, this is also the first time in a long time that the trip is only one leg. We have had several three legged trips in the last couple of years, including the trip to Eastern Europe in the spring [San Francisco to Dallas to Madrid to Prague].

On a positive note, the wifi for the first couple of hours was very good. I wrote this as we crossed into Canada.

Although I have a hard time sleeping on planes, I am going to try and sleep tonight. Usually, I read my book or watch a movie.