Craig & Robbyn's Adventures in Ireland

FRIDAY

We started our trip at the airport in Chicago only to sit on the run way for two and a half hours because of bad weather over Lake Michigan.  When we finally got to Boston we had missed our connection to Shannon by 10 minutes. 

I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed (actually I was pretty mad) but American Airlines did give us a room at a nearby Holiday Inn and scheduled us on the next flight for the following evening.  To add to my frustration one of our bags turned up missing (mine). They told us it had gone to Shannon.  After arguing with baggage claim for 45 minutes, trying to explain that there was no way my bag could  be on it’s way to Shannon, an amazing man, a wonderful man… came out of the back room, magically carrying my green flowered suitcase.  I am blaming all this difficulty on it being Friday the 13^th!

We met some new friends, Jill, Rene, Ed, and Scott who along with us missed their flight to Shannon. It was nice to have a group to grumble and moan together with.  We all took a shuttle to our hotel and had a late night pizza, where we got to know each other a little better.   

SATURDAY

After calling Ireland to change a few of our reservations, calling our dog sitter Beth, to ask if she could watch Marley an addition day, our family to let them know of our new travel plans, we found ourselves with a day in Boston and wondered what to do.  We decided to rent a car and drive to Salem.  We toured Seven Gables, and then drove to Manchester by the Bay and had lunch.  Next we drove to Rockport where we found the bookstore that was in the film, “Love Letter”.  Then we walked around town and just enjoyed our unexpected extra day of vacation.

SUNDAY

We finally made it to Ireland!   We said good-bye to our four flying friends and all went our separate ways.  Craig and I drove off in our little rental car, not realizing that we had left my Vera Bradley duffel that contained our heavy coats and tennis shoes in the Hertz parking lot. We didn’t realize this however until we got to the Rossevel Ferry, 3 hours later.

While packing a change of clothes in our back packs for an overnight on Inishmore we looked hopelessly for the duffel. How could we have forgotten it? Of course I had to blame Craig.  I certainly wouldn’t have left something so important just lying in a parking lot. Realizing it was no place in the car I figured the islanders would find two goofs wearing leather dress shoes, frozen to death on the island later that night.  What will happen next? We were not having good luck so far.  Hoping our sweatshirts would keep us warm under our spring jackets we ran to catch the ferry before it left.

The waters were calm on our ride to Inishmore.  Once there we rented our bikes and left the little town and headed out to the country.  Pedaling along the road to our cottage, Man of Aran, we passed a little pub called Joe Walky’s.  Picnic tables were scattered throughout the front lawn and music came from a group of men seated around one of the tables.  We got a drink and just relaxed in the warm sun listening to their songs and music. Now this is what we thought Ireland would be like. 

Deciding that we should get to our B & B which was 4 miles away we started off again.  Just as we hopped on our bikes an elderly man stopped us and asked where we were headed.  He gave us directions that would take us along the coast road, saying that we would miss all the hills that way.  

It was a beautiful ride.  Once in awhile we passed other cyclists, a pony cart or the occasional tour van but usually we were by ourselves on the road.  I couldn’t believe how still it was all around us.  The scenery was beautiful; on one side of us was the ocean and the other were hills separated by small stone fences everywhere.  At one of our rest spots we heard a repeated cuckoo-cuckooing sound.  I looked around until in the distance, I saw a large brown Cuckoo bird sitting on a stone fence.   

After riding around bend after bend I began to wonder if we would ever find the cottage.  We passed a beach, then rode up a hill and finally saw the white thatched cottage we were looking for.  We parked our bikes and walked in the Man of Aran Cottage.  We were greeted by our hostess who was preparing the evening meal and had a handful of Monk Fish. Our room was very small but the atmosphere of the cottage made up for it.  Starving, we asked about the little town that we had heard was near by.  The town turned out to be two restaurants that closed everyday at 4:30.  With only a half hour before the town closed we hurried to get a very late lunch.   

