When it’s your last day in a wonderful, amazing place, you may want to run around and complete as many things as possible before passing out in a satisfied heap. When you’re going to be traveling for an entire four months, that is not what you tend to do, and that is certainly not what we did on our last day in Dublin. We had an eventful morning of sleeping in, just enough to almost miss breakfast and feel well rested. We didn’t sleep in too much, since we had to be determined to get to bed early… for our 4AM wake up the next morning. Even more of a reason to keep the day mostly free.

The only thing that we knew we absolutely had to do was visit the Jameson Distillery. According to my dad, that iconic brand of whiskey is my brother’s namesake; my mom has leaned into this, even if she doesn’t completely agree. (She says it’s because of the main character Jamie Fraser in the series Outlander.) Jamie had already posed next to a decorative cask of Jameson outside of a pub that we had passed earlier in the week, but that doesn’t compare to getting a photo at an entire distillery completely dedicated to you. Conveniently, the Jameson Distillery was a mere 6 minute walk from our hotel, making it our quick afternoon visit.

It was a wonderful day for a walk. The skies were clear, the streets were void of crowds. It was near evening when we got to the distillery. All the tours seemed to be finishing or finished for the day, which meant that there weren’t too many people around. Those that were there had found temporary comfort in the arms of the bar. We took Jamie’s iconic photo and walked aimlessly about the premises as well. The gift shop beckoned us through the Jameson bar and into its open arms, where we bought a Jameson journal (appropriately belonging to my brother) and a Jameson Distillery mug for my dad. With our goodies in hand, we left the distillery and headed for our next destination: Leo Burdock’s Famous Fish & Chips.

Leo Burdock’s was recommended to us by the taxi driver that brought us from the Dublin airport to our hotel. We had been meaning to go there all week, and found that it was right on our walk back from the distillery. A convenient last supper for our time in Ireland.

The takeaway shop was small, as takeaway shops are, but had an upbeat and charming energy that was influenced by the outside wall with a long, long list of the celebrities that had visited. Next to the list of celebrities was a quote from “Tommy Flanagan’s Millenium Song, a little bag of chips.” The fish itself smelled lovely, along with the chips; although not completely freshly made, they had a nice crunch.

Holding the heavy bag of fish and chips delight while making the five minute trek back to the hotel was brutal as my stomach rumbled. Unwrapping the monstrous sized fish was mouthwatering and satisfying, although the sentiment was not shared with my less hungry family, who did not dig in as viciously as I did. Although not the best fish and chips I have ever had, Leo Burdock’s was an appropriate meal to have on our last day in Ireland, and it filled my stomach as I prepared to fall asleep far earlier than I normally did. 

Dublin was a wonderful city to explore, and it formed a promise of the excitement of the journey ahead, a journey that I had only taken the first step on.