Sadly, it was time to pack up the car again and say goodbye to our beautiful little cottage.
I really could have stayed there another week, but Ireland wasn’t quite finished with us yet.
Our next stop was Athlone, pretty much right in the heart of Ireland.
Athlone sits along the River Shannon near the geographical center of the country and has been an important crossing point for centuries. In fact, the Irish name Áth Luain means “the Ford of Luain,” referring to the ancient crossing of the Shannon around which the town developed.
We had reservations for one night at Riverdale B&B before heading into Dublin for the final leg of our trip.
Check-in wasn’t until 4:00, but when Kelly made the reservation, she’d sent a note asking if we might be able to check in around 3:00.
We never received a response.
We arrived around 2:00 and really weren’t expecting to check in that early. We were just hoping we could drop off our luggage, use the bathroom and then head back into town until the room was ready.
There was a car in the parking lot, but when we knocked on the door, no one answered.
Okay.
Off to town we went.
And our first stop?
Sean’s Bar.
Because if you’re in Athlone, apparently you can’t NOT have a drink at Sean’s.
Sean’s Bar is recognized by Guinness World Records as Ireland’s oldest pub, with a history the pub traces all the way back to around 900 AD, when an inn was established near the ancient crossing of the River Shannon.
That’s more than 1,100 years of people stopping in for a drink.
Now THAT is a lot of Guinness.
During renovations in the 1970s, old wattle walls and ancient coins were discovered, and some of the historic material is still on display inside the pub.
So naturally…
We had to do our part to keep this 1,100-year tradition going. 😉
After a couple of beers at Sean’s, we wandered around Athlone for a bit and stopped in a few shops.
Nothing really jumped out at us, though, and by this point we were tired.
We’d been on the road for nearly two weeks, and all we really wanted was to get into our rooms, clean up a little and relax before dinner.
Around 3:00, we sent another message to the B&B asking if we could at least drop off our things.
This time we received a very quick—and pretty curt—response:
Check-in was at 4:00 and no one was on the property.
Okay then.
We headed back anyway and waited until 4:00.
The same car we’d seen earlier was still sitting there.
At 4:00 we knocked on the door again…
And this time the host answered.
So apparently someone had been there.
Not exactly the warm Irish welcome we’d gotten used to during the rest of this trip.
To be fair, once we were finally inside, the host did show us around and explain everything about the house. But unfortunately, that first impression definitely put a bit of a damper on our stay.
We got ourselves settled, cleaned up and, most importantly…
Started thinking about food.
Because by this point we were STARVING.
We headed back into town for dinner at The Left Bank Bistro, and the meal was superb.
Bellies full and moods greatly improved, there was only one appropriate way to end our one night in Athlone.
Back to Sean’s Bar.
This time it was a couple of whiskeys and a couple of Guinness.
You know…
Just doing our part to support an ancient Irish institution. 😉
We enjoyed our last drinks, said our goodbyes to Sean’s and headed back to the B&B.
No late night for us this time.
We had somewhere pretty important to be the next morning.
We got settled in, got some sleep and were up and out early for the final leg of our Irish adventure.
Next stop…
Dublin!
We’re getting awfully close to the end now.
But we’ve still got a little more Ireland left to explore.
See you down the road!
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