Again we sat outside, this time at a little thatched roof cottage called Café Teac Nan.  It was a cute little place and the food was great.  Craig and I shared a bowl of lentil soup and some brown bread not wanting to get too full before dinner.  Craig asked if there were any pubs nearby. Our waitress told us about a place called…Craig’s Pub, just down the road, past the beach and two hills away.  Great, something to do after dinner!

Joe and Maura were very nice hosts and a fun couple.  They served a delicious meal.  We passed on the Monk Fish and ordered the herb chicken instead.  After dinner we visited with the other couples staying at the cottage and then decided that we would venture out to find the pub we had heard about earlier.  We walked for about an 8^th of a mile and got so cold we turned around and ran back.  We couldn’t ride our bikes as it would be dark soon and of course we didn’t have a car.  We went back to our room and started laughing as we realized we were prisoners in our B & B.  We decided that after flying 6 hours, driving a rental car on the left, taking a ferry, and biking around an island was enough for one day so, we went to bed and read awhile before turning out the light.   

MONDAY

Our room at the Man of Aran Cottage was not ensuite so Craig packed up his gear and left to take a shower across the hall.  A second later I heard a large bang and hurried to open our door to see what it was.  Craig, dressed only in his jeans was on his knees holding his head in the hallway.  His shaver, shampoo, and towel were scattered around him.  “I hit my head”, he moaned.  I started giggling and couldn’t stop.  Of course I was sorry Craig was hurt, but what a site.  I pulled him back into our room before anyone else could see my half dressed husband lying on the floor.  Craig had a spot on his head that looked liked a floor burn about the size of a dime.  After composing himself he started off for the shower again.  In his defense the ceilings were low and the doorways even lower.  Craig just forgot to duck. We decided to always pick rooms that had at least 6 ½ ft. doorways in the future.

While I packed up, Craig talked to Morgan and Patrick, a couple from France that we had met the night before.  They had called a van to pick them up and take them to Kilronan, to meet the morning ferry.  Since Craig’s legs were sore from the day before he decided we should leave our bikes at the cottage and ride along with them. 

Once in Kilronan we had an hour before the ferry came.  It was sprinkling and chilly so we popped into a sweater shop and looked around a bit.

I hoped to type a message everyday to family at home so I asked if there was an internet café in town.  I was surprised to hear that there was one at the information center/library, just down the street.  While writing my letter I noticed a little brown mouse dart from one table to the next.  Needless to say, it wasn’t too long before I decided to finish my letter and push the send key.

After the ferry took us back to Rossaveal we headed for Connemara.  We stopped at Dog’s Bay in Roundstone.  It was a beautiful beach we walked along the shore, climbed some rocks and just enjoyed the view.  Next we stopped for lunch in town.  While we were eating we saw Morgan and Patrick pass by the restaurant window.  Afterwards, we saw them again while walking around town and so we stopped to talk.  

Our next stop was in Clifton where we had reserved a room at the Faul House.  Clifton was a nice little town with two V shaped roads with a church at the point. We walked around, did a little shopping and then decided to find the Sky Road.  I had heard that there were magnificent views from this road and wanted to drive it.  I don’t remember much about the scenery because we weren’t on the road too long before we had a problem.  Like all the roads in Ireland this road was pretty narrow.  Craig had moved towards the edge of the road for an oncoming car to pass by, when we heard a large noise.  We stopped the car and got out to see what we had hit.  A rock half buried at the side of the road ripped our tire apart.  Craig pulled off into the next driveway we came to and stopped again.  The next car that came by stopped and the driver asked what had happened.  Craig told him and he asked if Craig knew how to change a tire. Craig answered, “It’s been awhile.”  The guy said okay and then took off again.

To make a long story short we got the jack out of the trunk and couldn’t figure out how it went together.  There was no manual in the glove box and although we tried for a long time we got discouraged and finally gave up.  Craig decided to walk to the next house and ask to use their phone.  On his way up the hill another car stopped and it turned out to be Patrick and Morgan again.  Patrick just started laughing when he saw our car.  Then they pulled ahead of us and were so kind to help.  After a half hour or so the four of us had the spare on.  Patrick and Morgan were staying over night in Clifton as well, so we promised to buy our rescuers a drink if we should run into each again.

