My chins and I had a great day today. Jon and I started with breakfast in the dining room at the Charles Stewart Guesthouse. We sat down and, right after we got comfortable, two men sat at the table next to us. We talked with them until their friends arrived. Jon and I both had the traditional Irish breakfast of bacon, beans, sausage and egg with hot black coffee and juice.

When we left the hotel we stopped at Clery's Department Store. We shopped for a bit and Jon found the linen tea towels and pillow cases he wanted. We walked Grafton Street and stopped in several shops. Then it was lunch time, so we went to The Quays Restaurant in Temple Bar. This is a place we ate our frst trip in 2003. The food was excellent and I tried something new. I had a cheeseburger (not new to me), with pepper sauce.

Our tour today was Dublin Castle. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the working part of the building, though photography was allowed when we visited the underground archaeological area. They're excavating the walls of the original castle, and we even saw some of the Viking embankment that dates back to the founding of Dublin.

Dinner tonight was back at Gallagher's Boxty House. It was pretty cool because we were seated at a long table and joined by a couple from Atlanta. As we talked the waiter took their order. The man said, as a Murphy, he'd better have a Murphy's. That started a whole naming conversation, and we found out he, too, is a Patrick Murphy.

We chatted with them through dinner. He's a maintenance inspector for Delta. She has two mothers. They left before we finished and another couple was seated with us.

The second couple, two women, are actually legally married. They are part of the class action suit against DOMA. Jon said he recognized one of them from press conferences. Sadly, they are leaving Dublin in the morning to tour Dingle so we won't get to see them again.

On the walk back to the hotel after dinner I found a Games Workshop store, so I had to make a purchase for Sean.