Author Archives: morethanspuds

Before The Gallaghers Go was a blog, the Gallaghers were already going.

And this summer, we went somewhere a little different.

We went home. Well… I went home.

Ash and the kids have been to Ireland before, but this was their first time experiencing it in the summer — and incredibly, my first summer back home in 18 years.

I’d almost forgotten just how good an Irish summer can be. Beautiful temperatures, ridiculously long days where it feels like the sun doesn’t want to go down, and an energy that’s hard to describe.

Throw in my little sister getting married, almost two weeks with family, a road trip around the country and an obscene number of full Irish breakfasts, and we had the makings of a pretty special Gallagher adventure.

We landed in Dublin on July 22 and spent our first three days exploring. We walked the city, demolished some incredible baked goods at Bread 41, stopped for drinks and generally enjoyed the craic.

Dublin in the summer just hits differently. The streets are buzzing, the pubs spill outside and the long evenings make you feel like there’s no rush to get anywhere.

But Dublin wasn’t really why we’d crossed the Atlantic.

We had a wedding to get to.

The Main Event

On Saturday, my little sister got married at Tankardstown House.

What a day.

The setting was beautiful, the bride and groom looked amazing, and the craic was at an all-time high.

The meal delivered too. A parsnip and curry soup was an unexpected highlight, the scallops were on another level, and my beef was about as tender as you could ask for. Passionfruit cheesecake finished things off nicely.

Then the party started.

The band was top class, the dance floor was pumping and eventually everyone stopped checking the time.

Some craic.

Which made Sunday morning slightly less enjoyable.

I was in full recovery mode.

Fortunately, there was a Day 2 party to prepare for, and sometimes there’s only one solution.

Hair of the dog.

Slowly but surely, life returned to my body. Pontius Pilot kicked things off before a DJ and saxophonist transported the whole place back to the ’90s.

Non-stop dance and trance.

The kind of music where the first few notes hit and suddenly an entire generation believes they’re 19 again.

The place was electric, and another amazing night bled into the wee hours.

Westward Bound

Monday morning began with another full Irish breakfast before we pointed the car west toward Westport, County Mayo.

Our timing could not have been better.

The day before, Mayo had won the All-Ireland Football Final and Sam Maguire was finally coming home after more than 70 years.

The entire county was buzzing.

Red and green everywhere. Flags flying. Supporters lining the roads. Every time we passed another group?

BEEEEEP!

The closer we got to Westport, the more it felt like we’d accidentally driven into one enormous county-wide party.

You can book hotels and plan itineraries.

You can’t plan something like that.

We checked into the Westport Coast Hotel, which ended up being one of our favorite stays of the trip.

Naturally, after two straight days of wedding celebrations, our idea of recovery was to immediately head into town for a mini bar crawl. The streets were packed with Mayo supporters and the pubs were overflowing.

What a time to be alive.

The following day we slowed things down. I made full use of the pool, sauna and steam room while the ladies enjoyed a spa day.

The weather had turned classic west coast — overcast, drizzly and moody — but we still headed out to see Croagh Patrick looming over Clew Bay.

We didn’t climb it. Maybe next time.

Although I’m saying that from the comfort of South Carolina.

Westport also gave me what might have been my favorite dinner of the trip. A three-course meal at the hotel’s rooftop restaurant with a pork belly starter that absolutely stole the show.

Even breakfast was a highlight.

By this point I’d consumed enough full Irish breakfasts to sustain a small village.

But who’s counting?

Bundoran

Leaving Westport, we headed north with one important stop along the way.

Bundoran.

The amusements there were a favorite pastime of my granny’s, and I have so many memories of that place tied to her. So it just felt right being there. Then something happened that couldn’t have been scripted much better.

Mum was playing one of the machines when up came…Five 7s. €300. Maybe it was just a lucky spin.

Or maybe she had an angel on her shoulder that afternoon.

Either way, Granny would have absolutely loved it.

Castle Living

With Mum €300 richer, we wisely left while we were ahead and continued to Lough Eske Castle.

We checked into our beautiful Garden Suite and immediately encountered our only real complaint. The flies. Boys, the flies were out. We battled through. A few pre-dinner pints helped.

Dinner was another three-course affair, but this time the main stole the show. The beef had been slow-cooked for hours and just melted in the mouth. And then there was the rosemary mashed potato.

