When I was a student at Iowa State, one of the best decisions I made was to study abroad in Wales for a term. During that life-changing experience, we saw many countries, including Ireland. The only problem, which probably wasn’t much of a problem in my early 20s, was that we selected Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day for one of our weekend excursions. I have two very vivid memories from that weekend:

1. Seeing a guy get stabbed in front of our hotel as I arrived for check-in
2. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder in pubs all day, fighting the crowd to get a Guinness

I was really excited to have a great day in Dublin and create some new memories. I knew it would be hectic but not as bad as last time.

The day that we had been waiting for was here – Gameday! Week zero of the college football season. Farmageddon on the Emerald Isle. Iowa State vs. Kansas State. Cardinal vs. Purple, both terrible primary colors to have to consider wearing.

Also, I needed to thank A LOT of donors today to catch up. So let’s go.

We stayed at The Fleet Hotel for two evenings in Dublin. On the outskirts of the Temple Bar district, we were directly in the mix. Tillie literally rolled me out of bed, and I kicked off the day thanking Dean & Carla Breneman for their donation.

Next up and directly next door, the Palace Bar, a Victorian pub on Fleet Street favored by writers and journalists. I would add that it’s also favored by bloggers and very much served as our home pub for our short time in Dublin. I thanked William Kneip once again for sponsoring one of the loveliest pubs in town.

It was already time for coffee, and directly across from the chosen coffee shop was one of the most decorative pubs in Dublin – Oliver St. John Gogarty – which includes a restaurant, pub, apartments, hostel, live trad music daily, and definitely a flag for everyone. It’s a lot to take in, especially when you’re waiting for the coffee to kick in. I thanked my long-time colleague and fellow dog lover Debbie Smith. I also realized at this point that I should have added her husband Dave’s name to all of her signs as he is a super fan of A Good Run.

The Temple Bar Pub is probably the most recognizable pub in Dublin, if not all of Ireland. In my most recent post, I shared a few images outside of this pub from the night before. It is amazingly lit up with mostly tourists inside paying double for a pint of the same delicious Guinness you can find on every corner. For those who know me well, you know I don’t have time for that nonsense. I do, however, have time for the wonderful Brad and Kelly Becker of Kansas City. Two of our favorites who we love seeing every time we’re in their city. Brad Becker = Best laugh around.

The Ha’Penny Bridge, built in 1816 for those wondering, is a historic iron pedestrian bridge over the River Liffey. Its name comes from the half-penny toll once charged to cross it. At the time of the photo, I was still very made at the River Liffey from our adventure into town the day before.

“We just need to get to the other side of this river,” – Tillie Good

“We just need to get to the other side of this river,” – Nicole Galles

“We just need to get to the other side of this river,” – Ryan Galles

“We just need to get to the other side of this river,” – Steve Good

I thanked fellow Phi Delt Jeremy Sale, my running buddy from my favorite half marathon (Birmingham, AL) ever run.

Our final stop the night before returning to our hotel was Stag’s Head, one of the official Iowa State pubs in Dublin for the game. When I tell you the place was filled with Cyclones, I’m talking the inside, outside, the pub next door, every street around it, and down the block. It was really funny to watch Dubliners walk through wondering what the heck was going on.

Returning the next morning, the people were gone, but the delivery trucks had arrived. In a slight miracle, I was able to use my phone’s clean up feature to remove all of the vehicles in the photo below. There were two that covered a significant portion of this photo. Nailed it. I thanked Josh Ehlen again. He would have had a blast in the sea of cardinal and gold the evening before.

The Dublin Castle is a former Viking settlement turned government complex which sounds like a terrible premise for a Paramount series. It is quite majestic and appears quickly out of nowhere in the heart of the city. I thanked one of my favorite humans around – Mike Hyatt. Mike is really good at selecting landmarks with his donations, probably because he has personally visited all of them. Fellow traveler! Also, happy 58th anniversary to you and Rae!

It was time to thank more wonderful humans at the Dublin Castle, my amazing parents, Bill & Lindy Good. They are simply the best, and I’m a lucky guy. Mom is always one of the first to grab a landmark or two out of the gate, and it never fails that she reminds me that she’ll grab a few more if I need to get them filled. Classic mom move. I need to get dad to guest write on the blog, because I think you all would really love hearing from him.

Dating back to 1198, the Brazen Head is considered Ireland’s oldest pub. So is Sean’s Bar in Athlone, which you’ll soon read about in the next post. I’m not hear for an argument, but all I can say is that we visited both of them, had a beer at neither, and that’s a shame. So many festive balloons around Dublin. “AMERICANS, YOU SHOULD BE IN THIS PLACE.” I thanked Kevin Marks, my running trip supporting Phi Kappa Psi pal.

Down the road, what do you know, another old building. The Christ Church Cathedral is one of Dublin’s most important religious buildings. I’ll let you do the research on this one. What I do know is that they also utilized the popular balloon strategy to attract wandering Midwesterners. Got us! I thanked Rob & Julie Waltz again. Apparently, Julie, aka Grandmommy, taught our son Cal how to drive a stick shift while we were in Ireland. Three things: 1) Awesome, 2) Cal is 13 but laws don’t apply on Iowa farms, and 3) I’m now ashamed that I paid $300 more to get an automatic transmission for our rental car. Did I tell you I bought the insurance?

