The Serendipity Just Keeps On Coming..............
Disclaimer: Some changes this year in our blog, Tom has decided that it should become a collaboration. Regular readers will be somewhat disappointed to learn that we will both be writing the prose, although rest assured, ALL photos will be entirely Tom's. So here goes....
After what at times seemed to be an endless journey, we have finally arrived in Westport.
We arose Thursday morning at 6 in Orlando and headed to the airport for our 11 a.m. flight. We left promptly, but dealt with a two hour delay out of JFK in NY due to the weather system coming in from the mid-West. Not a bother, but it did turn a five hour layover into a seven hour layover. We already knew we couldn't catch the train from Dublin to Westport until noontime, so we weren't worried about any missed connections. Therefore, our flight arrived at 9 a.m. instead of 7, cutting down what was to be a five hour wait in the train station. Long story made less long, by the time we hit the bed at 11 p.m. Friday night, we had been up for about forty hours straight (with the exception of a short catnap here and there).
Our intention was that we would sleep some more during the 3+ hour train ride, so hopefully we wouldn't be too exhausted to attend the opening of the annual (Folk) and Bluegrass Festival that evening. We look forward to this each year, since it is where we had the wonderful fortune to meet our lovely friends, Padraic and Marion Duffy. As an added bonus, it kicks off each year in the Clew Bay - Madden's Bar - run by our landlords and friends, Darren and Maria. After the marathon travel, sleeping seemed prudent But...
On the train, as often happens in this amazing country, we met two very interesting people, also on their way to Westport, Richard and Carol Hawkins. Richard it turns out, is a banjo player and also serves as the "memory" for the bluegrass community in Ireland. He recently retired from writing the Bluegrass Ireland blog which chronicles the goings on in the bluegrass world. We passed the several hours of the ride enjoying their stories about music and the many friendships they both have enjoyed as they travel about. Most recently, they hosted Roni Stoneman, (pictured below) widely acknowledged as The First Lady of Banjo, all the way from Nashville. Carol, who shares his love of the music, is, hands down, Richard's biggest fan. Their love of all things Bluegrass, and his of the banjo, the interesting perspective they easily shared about world affairs, books and fascinating people, passed the time much more happily than the planned nap, and soon we found ourselves in Westport, surprisingly energized.
 |
| Roni Stoneman |
 |
| Richard with Roni - getting ready to play Dueling Banjos. Held his own quite nicely, thank you very much! |
.JPG) |
| Richard playing with Woodbine at the Big Ass Bluegrass Jam in McGing's Yard Bar. |
.JPG) |
| Kidnap Alice, a terrific band from Great Britain. Regardless of temperature we haven't seen the longhaired mandolin player put a shirt on under his overalls yet. |
.JPG) |
| The Bluegrass Boogiemen - direct from Holland! The big guy with the stand up bass could walk around Memphis or Nashville and easily pass as a native. |
 |
| The venue for Saturday night's concert - the Wyatt Hotel - the only event requiring an admission fee. |