I don’t know what they did to those potatoes or how much butter was involved. Frankly, I don’t want to know.

I just know I still think about them occasionally.

That night we opened a few bottles of red and enjoyed the moment. Family together. Staying in a castle in Donegal. Good wine. Full bellies.

The next morning brought another steam room and sauna session before Ash and I were somehow the only two interested in breakfast. Their loss. It became a little breakfast date — just us, another fry and some freshly carved ham that was absolutely sublime.

Then we packed up. This time, though, we weren’t heading somewhere new. We were going home.

And with that, it was time to leave the Republic behind and start making our way into the North — but the trip was far from over. We still had some of the most meaningful days ahead of us: time back home with family, a drive along one of the most beautiful coastlines in Ireland, a visit to something Finn McCool supposedly knocked together a few years ago, and two nights in Portrush to finish it all off.

The Gallaghers were heading north. And, as usual, there’d be plenty of food, a few pints, and no shortage of craic along the way.

To be continued…

Greenville, South Carolina | September 4–6, 2026

And so it begins.

We’ve talked for a while about doing a better job of keeping track of our trips. Not just the big vacations, but the weekends away, random food stops, things the kids say, places we stumble across and the meals we’re still talking about months later.

So, welcome to The Gallaghers Go.

We’re not setting out to become travel experts, food critics, or one of those families who somehow manages to look perfectly put together in every photo. That’s definitely not us.

We love to travel, we really love to eat, and we’ve learned that some of our favorite experiences happen when we don’t have every minute planned. So expect a mixture of where we stayed, what we did, what we ate, what the kids thought, what Ash and I thought, and whether somewhere is actually worth going back to.

And there seemed like no better place to start than a spontaneous little weekend in Greenville, South Carolina…

Nothing extravagant. Just me, Ash, Liam and Josie jumping in the car and heading off for a couple of days together.

And, predictably, eating extremely well along the way.

Friday: Greenville Bound

We didn’t even make it to Greenville before the food portion of the trip began.

Our first stop was Moultrie Southern Cuisine in Laurens, SC, where we decided to start the weekend properly.

We ordered Brussels sprouts for the table, Liam and I split a ribeye, Josie went for the chicken and dumplings, and Ash had the Moultrie salad with chicken.

The Brussels sprouts really set the tone. Pistachios, goat cheese, and charred Brussels. An unexpected and fantastic combination.

The steak was seasoned to perfection. It came out a little under the temperature we ordered, which happened to suit me perfectly. A little fattier than I normally like, but incredibly tender.

Josie absolutely demolished her chicken and dumplings after initially being disappointed to discover that they were, in fact, not Asian dumplings.

A valuable cultural lesson.

Obviously, we needed dessert.

Liam had ice cream with chocolate and caramel sauce while Ash and I split a bananas Foster cheesecake. It tasted great, although it was served a little too cold, almost frozen. Good flavor, but not quite the creamy cheesecake texture I want.

All in all I would highly recommend this spot and we’ll definitely be paying them a visit again soon.

Lastly, as we left, one of the servers stopped us to give us a gift. He drew a picture from Liam’s shirt. “Pretty fricking cool” Liam thought.

From there, we continued into Greenville and checked into the Drury Inn & Suites. The hotel was a little dated, but comfortable, clean and perfectly good for what we needed.

Saturday: Coffee, Candy and Downtown Greenville

I snuck downstairs for breakfast Saturday morning while everyone else was still in bed.

It was standard hotel breakfast fare: potatoes, scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy. Nothing memorable, but it filled the belly and got the day started. Once everyone was moving, we headed downtown.

First priority: coffee.

We stopped at Methodical Coffee, where I had a pumpkin spice latte that was excellent. The kids made quick work of a croissant and cookie, and Ash had a scone that disappeared almost as quickly.

From there we wandered through the market and eventually found ourselves in Mast General Store.

This was an important stop because Liam had one request for the weekend:

Find a candy store.

Mast General effectively solved that problem with its candy section, and we walked out with a bag that somehow seemed to be almost empty about five minutes later.

Funny how that happens.

We stopped for a drink at Crust & Craft before heading over to the Greenville Center for Creative Arts in West Greenville.

It was a cool change of pace and one of those things we probably wouldn’t normally build a whole trip around, but really enjoyed once we were there.

And then came one of the surprise highlights of the weekend.

