I admit that sometimes I am not the easiest person to keep track of. Jetting off to here and there; I am never at home by my phone. Hopefully you can keep up to date with these notes. --Dan
I am once again in Edinburgh and spent the whole day at the castle. We were lucky enough to be there for the anniversary of the queen’s coronation. There was a bagpiper parade and three howitzers gave a 21 gun salute over the castle’s walls. I loved walking through the buildings and […]
I am back in Dublin again, and today we toured the Guinness brewery. It was a very polished tour, but you don’t actually get to see the Guinness being made since that is done in another part of the factory. The end of a brewery tour is always the best part. Jeremy […]
I took the Eireann bus to Belfast on Monday, and we have spent three days here. We found a small little hotel called the Hilton Belfast that was conveniently downtown. They also gave us a four course dinner which was delightful. We saw the international festival at City Hall, spent a day […]
This afternoon we walked around Dublin harbor, played in St. Stephen’s green, listened to a four piece orchestra, and saw a duwk! Later on we went in search of Guinness and a girl playing acoustic guitar. We found both many times in Temple Bar, but I am glad we stopped where we did. […]
Jeremy and I wandered around downtown Dublin yesterday after getting down from the airport. I found a map, and we were soon at the Paramount Hotel in Temple Bar where we are spending the next few days. Temple Bar is the heart of Dublin and is filled with bars, pubs, clubs, restaurants, and […]
Last night was the last day of the IASSIST conference, and a nice dinner was held at the Roxburghe Hotel in Charlotte Square. We started out with wine in the garden and moved onto a five course dinner with sliced salmon with peppercorns and Haggis stuffed chicken. It was worth attending the conference […]
Tonight after our sessions, Jeremy and I went out with five girls from Louisiana who were visiting Scotland for a birthday party. We bowled a few games at the Edinburgh MegaBowl, and I am sure Melanie paid her way through college shooting pool, because I got schooled. The best part was the girls […]
Our DDI meetings were scheduled to coincide with the IASSIST conference in Edinburgh. The conference was being held at the Holyrood hotel where we had been meeting the previous two days. I had grown a taste for the Tennents Velvet on tap in the lobby, so I decided to stay on for the […]
After several planes, busses, and funny looking automobiles, I arrived on Royal Terrace in Edinburgh where I am living for a while. Jeremy and I are staying in a splendid manor house, and the place is very ornate. My first order of business was to see the new Star Wars movie at the […]
I managed to again steal Trisha’s van to move my furniture home to Stevens Point. Not one to miss opportunities, Ben and I decided to move some more furniture! My grandparents are moving out of their home in Wild Rose and had some extra sofas and tables. Anna wanted some of them […]
It was Ben’s birthday yesterday, so I drove down to the Wisconsin Dells to pay him a visit, and Jeremy also drove to up from Madison. Ben was working the afternoon away at the Army Ducks, so I jumped on for a free ride. I even got to go through the “drivers only” […]
When I lived in Las Vegas, my favorite happy hour was at the Kona Grill in Boca Park. I hadn’t been to happy hour since my January trip to Vegas. I had a fever, and the only cure was more Kona. The closest Kona Grill to Minneapolis was 471 miles south, so […]
Traveling through the Missouri wine country, I decided to stop at the Baltimore Bend vineyard. They grow a variety of American and French grapes: Chardonel, Chambourcin, and Cynthiana to name a few. While these grapes can be mixed to form sweet wines, I prefer them in their natural dry and fuller body forms. […]
On February 3rd, 1959, the Big Bopper, Richie Valens, and Buddy Holly died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, IA. After driving down a few unpaved roads and following a fence line a half mile into some farmer’s field, I arrived at the exact spot where the plane hit the ground. There […]
Today was the beginning of our road trip to Missouri. Our first adventure was in Austin, MN at the Hormel SPAM Museum. Ben, Steve, and I walked right in and started our free tour. My favorite exhibit was the SPAM packing. After dressing up in Hormel overcoats and hard helmets, we […]