Heading to Dublin - Áth Cliath

One of the things I always love about Ireland is that the road signs are in both English and Irish. It often helps you figure out how the Irish pronounce the name of a town.

There are a couple of exceptions where the Irish for a place and the name of the place are different. Dublin - the capital city - is a great example. The name Dublin comes from the Irish Dub Lin (or black pool), but the Irish name for it is Áth Cliath.

At any rate, I love the weathered signs that you find around the country. It adds to the romance and charm of the Emerald Isle.

Feilim's Lake

On my recent trip to Ireland, I had the good fortune to be escorted to Wexford by a lad named Feilim. Although the trip to Wexford was nice, the journey back to Dublin the next day was extraordinary.

You can make it from City Centre Dublin to Wexford in about 60 minutes. The drive back was a relaxing 2 hours of great stories and side roads. With Feilim as my guide, I got to see some out of the way and interesting sites.

Although I had taken a tour through the Wicklow Mountains, I had never seen this lake before. I don't know the name of the lake, so I am aptly naming it Feilim's Lake because it reminds me of that trip.

Any time you are laughing so hard you and you driver have tears in their eyes, you can chalk that up to an amazing day!

Clancy's Pub in Bray, Ireland

When I lived in Ireland, I had made a day trip to Bray. During that day, I shot a few photos on the strand. However, by the time I had started walking in to town, the skies opened and it started pouring down rain.

Since I didn't have an umbrella, I headed for the first pub for a bit to eat and pint. In Ireland, you can often wait 10 or 15 minutes and the rain will pass. The rain didn't let up.

I was totally discouraged and headed back to the Dart (subway) station and headed back to Dublin.

Clancy's is one of the closest pubs to the Dart station, and I had NEVER seen it. Bray is a great little town, within 20 or 30 minutes of Dublin, that has a lot of character. I spent the entire afternoon walking the streets, having lunch and enjoying the sites the town offered.

Sunset on Cape Haze

I shot this picture with my phone while I was having dinner with my parent's in Cape Haze, Florida. The palm trees and water look amazing in the sunset.

Of course, I pulled the ultra mean moved and sent it as a picture message to my friends in Cleveland who were enduring 25 degree temps and getting snow.

It is much better to seeing the sunset in person than on a picture message!

Venice Beach Jetty

While on vacation in Florida, my family and I went to Venice Beach. Tucked away from the main promenade is two jetties where a lot of people go fishing. It is a pretty amazing spot. The water is so blue and it is entrancing to watch the waves.

One of the things that I think is incredible about the beaches on the gulf is that there seems to be a more mellow vibe than the beaches on the Atlantic Coast.

Christmas Tree at Tower City

I finally got a chance to break out of the office and head to Tower City. It is the first time I have been up there since the holiday season began.

The tree looks great and all the kids hanging around really got me into a holiday mood. It is only a few days until Christmas and I have 3 gifts left on the list. Not bad for being on the road for the majority of December.

Fountain in Front of Union Station (DC)

Yet another in my series of photos from DC. Since I took the metro to the train station most of the time, I never really noticed the exterior of the building or the fact that there is a pretty incredible fountain in front of it.

In my defense, there is a lot of traffic and the fountain is on a relatively inaccessible island. I had to dodge a few cars to get over there.

Luckily, I had a few beers and was braver than usual (or maybe just more stupid).