66 days to go and getting scared!!

annettemcgrath · Veteran Member

66 days to go and getting scared!!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Annette,

Your itinerary still looks good. No need to redo it. Plus you snagged some great places to stay, which may well be full up by now. Take a deep breath and read a couple of trip reports. It will calm you down, give you a chuckle or two and inspire you to know that you can do it too.

There is still plenty of time for your husband to make the car arrangements. Tell him to take a look at my "Car Rental" page for tips.

One thing that you should do now is make reservations for the castle banquet. Go to my "Dining" page for the email address or ask your B&B if they can do it for you. It is a service that most Bunratty B&Bs provide for their guests free.

Travel jitters affect everyone from time to time. They generally disappear once you are in Ireland enjoying everything you planned so diligently for.

Michele

-- Edited by Michele Erdvig at 17:14, 2006-08-01

Melissa5 · Guru

Annettemcgrath, relax, enjoy! You will have a great start at Beechwood house...Joe is so nice and welcoming.

Worries about what to pack: Here are the main things you need:
--tickets
--passports
--credit cards
--b&b addresses and phone numbers
--money, traveller's checks, ATM cards
--prescription meds
--Michele's guidebook
--your favorite cold pills (Ireland has different brands of cold pills than we sell here in the USA, and you have to ask for them at the chemist or pharmacy...we found we coulnd't get the same ones we are used to. I brought some along but wish I'd brought more as we ran out.

if you forget anything else you can always buy it in Ireland!

Have a wonderful Irish adventure and tell us all about it when you return!

Shawn · Senior Member

Annette,

You are going to love the Emlagh Lodge in Dingle. One tip...make sure you contact Maggie at Emlagh a week or two before you leave the states. And also contact her by noon on the day of your arrival at Emlagh Lodge. She's a little more up tight about this than most people were. If you do not do these things there is a good chance that she will give up your room. We didn't have any problem, but she talked about some other experiences she wasn't pleased with. She was actually a incredible host, but she likes to make sure she knows what's going on.

Shawn

oopsy · Senior Member

Hi Annette,

You should have plenty of time for sightseeing en route from Dingle to Kenmare. On our way from The Shores (Stradbally), we stopped at Inch, had a boat ride at Ross Castle, took a short hike at Torc waterfall, had lunch and got lost in Killarney, made several scenic stops between Torc and Kenmare, and still arrived with plenty of time to rest before dinner in Kenmare.

Your itinerary looks good to me. It will be a wonderful trip!

yesiree · Guru

Your hard work planning that itinerary was well worth the effort. Everything is ready and you're in for a well-paced, very fun trip. Just give the DH (or his majesty or Ed or whatever we are calling spouses now) a little nudge and you'll be set.

annettemcgrath · Veteran Member

Thank you all so much!!

I'm feeling A LOT better now.

Oopsy, wow I can't believe how much you fit in on the way to Kenmare. Those are many of the things that I'd like to see too.

Shawn, I got that impression about Maggie while I was communicating with her about the reservations. I'll be sure to contact her the day of our reservation because Emlaugh Lodge looks so amazing that I'd hate to miss out on that experience.

And Melissa - thanks for the tip on the cold pills - I would have never thought about that.

Michele, you're right, I just need to keep reading trip reports and relax a bit. I know we're going to have a great time.

Thanks again!

Annette

Willie · Veteran Member

Hi, Annette,

I'm still relatively new to this forum and haven't had a chance to catch up on all the older posts, so I don't know if this has come up before...

If you use washcloths, you might want to pack a few of those. They were available in some, but not all, of the accommodations I used in 2004. Before our trip, I bought some ridiculously cheap at Target (I think it was around $5 for 8 or 10 of them.), tucked them into the "holes" in my suitcase as I packed, then tossed them as I used them.

The other thing that I packed was little packages of peanuts. My niece laughed at me at first--I'd gone to Sam's Club and bought a box of about 50 packages of the peanuts, then told her to throw a bunch in her bag. They came in handy when we were feeling hungry, but didn't want to stop for a full meal. If you're allergic to peanuts, or they're just not your thing, any pre-packaged snacks that offer some protein will do the trick. My niece now has peanuts (and her favorite granola bars) on her packing list for our next trip!

Oh! And I'd recommend visiting the Guinness Storehouse around lunchtime. I had the *yummiest* beef & Guinness stew while we were there! The bread was very tasty there, too.

Have fun!