It had to happen. But let me tell you what later. Dad had a pretty big day with doctors and new things and all, so I coaxed out of him what he wanted to have for dinner. "An Irish place we've never been", came the reply. My brain whirled, then lighted on The Mayflower, where some years ago now, a date who plays bagpipes introduced me to, being familiar with it as a musician who played the venue. By sheer happenstance, we wandered into the pub on "Irish Music Tuesday". This has and will be happening for as far as my eye could follow down on a calendar composed of just Tuesdays.

We were greeted by a most warm and welcoming woman with a definite accent (Irish I supposed). She managed amazingly to work the entire room checking back with friendliness to all. I asked when the band would start, and she said, "Oh, sometime when they all roll in, one of them is sitting right next to you (gesturing to man at the next table). They're coming now, rolling in as they come." And roll in they did, one or two at a time until there were seven or eight musicians stuffed into a small corner, jamming those Irish tunes.

I looked down the menu with such items as "Gardenburger", and said to her that my Dad expressed a preference for Irish food, so which menu items were Irish? She made a sweeping gesture over the entire entree section of the menu and said, "All of them dear".

Dad chose the Fish & Chips. And then it happened, as I was snapping this shot. I will tell you still LATER in the post what happened here. I was having my doubts about bringing him here, he was starting to get a little cranky about not being able to read the menu in low light, and then the Fish & Chips were "too hot" and he couldn't see what he was eating. But the music started, and soon he was tapping his feet and telling the waitress that he used to play bugle in the army. All of a sudden, the food tasted good, and was a good quantity!

I ordered the Traditional Shepard's Pie. From past experience I knew this could be risky. But I'm sure glad I didn't order the soup with the crusty bread! Why! Well, because as I was snapping the shot of Dad's Fish & Chips, my small Sony Cybershot camera slipped out of my hand and landed right in my pie, making a goodly dent! Thank goodness for the buffer of the gooey cheese and mash. I tried spreading the cheese over the big rectangular dent, worried that I may have really ruined the nice presentation.. then I decided to pose it with the fork in the end to help disguise the damage. I think I managed that pretty well, don't you? The Shepard's Pie was pretty good comparing it to others in my memory, and having a smaller portion than others and adding a nicely balanced salad (you can't see the grape tomatoes or cucumbers and other goodies in this snap) makes it more attractive to order. Yes, this is a typical pub fare type place, including a selection of beers that match the flavors, and the experience with the music bringing the entire space together in toe-tapping as we munched made it definitely worth the trip.