The Faul House was about a mile out of Clifton and down a tree lined road.  Kathleen, our host, showed to our room which was surprising large.  Our room was decorated in a soft peach color and we were so happy to see a king sized bed.  The doorways were all normal heights so I didn’t have to worry about Craig having any more accidents.  Kathleen suggested a couple of nice places for dinner, gave us directions to a tire store, told us when breakfast would be served the next day and then left us alone.  We cleaned up and drove back to Clifton.  We decided to splurge on dinner that night because of our stressful afternoon, and walked into Mitchell’s.  We even ordered dessert afterwards.

We kept looking around for Morgan and Patrick all evening.  We figured they must have left town so they wouldn’t have to rescue us from anymore predicaments we might have gotten ourselves into.  We stopped at a pub and then went back to our room where we had a wonderful nights sleep in a soft bed with heavy wool covers. 

TUESDAY

Breakfast was a traditional Irish breakfast again.  Craig loved this, but I wasn’t a fan of the sausage and was getting tired of eggs so I got a thin pancake and fruit. 

We took a walk along a path at the farmhouse then started off to town to search for the Tire Mart.  Once there we found out they didn’t have a tire to fit our car.  A new shipment was due in between 1 and 2.  It could be worse I told Craig, what if the shipment wasn’t due in until tomorrow, or even the next day.  Our spare would not take us far so we had no choice but to wait.  We walked around town, found a library, used the internet and then had a long conversation with the librarian there.  We stopped for coffee at an outside café, did some shopping and decided to go back to the tire place and hope that the right sized tire was in with the new shipment.   

The delivery truck pulled in minutes after we got to Tire Mart. A half hour later, with a new tire on our car we were set to go.  Someone from Fodor’s wrote about a beautiful drive through the Lough Inagh Valley so we got directions and were so glad we did.  The views were breathtaking.  We just kept saying over and over again how beautiful everything was.  The lakes, the mountains, the pine trees, it was all so striking, peaceful and quiet.  We passed people cutting peat in the fields.  I wanted to stop and take a picture, but figured I wouldn’t like someone driving by taking pictures of me while I was working and so decided against it. 

Sheep were everywhere; in the fields, at the sides of the road, crossing the road and sometimes standing in the middle of the road. We had to stop the car once when we came upon a sheep that was in middle of the road just starring at us.  We sat in our car waiting for the sheep to move until a truck coming from the opposite direction, slowed down and then honked his horn.  This caused the sheep to run back into the field.  We felt like idiots as the truck zoomed passed us.     

We stopped in the small towns that we passed, visiting a shop or two.  I had seen a knitted cap just outside Cliften and couldn’t decide whether to buy it or not.  Later I wished I had and looked for one just like it for the rest of the trip.  I never found one. 

Near Leenane we saw some plants growing at the side of the road and Craig thought they were giant rhubarb plants.  I said they weren’t and so at the next shop we came to Craig had to ask the salesperson if he knew what they were.  The guy got out a plant book and found a picture of what Craig was talking about.  He said they were called Gonorrhea plants. There was silence for a minute and then Craig said he didn’t think that sounded right and the man, agreed.  Nothing else was said and they just stood there until Craig said, “Thank you.”  For the rest of the trip Craig had to point out every Gonorrhea plant we passed.   

We had planned on stopping in Cong since we had seen the “Quite Man” but it was out of the way and Craig was tired of driving plus we had reservations in Doolin for the night so we started to make our way south.

On the way to Doolin we wanted to drive through the Burren, but got lost about 3 or 4 times.  Once we ended up on a road that turned into a path, we kept driving until we saw a truck stopped in front of us.  A farmer was dumping feed out for his cattle.  I think we must have driven down into a farmer’s field.  He probably thought we were nuts.  For about the 5^th time we asked directions and this time gave up on the Burren and just decided to go to Kilfenora. 

