Slán Leat Sult!

July 23, 2023

It was our last day and we had one final breakfast out on the covered porch before saying our goodbyes, packing our bags, and heading to the airport.  Ireland decided to mourn our departure with even more torrential rain.  Our cab driver was an interesting lady who gave us lots of good advice about the Dublin airport that we promptly learned was totally false.  I resisted the urge to buy more liquor to take home with me at the duty free store and our flight home was uneventful...until we reached Charlotte.

It turns out that we brought the Irish rains with us and, when we got to Charlotte, it was embroiled in a terrible rain storm.  The storm was so bad that we had to circle the airport a few times before being cleared to land.  Even then, there was significant turbulence and, at times, the plane felt like it was going to roll over while we were slowing down on the runway.  It was definitely one of the worst landings I've experienced.  The issues continued to come once we landed, on time, mind you.  First, we sat on the tarmac for an hour because the rain was so bad that they had to close the ramps.  Then, we went to the madhouse that was baggage claim.  It was packed and total chaos.  our flight wasn't on the baggage claim board and nobody could tell us what was happening.  When we finally got a carousel, maybe 25% of the bags from our flight came out.  We got one of ours, and then the conveyor belt stopped.  When it started back up, it was for totally different flights!  the bags from Dublin didn't start appearing again until an hour later!  It was a complete disaster.  If it's possible, the arrivals deck was even worse.  Tons of cars were just stopped and blocking movement, but none of the traffic personnel were doing anything about it.  We touched down around 2:00, but didn't get out of the airport until after 5:30.  I've been dealing with construction at the Charlotte-Douglas Airport for years, and there are times where it's been bad, but this was by far the worst experience I have ever had.  Despite the painful ending on this side of the pond, it really was an unbelievable trip!