A Damn Good Burger

We landed at Bar Margaret, and the name of one of the menu items pretty much made the decision for us: the Damn Good Burger.

Ash ordered their play on a French 75, and I had a Paloma Picante that had a lovely kick to it. Ash’s assessment of her drink was that she couldn’t taste the alcohol.

I could. And I had a feeling she would later.

The kids had Korean BBQ chicken bites while Ash and I split the burger and truffle fries.

Phenomenal.

The fries were cooked perfectly, and the garlic aioli was the star alongside them. But the burger was on another level.

Great beef. Fresh made milk bun. Cheese. Onion ring. Burger sauce. Every component worked together. Ash went as far as saying it might be the best burger she’s ever had.

That is not a statement made lightly in this family.

Saturday Night at Indaco

Dinner that night was at Indaco, and this ended up being another brilliant meal.

We started with focaccia served with whipped ricotta and honey.

Top class.

Soft bread, creamy ricotta, sweetness from the honey, it was one of those simple combinations that just works.

We followed it with a margherita pizza, which was very good, and a carbonara made with tagliatelle. The pasta was creamy, perfectly al dente and seasoned beautifully.

We also ordered potatoes with a spicy aioli. Crispy, well seasoned and exactly the kind of side dish I will order every single time I see it.

And then came dessert. Fig cheesecake.

This one completely made up for the slightly frozen cheesecake from Friday night.

It was top notch.

The hazelnut worked incredibly well with the fig and orange notes and gave the whole thing another layer of flavor.

A fantastic ending to a very strong Greenville food day.

Sunday: Pancakes, Games and One Final Challenge

Sunday morning started a little slower. Before checkout, Liam and I squeezed in some pool time together while everyone got ready.

Then I had a craving. Pancakes. And when I want pancakes, there is one place that immediately comes to mind:

Cracker Barrel.

I’m not a big chain restaurant guy, but Cracker Barrel makes, hands down, the best pancakes on the planet. And their syrup puts it over the edge. Ash and I both had the Grandmas sampler which gives you the eggs and bacon along with the pancakes as well as their signature side, hash brown casserole. None of this is good for my cholesterol. But…well worth it.

After breakfast, we weren’t quite ready to point the car toward Columbia so we spent a few hours at Dave & Buster’s, letting the kids play games and burn through credits at an alarming rate.

Then came the traditional road-trip necessity: a Starbucks stop. At this point, most sensible families would have simply gone home.

We had another idea.

The Goodwill Era Challenge

For our final activity of the weekend, we stopped at Goodwill with a challenge:

Each of us had to create an outfit from a specific era.

Liam chose the 1940s, which very quickly became a full World War II-themed look. Ash went retro with the 1970s. Josie and I took on the 1990s.

We rummaged through the racks trying to find anything that could somehow be transformed into our chosen decade, and by the end of it, all four of us had an outfit. Naturally, there was only one reasonable thing to do next.

Wear them to dinner.

So that evening, the Gallaghers sat down for an era-themed family dinner in full costume.

Dinner itself was comfort food all the way: roast chicken, green beans and potatoes with chicken gravy.

For dessert, everyone had a very important decision to make:

Cosmic brownie sundae or apple pie with ice cream.

A 1940s soldier, a 1970s throwback and two people who looked like they had just walked out of the 1990s, all sitting around the same dinner table eating roast chicken.

A completely normal Sunday night in the Gallagher house. And honestly, it might have been the perfect way to end the weekend.

The Verdict

Greenville was exactly what we wanted from a weekend away.

Close enough that getting there didn’t become an ordeal, but with enough going on that it actually felt like we had gone somewhere.

We ate exceptionally well, wandered downtown, discovered some new places, bought far too much candy, played games, looked at art, dressed ourselves in questionable thrift store clothing and spent a couple of days just hanging out together.

There were no huge bucket list moments. And that might be exactly why I loved it.

Because this is really what The Gallaghers Go is going to be about.

Not just seeing places.

Remembering the weekends.

Remembering the food.

Remembering Josie expecting Asian dumplings at a Southern restaurant.

Remembering Liam and me sneaking in one last swim before checkout.

Remembering four ridiculous Goodwill outfits sitting around the dinner table on Sunday night.

And remembering the four of us being together.

Another classic weekend trip in the books. The Gallaghers went to Greenville.

And we ate very, very well.