Again someone from Fodor’s had written about a place they had stopped at for dinner called Vaughan’s Pub.  It sounded so nice we wanted to stop there too.  It was getting late and we were very hungry so we stopped in Kinvarra and had an ice cream along the way.  I asked to use the bathroom and was told it was upstairs, and that I should be sure to mind the stairs.  I wasn’t quite sure what she meant right away and had a confused look on my face.  I decided to just say, “Okay” and smiled. 

This was not our day for finding places; we got lost a few more times before finding Vaughan’s.  Craig had looked up their menu on the internet before we left home and had his heart set on a cabbage and bacon dinner.  Finally we found the restaurant and were so happy to just get out of the car. 

When Craig asked for a table the waitress told us they weren’t serving food as they were having some construction going on.  I couldn’t believe it.  I told her we had come all the way from Wisconsin and how long we had been waiting to have dinner there.  I let her read the passage I had cut and passed from Fodor’s to our trip notes about Vaughan’s.  She read it and thought it was so nice, she called another person to come and read what someone had written about their place

Then she said to me, “Tell me this and tell me no more…are you coming back this way again?  We will be serving food in about a week.”   I had to tell her we wouldn’t be back this trip.  She then told us about a short cut to Doolin, which turned out to be an even narrower road than we taken before and I was sure we were going turn up in another farmer’s field.  

Much to my surprise we were on the right road and actually ended up at our destination. What a neat area, new and old homes, old castles, and dramatic views just as you come over the hill into town.  When the ocean met the sky it looked like the edge of the earth, now I know why people warned Columbus about sailing his ship to America.  You could even see the Cliffs of Moher from town.

 Of course there were lots of B & B’s but also shops, restaurants, pubs and a castle.  We got into town about 7:00, checked into Cullinans, our B & B which we enjoyed very much and went straight to Gus O’Conner’s for dinner.  Craig was happy to see they had cabbage and bacon on the menu and I ordered a fish meal which was delicious.  While we were eating we saw another couple that had stayed at the Man of Aran Cottage with us. We said hi and they said they were going south tomorrow too and figured we might meet up again during the week.  It soon got pretty crowded and we couldn’t see the musicians so we decided to find another pub.

We talked with a couple outside of O’Conner’s for a while and they suggested a place called McCann’s. It wasn’t too far away so we decided to walk.  Someone was singing “Cockles and Mussels” as we walked in the door. We found a great table and sat down.  One man was playing a violin, someone else was singing, another played a guitar and harmonica.  It was great.  I forgot my camera, only time I didn’t have it.  I was sorry as I could have gotten some great shots.

WEDNESDAY

I think our best breakfast of the whole trip was at Cullinans.  Again, Craig got eggs, sausage, and bacon while I got an omelet and fruit.  We packed up and drove to the Cliffs of Moher.  It was a rainy, cold and windy morning.  It was also pretty cloudy so I guess we didn’t get the best view of the cliffs.  We had a nice walk and then stopped at Doolin Craft Gallery.  I was talking with the sales lady there and told her how we had missed the Burren yesterday and so she gave us directions and where to find the Dolman.  We actually found it this time.

Then we drove back to the airport again to pick up our duffel bag at Hertz.  Thank goodness they had it, now we could be warm again.  It was lunch time and we saw a billboard for McDonalds, we felt like a plain old hamburger and fries so a couple of minutes later we both ordered a Big Mac.

We drove through Bunratty and were so happy we decided not to spend our last night there.  Yes, it was convenient to the airport, but when there is so much beauty in Ireland we just didn’t want to end our trip there.  Adare was the next town we came to, it was a nice town and we stopped to look around.  We were on our way to Killarney and thought we had better get reservations so we stopped and called the Carriglea House.  They had an open room, thank goodness.  So, we got in the car again and started our long drive south.

Killarney was a nice town, but a little too big.  We walked around in the rain for awhile and decided to have dinner at an Italian place.  We had a very good salad and yummy pizza. It had stopped raining and so we walked around a little longer then went to our B & B which was very nice.  Carriglea House was great; it was a 200 year old home and felt very warm and welcoming.  We stayed in an upstairs room in the carriage house which was off to the side.  Our room had a separate sitting area with a television.   Craig watched a movie while I feel asleep reading.  

