Friday, May 20

Today we left at 6:30 a.m. and drove through the rain to Seapoint Golf Course on the Irish Sea. It was cold, raining, and windy and I had on about four layers of clothing. Seapoint was an evil course and I lost about four balls, but I found two so I didn’t feel so bad. The best part of the game, for me, was the Pro Shop after we’d finished; I bought myself a golf jacket and vest. I KNEW I liked golfing!!



After the game we searched all over for a country pub and were rewarded. Daly`s, a little pub in the middle of nowhere, was offering a `carvery`--roast beef, mashed and roasted potatoes, carrots, squash, gravy. We pigged out but the way I figure it, I used up about 1000 calories walking around the golf course, so I needed a gigantic caloric intake to maintain the status quo. I bought a giant apple cinnamon muffin a couple hours later, so I`m in the red at the moment!
After our lunch we went to Bru Na Boinne, a 5000-year-old settlement. What you see in the picture below is a burial chamber. The settlers—the first farmers in Ireland—lived in tepee-like structures all around this mound. This is one of those Indiana-Jones deals where, during a 17-minute period during the winter solstice, the otherwise pitch black chamber is infused by the light of the sun streaming through a small opening. The inside of the chamber was wicked cool. The guide even turned off the lights inside and "simulated" the light of sun streaming in. She speculated that the villagers only ever ventured in here twice a year during the solstices and eagerly awaited these occasions. Don and I were thinking the same; what if it were cloudy? We didn't say anything for fear of the others regarding us as American upstarts.