Day 91 - Friday, April 1st, 2011

On this splendid of days off, a leisurely lie-in would have been tempting but for the fact that a 10.30am hair appointment with Darryl of Scruples had to be honoured, both out of manners and necessity, for it had been over 5 months since my last haircession (Father). The highlights, wash and cut takes two hours, which possibly explains why I don't go more often, that and the fact that it costs €70 including tip, but the time flies thanks to excellent banter, a copy of Hot Press and some iPhone Angry Bird-firing.

And all-a-sudden it's 4.10pm, and I'm on the road with Al The Almera, Conquer, Danny and Niall - destination Charleville, for a weekend of golf and carousing. Baroness Red Cow Roundabout is having one of her strops, as is the Naas by-pass which surely must now be by-passed, but eventually open road beckons. With the petrol gauge low near Limerick, I decide to take advantage of a Petrol Pump sign at an exit, but there's no semblance of one in sight. We stop and ask some roadside horse-traders where the nearest one is and the response is "1 or 2 mile up da' way." 5.6 miles later, we reach the petrol station! No harm to stretch the legs though, and we still manage to pull into the Charleville Park hotel at 7.15pm.

The very pleasant check-in girl greets us with a glass of white wine punch, and after a swift ale in the hotel bar, we are directed to Gough's Pub in town, which is an excellent tavern indeed. The craic was mighty, but after a few fine-tasting Guinnesses we decided to venture onwards to see what else the town had to offer. O'Connell's was next, offering less punters and craic than Gough's, but one more dartboard, so soon we were playing and the locals were joining in too. 

After a few more fine-tasting Guinnesses, closing time arrived all too soon, kick-starting the quest for food, which brought us to Supermac's, where delicately-curried chipped potatoes and a 5 ounce beef patty sandwich were devoured with aplomb and speed. It was now lashing with rain outside, prompting the summonage of a taxi, which took us on a magical 3 minute journey back to the hotel.

       Conquer and Danny worrying the ladies

             It's a 4-way 301 shoot-out at O'Connell's

Contentment : 16 / 25
Excitement :    3 / 10
Memorability : 4 / 15

Overall Score : 46% (16th out of 91)