Refreshing this ONE LAST TIME -- we (me, wife and one son) fly out of New Orleans in just three more days for a quick visit to family in NY/NJ, then off to London on Monday!

Thanks to all for the good information, encouragement, and good wishes.

Week One, at my brother Paul's home in England (Methwold, near Ely, north of Cambridge), remains unstructured. We'll have plenty of time to relax, recover from jet lag, visit, and hang out with Paul and his family (Barb & 8-year-old Gabriel, whom we haven't seen for 2 or 3 years).

We'll make a few day-trips (Stonehenge and Stratford-on-Avon, maybe, as well as Cambridge and London), but I'm not sure we'll be able to fit in nighttime activities (drinking and singing) very far from our home base. Paul is in charge of the intinerary, I ain't worryin about it at all.

Week Two starts with a Monday-evening flight to Dublin; brother Paul will accompany the three of us Yanks as tour guide and driver. We'll rent a car at the airport, and stay two nights at a B&B in Enniskerry, just south of the city -- thanks to a completely anonymous tip from a "Guest" who recommeded a couple of pubs in the area. That will be our base of operations for forays into Dublin all day and evening Tuesday and also probably Wednesday morning. We plan to tour the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) and the Jameson distillery, probably visit Guinness but not take the tour, and see what we can of the usual attractions in and near the center of town.

Next stop is our ancestral family farmstead near Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, where I'll meet my second cousin Tom and his wife Annie. We'll stay at a nearby B&B for two nights (Wed/Thur) and see how much time we spend with the (relatively elderly) relatives and how much time we can spend driving around the area -- Westport, maybe Achill Island, perhaps the seaweed baths in Co Sligo, etc.

Nights 5 & 6 (Thur/Fri) will be spent at one more B&B, between Lisdoonvarna and Doolin near the coast in Co Clare. We'll probably visit Galway City for a while on the trip from Mayo to Clare.

Sunday we go to Shannon and fly back home.

Actually, only my son Mike and I return home at that time. Peggy will go back to England with Paul for another week, and will spend the fourth week in New Jersey with my mother and visiting our other son in Brooklyn. She's self-employed, and her boss is giving her more time off than mine is -- I have to return to work Monday morning 8/18!

I'll have a computer and internet access as long as long as I'm at Paul's house, so feel free to keep posting interesting stuff!

I'm so freaking excited I don't know what to do.

Thanks again to all,
Pops