Our third day was cloudy. We were suppose to head out to Mizen Head, however, the bridge was out. We would have had a beautiful view of the coast line from Mizen. Well, after a delicious breakfast of French toast with bananas and almonds we headed out to our new destination, Crookhaven.
Pretty window in Crookhaven. Crookhaven is a very small community on the coast, not too far from Mizen Head. On the way we stopped at Bantry House. Bantry house is a Georgian home built in mid-18th century for the earls of Bantry. The home and gardens were just beautiful. The view from the front of the house was the water.
This is the bedroom that I fell in love with. It had views of the water. The family still lives in another section of the home.
Windows in the bedroom looking out at the water.
Dollhouse in one of the rooms.
View from the front of the home.
Another view.
Resting on the patio after exploring the house.
Nicole resting after the tour of the home and the gardens. I did not do the gardens . I was too tired. