I thought about posting to X or Facebook, but realized that articulating my thoughts today was for my benefit, and not for public consumption. 24 years ago I was 34 years old. I was a husband and a father of 3 little kids, ages 5, 3 and 1. I flew out of Boston that morning on a perfect day only to have the world change forever. Our pla...

Saturday was our last night in Deal. We headed south to a pub recommended by a few folks, the Zetland Arms. The Pub is right on the ocean, about 3 miles south of Deal, just north of Dover. We got our first close up look at the white cliffs, and had a great dinner!

We finished our trip with a stop in London to see Matty and Laura. We headed to the coast to a seaside town, Deal. It was great. On Saturday we took a day trip to Canterbury to see the Cathedral and walk around what turned out to be a great place.

We left Glencoe Wednesday morning to head north. First stop was a farm that Laurie hunted down that let you pet Scottish Coos (big hairy cows with horns). Then onto a cruise on Loch Ness (no Nessie sighting) and a visit to Urquhart castle. A 20 minute drive north found us in Inverness. What a great little city. Beautiful old building o...

We left St Andrews early on Tuesday morning for the three hour drive west to Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands. The weather did not cooperate as it was drizzling and cloudy all day. We hiked the Pap of Glencoe. The views were awesome. Our only suggestion would have been to hike in Glencoe, but to stay in Fort Williams. Glencoe is a rea...

After two days in Edinburgh, we rented our car and headed up to the home of golf, St Andrews. We played 18 on The Eden Course and then headed over to the Old Course. The village is fantastic and links golf is a real treat.

Our trip to Scotland started in Edinburgh. We did the Royal Mile, the Castle, HolyRood Palace and hiked Arthur’s seat.

We finished our trip in Dublin. We stayed at the Shelbourne (a Marriott Autograph property... got to love those points). This is a fantastic hotel with exceptional service. Friday night we went to the Temple Bar area. We made a quick stop in the Temple Bar (great music, tons of fun, but REALLY crowded). We found another bar a few block...

We drove from Cork to Dublin and made sure to drive through the Wicklow Mountains. Going through the mountains adds about an hour to the trip, but is is absolutely worth it. Before getting to the mountains, we had the unexpected find of the trip. We were starving so we got off the M9 at an exit and just looked on Apple Maps for a place...

Next it was on to Cork. A bigger city than Limerick. We really enjoyed walking through The English Market and that entire shopping area. Our hotel (The River Lee) was really nice. We had a great dinner at the SpitJack. One of the best meals we had in Ireland. SpitJack - SpitJack (thespitjack.com) The next morning it was a short drive t...

We spent one night in Limerick. It was not our favorite city. After walking around the town we ended up having dinner at our hotel (The George). The next morning, we visited St. Mary's Cathedral. Pictures below: Our next visit was to King John's Castle. This was a GREAT stop. There is a museum and the ability to tour the castle. Defini...

We saw the Cliffs of Mohar from both the North and the South. From the North, we left Doolin and walked to the walking trail. The view is spectacular and at 9:00 in the morning we had the walk to ourselves… except for the horses and cows. At first we walked down a paved and gravel road. After about a mile you have to climb over a fence...

We spent Tuesday night in the small coastal town of Doolin. Doolin is at the northern end of the Cliffs of Moher walking trail. We stayed at a bed and breakfast, the Atlantic View B&B. Not expensive. Nothing fancy. Perfect place if you plan to walk the Cliffs. Neat little town with plenty of tourist shops. We were more interested in th...

Great trip to Belfast. We went to the titanic museum and then did a Black Taxi Tour of the Falls road and Shankill road, the heart of the Troubles, where you can still see the Peace Wall and the gates. I remember seeing reports on the The Troubles on the news, but seeing the streets where it happens is just different.

Fun visit to Bath w Matt and Laura. We took a walking tour and visited the Roman Baths. Very cool!

Great visit to London. Cabinet War Rooms, Hampton Court, river cruise.

Just testing this out Matt Ellis - matt.ellis@hey.com You can still use my matt.ellis@me.com account, but I prefer to get email here!

It is my birthday today. I am not going to tell you how old I am, but I will give you a clue. I started my professional career before email existed. I have watched email evolve from a fantastic business tool, to a massive pain in the ass. Hundreds of messages a day, mostly from strangers offering me junk I do not want or need. Well I a...