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Thursday marks the biggest thing ever to come to Dunmanway Town, Co. Cork Ireland.
Not plumbing. Not electricity. Not even sliced bread.
No, the 2,500 people living there (and, I assume, loads of guests) will welcome Liverpool, last year’s English Premier League runners-up.
The team has borrowed a local school’s Gaelic Games pitch for the day and has drafted in just over 7,000 seats – from the same temporary stands used in Shamrock Rovers’ narrow 1-0 defeat by Real Madrid in July… The tie was briefly threatened by an invasion of local rabbits, who dug holes in the pitch but have since been scared away by the construction of the temporary stands.
For Liverpool, this represents a fantastic opportunity to strengthen an already strong fan base. For the Minnows, I assume this could only be described as the chance of a lifetime. These are amateur players who typically play their games on a farmer’s field. Now they have an opportunity to play with one of the top clubs in the world and, for 90 minutes, live out the dreams many have likely held since childhood.
For the record, I’m a Liverpool supporter and, coincidentally, have been since I spent a summer in Ireland. That summer – 2002 – was a World Cup year, one featuring the Republic of Ireland no less. The excitement of the World Cup was something akin to a college football game day in the states, only stretched over a summer. The entire country was decked out in all things Ireland – flags, scarves, shirts, hats, etc. Come game time, if you weren’t at the pub early, you weren’t getting in. Watching Robbie Keane score the tying goal in stoppage time against Germany sealed my fate as a fan of soccer. Surrounded in the pub by friends and fans alike, the celebration was something you pause and take notice of, knowing it will be with you forever.
With the World Cup serving as my “gateway drug,” some friends started talking Liverpool and it was downhill from there.
If you’re a fan of soccer, you certainly know what I’m talking about. If you say you’re not a fan, I’d encourage you to check it out again. Grab some friends, hit a bar, and enjoy the experience. After that, if you’re looking for a team to follow, check out Bill Simmon’s (slightly dated) ESPN Page 2 article on researching and selecting an EPL team to support. Or go here for a handy (albeit generalized) quiz to help you decide. Lastly, get excited – the season starts in less than two weeks.
As previously discussed, we recently took a little trip back west. Our travel itinerary was complicated and included a stop in possibly the worst large airport ever – LAX. Honestly, I’ve never seen a more ridiculous setup at an airport that handles a similar amount of traffic. I suppose it’s fine if you don’t have to change terminals, but God help you if you do. The airport’s lone saving grace, however, is its close proximity to the Mecca of all fast food hamburger restaurants, In-N-Out.
We first got the idea to try and visit an In-N-Out when our DFW-to-LAX flight was parking at the gate. Realizing we had six hours to kill, we figured there would be plenty of time to make it out of the airport and back – a feeling that was confirmed when we discovered the short distance to the nearest location. Using the iPhone’s gps map, we found there was about a 1 mile walk from the actual terminal. Not too bad, so off we went.
Outside, though, was a different story. The exit from the airport was not pedestrian friendly, and traffic was fairly heavy. Deciding against a walk, we opted instead for a cab. How much could a one-mile fare be, right?
“$17.50 minimum, sir.”
“But we’re going one mile.”
“$17.50.”
“Have a nice day, then.”
$17.50… Right. Feeling dejected, we were about to give up. Then we decided to try something novel. We asked a traffic cop. He told us we could walk if we wanted to, OR we could do something better.
As it turns out, The Parking Spot has an off-airport parking lot on the same property as the In-N-Out we wanted to visit (Sepulveda and Westchester). Conveniently, they also run a complementary shuttle to and from the airport (wait under the red “Complementary Shuttle” signs outside and board the “Sepulveda” shuttle). Eating included, the entire round trip was thirty minutes max., meaning a layover of more than one hour at LAX now = In-N-Out.
Needless to say, the double-double with grilled onions and chilis and fries well-done was great. So great, in fact, that we repeated the trip on our way back to Texas.
If you find yourself at LAX with some time to kill, I encourage you to make the pilgrimage yourself. It’s a trip you won’t regret.
Went on a nice little vacation with the wife last week. Nice and much-needed, I might add. We headed back to California (Crescent City, or thereabout anyway) to visit my mom and step-dad.
First things first, the weather was fantastic. We’ve had 30+ days of 100+ degree heat in Texas so far this summer, with several records shattered (including the rarely mentioned “record-low high temp”). We landed in Medford and, after spending the night with temps in the 60′s, we headed to Mom’s where highs were in the 80′s and lows were in the 50′s. Better still were the temps in Crescent City itself – fogged in with highs in the 60′s.
I had to wear a jacket. It was lovely.
I also managed to squeeze in some golf with my step-dad on a great little course with temps in the mid-70′s and a slight breeze. My game may have not been stellar, but the weather was.
Outside of enjoying the weather, we ate well, read some (but not enough), visited with the fam, and on the last day went back to the Medford area so I could take the wife on a tour of my alma mater and downtown Ashland.
All-in-all, a great vacation.
