Word From A Winner

Every year at Irish Fest we have a bunch of volunteers scurrying about selling raffle tickets. And every year one of those volunteers sells a raffle ticket that wins the ticket buyer a trip for two to Ireland. This year's winner, Rich Akins and his wife are in Ireland enjoying their winnings right now and they were kind enough to drop us a note and rub our noses in it:

"Greetings from the enchanted isle of Ireland!! It seems like a long time ago we boarded the flight from KCI to Chicago (okay, it was only 10:00 am Wednesday morning). A six hour layover in the Windy City, then the long flight to Dublin, a 45 minute layover there, and on to Shannon, our first official stop, where we arrived at around noon on Thursday.

Beth and I have never been out of the country before, even though our three kids have each made it to Europe twice apiece. This time, was our turn! How excited we were to learn that our name had been drawn from the raffle at last year's Irish Fest! Although excitement was building, it wasn't until last week, that we really realized it was about to happen.

We decided on this first tour abroad, that we would sign up with a tour group. Chuck Denton of Sullivan and Dougherty in Lee's Summit recommended CIE Tours, so after much discussion and consternation, we settled on the Folklore and Music Tour, an 8 day trip that starts in Shannon, takes in Limerick, Cliffs of Moher, Galway, Dingle Peninsula and Adare, Muckross House and Kenmare, Blarney Castle and County Cork, finishing up in Dublin (with a much anticipated tour of the Jameson Distillery). We're staying an extra day to tour Glendalough and St. Kevin's.

Over the next week, we hope to post pictures and tales of our trip.

This first day saw us picked up at Shannon Airport by our driver, Jim. We learned that this is a small tour group, only 13 of us. Our groups include a couple from Baltimore, one from San Francisco (with their daughter and a friend), a mother and daughter from Ohio, and a couple with their son from Blue Springs, MO. Beth and I make Lee's Summit our home, so it was nice to see some folks from Kansas City area. They immediately recognized us as mid-westerners, as I was wearing a KU shirt.

After checking into the hotel, Beth and I took a short walking tour of Limerick (the hotel overlooks the River Shannon), had lunch at an outdoor café, walked to St. John's Castle, and took a quick nap to try and catch up on the sleep we missed out on. We then met for drinks with our traveling companions, journeyed to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, where we had dinner in the Corn Barn. Dinner consisted of salad, Irish lamb stew, boiled potatoes, apple pie with fresh Irish Cream, and Irish Soda bread. Drinks before dinner included either Bailey's or Mead Wine, a wonderful buttery tasting concoction. Throughout and after dinner, we were treated to a wonderful show consisting of Irish music, singing, dancing, and storytelling.

We returned back to the Hotel around 10 pm, where it is still daylight. With tomorrow being the summer solstice, Jim indicated we could see 20 hours of daylight - 4:30 a.m. till 10:30 p.m.

And with that, we bid you a pleasant evening."

Go mbeannai Dia duit
May God Bless You

Deacon Rich and Beth Akins

Note: He signs "Deacon" Rich because Mr. Akins in addition to being our raffle winner also happens to have been a volunteer Deacon at our Sunday Mass last year at Irish Fest. Hmmm...I suspect divine intervention in his win.