St. Patrick’s Cathedral is Ireland’s largest cathedral, built in honor of, you guessed it, Saint Patrick. St. Patrick was a British missionary who was enslaved in Ireland as a teenager, but later returned to convert the Irish people to Christianity. He established churches, monasteries, and schools across Ireland, playing a major role in spreading the faith and ultimately becoming the patron saint of Ireland. His life is commemorated on his feast day, March 17th, also the same day I saw a guy get stabbed in front of my Dublin hotel in Spring 2003. In a full circle moment halfway through our pub crawl later in the day, a young lad named Patrick served us ham and cheese toasties that would have converted all four of us into whatever he was selling. A big thanks again to Debbie Purdy for her donation!

I’ve already told you about the loads of gameday flare that the Dubliners rolled out for the Iowa State/Kansas State crowd. This one was subtle but one of my favorites. A great window painting! We missed out on Muckross Abbey due to our cancelled flight, and I was really looking forward to thanking my Uncle Randy and Aunt Lori there. As I think back on my life, my Aunt Lori was definitely the first person who I understood to be Irish, and not just a big Lou Holtz fan. Her maiden name Phelan is classic Irish (Ó Faoláin) and is also the absolute best name to pair with her husband’s. It’s great to be a Good, but it may be better to be a Phelan Good! I look forward to being at their son Michael’s wedding later this fall. I also need to remember to RSVP.

Some people travel to Ireland to kiss the Blarney Stone; others prefer groping Molly Malone. Put that in a song lyric. I say “to each their own,” but I am so unbelievably confused by this Molly Malone character. Nobody knows if she was real or not? Was she a fishmonger AND a prostitute, or just a fishmonger. She sold cockles and mussels? She has a statue? And people rub her breasts? I thanked our great friends Joe and Sarah Wechsler and got the heck out of there.

Once again, Mike Hyatt sponsored a world-class landmark, the famous Trinity College, Ireland’s oldest university, established in 1592, and home to the famous Book of Kells. Did I see the Book of Kells? No. I’m the son of a librarian, have seen so many books in my life, and was in desperate need of a shower. Brock Purdy jersey spotted in the background.

We returned to our hotel to get ready for the rest of our day. Showered and ready to take on the world, I opened our hotel window to seek inspiration and found this staring at me. I was ready.

Now, check out these sweet sweatshirts that Nicole had made for our group!

As we had a pint at The Palace, Ryan maneuvered our way into a very special donor thank you opportunity. If you ask Cyclone football fans about what makes them proud, odds are that many of them will tell you the story of Jack Trice, Iowa State’s first African-American football player. While the story of Jack Trice is ultimately tragic, the Cyclones now play in Jack Trice Stadium. His story is important to us, and guess what, we found his great-nephew George Trice in the streets of Dublin. George is the executive director of the Trice Legacy Foundation that works to maintain his ancestor’s legacy through college scholarships and helps foster conversations about race and character. I thanked David and April Etler, our amazing friends who provided such great care to our kids in their early years.

Another great look at our awesome crew fit. I really enjoy the Irish lad in the background.

We were set to begin a pub crawl, hitting six iconic Dublin pubs en route to Aviva Stadium for the game. Now you know why I needed to stare outside the hotel window to pump myself up. Our first stop, womp womp, definitely lied about their opening time. Your loss Mulligan’s. I did get the Scott Lynch pub sponsorship series started.

So we went around the corner and became a part of the audience for gameday podcast.

And enjoyed an Irish coffee. A shout out to my fraternity brother Brad Sievers and his awesome wife Tracy for their donation.

We then walked south to O’Donoghue’s Pub, best known as the home of traditional Irish music in Dublin. For us, it is know for being the home of that friendly lad named Patrick who made a mean ham and cheese toasty. I thanked Scott Lynch for his desire to progressively see me along the path of a Dublin pub crawl.

The highlight of O’Donoghue’s was getting to spend time with fellow Iowa State Phi Delts Matt Lind and Ben Will (not pictured). Matt and I are pledge brothers and lived together in Wales. Matt even showed up wearing his Ireland zip up jacket that he had bought in Dublin way back in 2003, earning himself two pub crawl points for nostalgia.

While Matt and I conversed, Tillie was up to her own shenanigans, borrowing others’ accessories to add to her own attire.

Doheny & Nesbitt, a favorite pub of local politicians, was across the street for a quick picture. The potential of politicians being inside coupled with aggressive balloonery scared us off, and we carried on.

Our favorite pub of the day was Toners Pub, one of Dublin’s oldest pubs. It was business up front with a classic and quiet feel and party in the back with an open beer garden filled with gameday fans.

And finally, Smyth’s Pub was our last stop before heading to the game.

The best part about Smyth’s? Getting to hang with Scott and Kelli Roti some more.

Aviva Stadium is Ireland’s national rugby and soccer stadium and has a distinctive glass exterior. It hosts major sporting events and on this day, 47,000 hearty American midwesterners.

While it rained during the game, and clearly did a number on the field paint, one great aspect of the stadium is that all fans stayed dry with the overhang. We learned that Kansas State was the home team, so there was much more fanfare around their entrances and big plays. However, Iowa State was paid more and got the win, so we dealt with it.

With the amazing crowd, I did my best to show off the experience with my remaining donor signs for the day, starting with my cousin Adam and his wife Lindsey. Proud Cyclones themselves, they were at home throwing an amazing shindig at their house for the game.

I snuck into a single corner seat just after halftime to thank John and Amanda Winters, our Ames friends from church, soccer, school, camp, all the things!

Thanking former Fort Dodge neighbor and Cyclone mom Jami Touney following a big score.

And my Cyclone-loving Uncle Tom and Aunt Colleen after our game clinching play.

We savored the moment after the game, once again thanking Josh Ehlen.

And last but not least, thanking our great friends and tailgaters Brad and Lindsay Klein during the victory walk home. We ended the day riding a horse named Commander back to the hotel in victory formation, and somehow there were no pictures snapped. What a day!