THURSDAY

After breakfast we started our drive to Kenmare.  We stopped at Killarney National Park and took a walk in the woods.  We climbed some rocks, got stuck in the mud a few times, then climbed a hill and spotted a mountain goat.  We stopped at the top of Moll Pass to stretch our legs.  Visited the gift shop, where Craig found some jars of Lemon Curd.  We thought they would be great gifts and so we bought all they had. 

As soon as we drove into Kenmare we knew we were going to love it.  It was the sort of town we would move to if we ever had to live in Ireland.  We had asked the lady that rang up all our jars of Lemon Curd if she new of a nice B & B in Kenmare.  She told us about the Hawthorn House.  So while Craig went to see if they had any rooms for the night I went to the post office/internet café.

Kenmare was truly a “Tidy Town.”  It had two streets lined with colorful shops. Hawthorne House was at one end of the two streets.  The rooms were clean and nice, the bed could have been a bit softer, but the location was perfect. 

Once we had unloaded the car we got back in again and began our drive through the Beara Peninsula.  It had been raining off and on all morning but now the sun was out and we saw our first rainbow.  

It was a beautiful drive.  One thing I didn’t like about the roads in Ireland (besides the fact that they are narrow and I worried the whole trip if we would get into a head on collision) is that there are no shoulders to pull off on, just sit and look at the scenery.  There are far too little lookout points to stop at and most of the time there is someone behind you so you can’t just stop or slow down.  We did find a picnic area and we stopped there to soak up some of the country side. 

When we got to Ardgroom we decided to stop for lunch.  We found a little place called The Village Pub.  We ordered a bowl of soup and a sandwich.  It was a neat little place with a fire going, and only 2 other customers were there.  I found out that a ham salad sandwich is not ground up ham with mayonnaise but sliced ham with lettuce, onion and tomato.  All the soup we ordered was puréed, but it was really quite good that way. 

It had started raining pretty hard which had made the pub seem even more warm and comfy inside.  An older couple came in and sat next to us, we chatted a while and then decided it was time to venture outside again in the wind and rain.

We drove through Eyeries, then onto Castletownbere.  It was still raining, and I’d lost my umbrella that I had just bought the day before, so I pulled up my hood and walked around to look at some of the shops.  Craig went to the grocery store to look around.  He is in marketing for a grocery manufacturer and so he wanted to check out their products.

I wandered into a little book shop, found a couple of books and talked to the sales lady there.  I told her what a cute town I thought Castletownbere was and what a beautiful area she lived in.  She said most people miss this peninsula as they either go to Dingle or the Ring of Kerry.  I wanted to see the waterfall at Hungry Hill and so she gave me directions.  She said the waterfall is the biggest in Ireland and was called The Horses Tall because of how it looks when it’s flowing. 

We got to Hungry Hill but the road was closed because of the muddy roads.  We were told we could see the waterfall from the road; we tried, but never found it. 

We stopped at a cemetery, and then went through Healy Pass, which was pretty scary to say the least.  I decided I didn’t want to go through Conner’s Pass after this.  Yes, it was beautiful, but I didn’t like riding on the edge of cliffs on a narrow path all that well.  I couldn’t really enjoy the ride when I felt like our car might go tumbling down a shear drop off at any time.  

Back in Kenmare, we decided on Italian food again.  We ate at Prego’s, which had a wonderful atmosphere, candles on the tables and scrumptious food. We walked around in the rain, stopped at a pub, listened to music and then walked back to our room for the night. 

FRIDAY

We had set the alarm for 7:00 a.m.  Got up, showered, went down to eat and found the breakfast room was locked.  Hum, we couldn’t figure this out.  So we decided to load our suitcases in the car and saw by the clock on the dash that our clock in the room had been set an hour later.  We had an hour to kill before breakfast so we decided to walk around town.  We stopped for coffee and talked about what we were going to do that day.  

