Obama Plaza

Today we drove east to Ennis, then south to Limerick, then to Dublin, then north to Belfast. On the way, we just had to stop at Barack Obama Plaza in Moneygall. WTF?

The first couple visited the president's mother's ancestral home in 2011 and what better way to commemorate a head-of-state visit than a service plaza with fast food counters and giant photos of his helicopter landing?

Refreshed with Tim Horton's Canadian doughnuts at a plaza named for an American, we made our way to Slipway Cottage in Holywood, which we have rented for the next two weeks until the townhouse in Crawfordsburn is available (the owner comes back from London for three weeks in August). We are a stone's throw from Belfast Lough in one direction, and across the street from the Dirty Duck Ale House. It's a cozy little place and has holiday cottage written all over it. Our landlady, Bronagh, left bacon, milk, and Guinness in the fridge, fresh homemade wheaten bread on the counter, and a bowl of turkey and chicken eggs from her farm.

Fattened up from our vacation, we went to the gym in Bangor to do penance, then picked up her highness at the kennel.