After breakfast we drove back through Moll’s Gap, stopped at a sheep farm, walked along Inch Beach and then drove to Dingle.  Now, everyone has different opinions about what they like and don’t like, but we were very disappointed in Dingletown.  We had planned on staying there over night, but to us it looked like a run down carnival type town.  Obviously a lot of people did like Dingletown as it was very crowded.  We walked around, had lunch and still felt the same way. Unsure of where we were going to stay that night we decided to travel on and tour the rest of the peninsula.

We saw a painted wooden sign saying “Bee Hive Huts Just Ahead”.  Now, I don’t know if we stopped at the real bee hive huts or not but it all seemed a little odd.  We walked up a hill where we saw a little shed with a man sitting inside.  His dog was perched at the window.  Craig petted the dog’s head while the man inside said, “Two euros please”.  The rest of his comments were indistinguishable.  I looked off to the side and saw that laundry was waving on a line while at the other side we noticed an outhouse like building. 

Gee, this is a funny way to visit a national landmark.  I thought we would be stopping next to a large field or at an entry gate or maybe even see a large historical marker.  I asked Craig if he thought these bee hive huts were on farmer O’Brian’s property and he profited from a few foolish tourists.  Maybe he built them and we missed the real ones, I don’t know.  Anyway, the little dog followed us up the hill and when we saw the huts they looked real enough, so we took the usual pictures of us waving from the doorways.

Just passed the huts the road got very scary again, worse than Healy Pass.  Now, I love to travel and feel I am fairly adventurous but I’m deathly afraid of heights and this was not a good road for me at all.  At one point we were on a curve when another car came from the other direction.  We both came to a standstill.  I was in the passenger seat; and all that was between me and the drop off to the sea was a little stone fence.  We were so close I could have touched the stones.  I didn’t of course because by this time I was in Craig’s lap having a panic attack.  I knew my cries of terror were not helping the situation so I tried to calm down.  Using hand signals, I motioned to the other driver to back up a little as I could tell they had space in back of them.  This way we would have had room to pass.  He just threw up his hands.  “Creep”, I thought.  Then I told Craig I though we might have enough room to get by.  “Just go slowly and who cares if we loose a side mirror,” I told him in my most positive voice.  We did it.  Whew.  I just wanted out of the car and I was shaking so badly I was extremely thankful to see a little café just up ahead.  We got a Coke and looked at the map.  It seemed that there were many more cliff roads ahead and so we (I) decided we should cut through the middle of the peninsula. 

Just ahead was the beach where Ryan’s daughter was filmed. What a dazzling spot it was.   We stopped and walked around for about an hour.  We saw a tour bus as we were leaving and I asked Craig to ask the driver if he was going to drive down the road we just came from.  What if it had been a bus we tried to get around instead of a car?  We surely would have been rolling down our car windows and swimming to safety from the bottom of the ocean if we had.  The driver told Craig the bus travels the other way around the peninsula. That was good news.

Next we came to a little town called Ballyferriter.  It was really charming and after a few minutes of looking around, we decided this is where we would spend the night.  Happily, we checked into a hotel called Ceann Sibeal which was a new hotel built to look old on the exterior.   

There was a lot of confusion at check in.  Just before we walked in another American asked about a room.  He said he was going to find his friends before making any decisions.  Well, we pop up and the lady at the desk thought we were the American’s friends.

I asked if there were any rooms with a king sized bed.  The clerk was from Poland and even though she spoke pretty good English we had a hard time understanding each other.  She showed us a room with two queen sized beds and said we could push them together if we wanted.

 I was confused and said we didn’t need to push any beds together.  There were a lot of strange looks exchanged, and then she said something about our friend.  “What friend” I asked?  In the end I think I think she understood we didn’t need a bed for 3 and that it would just be Craig and I sleeping together that night.

After laughing for awhile we got back in the car again.  We visited two more beaches, one which had a little stream running down to the ocean and had primroses growing everywhere.  The tide was coming in and the waves were crashing against the rocks. We were the only ones on the beach and it was such a relaxing and serene spot.

Dinner was at Smerwidh Harbour Hotel and then we went to the Bhric afterwards to hear some music.  Again this was a new building that was made to look old on the outside.  We listened to 3 musicians, while I kept looking around, enjoying the atmosphere.  We sat at a thick wooden table; there was a fireplace burning peat, lots of Irish relics hanging everywhere, beautiful paintings on the walls, and stained glass windows hung from the ceiling.

This was really a neat little town, well planned out and growing fast to become another tourist destination spot. We will defiantly stop here again if we come back to Ireland. 

SATURDAY…our last full day.

We talked to the hotel clerk at check out and she suggested we drive up to Kilrush and have lunch at the famous pub there.  She couldn’t remember the name, but said it was in the center of town and we couldn’t miss it. We laughed again about the mix up the night before. 

So we decided to go through Tralee, take the ferry and see some castles and visit a round tower along the way.  We got lost again (what else is new) in Tralee and asked two ladies on the street for directions.  One of the ladies was about 60 and the other must have been 80.  The 60 year old said she wasn’t sure and added that Clare would know the way.  The 80 year old said, “Oh, Clare doesn’t know nothing.”  I don’t know what that was all about, so I smiled and said thanks anyway, before they could suggested we go with them to find Clare.

After getting lost two more times we finally found Ratto and the round tower.  Then we stopped at Ballybunion, visited Carrigafoyle Castle, which was going through construction so “closed at the moment” (this should have been the title of our trip) and then took the Tarbert Ferry to Kilmer.  It was raining real hard while we crossed the river so we stayed in the car.  It was nice actually to just sit and listen to the rain pound against our roof.  Soon we were both asleep.   

Once in Kilrush, Craig saw a little stand with a young boy selling Winkles.  Craig remembered that Rick Steves talked about eating a Winkle and so he had to try one.  According to Craig, Winkles taste terrible.  He said it was some sort of barnacle that had to be picked out of it’s shell with a nail.  I can’t believe he would have eaten it after seeing what it looked like and I certainly would have said, “No Thanks” once I saw the nail.   Anyway it was time for lunch and Craig said he had to get the taste of Winkle out of his mouth. 

We found the famous restaurant that the hotel clerk told us about but guess what…they didn’t serve food on the weekends. I guess we should have figured that. It was really neat inside though, so we walked around and peaked in corners before leaving. We saw a man at a table eating a sandwich and I smiled at him as we were about to leave.  “I brought in my own sandwich,” he said.   I really didn’t even think anything about it.  Did he think I was about to start some sort of quarrel with the bartender saying that he lied to us?  I just smiled again as we opened the door to leave.  

Since we knew we didn’t want to stay in Bunratty, and had to be somewhat close to the airport that night, we started looking at towns while driving north along the coast.  We went through Kilkee, Lehinch, and finally ended back up in Doolin.  It was about 6:00 and we were very tired.  We tried 3 B & B’s and everyone said they had no vacancies.  One lady even called someone up the road and they were full too.  We should have expected this for a Saturday night in Doolin. 

So we decided to try one more place, The Aran View Hotel, before going on to Ennis.  I stayed in the car while Craig went to check it out.  When he came back again he told me they had a room and that it was € 45 a person.  Craig asked if I wanted to stay there and before I could answer he quickly added, “I do.”  Of course I did, we were tired and I surely didn’t feel like being in the car one more minute.

Aran View Hotel was a beautiful place.  It was on top of a hill, where between us and the green fields you could see the ocean, the Aran Islands, and the Cliffs of Mohr. I couldn’t believe the price, what a bargain. We went for a walk, had dinner, used a late night internet café, and met some people we had seen at O’Conner’s earlier that week.

We were all packed and ready to leave for the airport the next morning. Before going to bed I pulled open the curtains.  There was an almost full moon and I looked out to see the beam of the lighthouse in the distance then turned off the lights. What a perfect ending to a mostly wonderful trip. Good night Ireland.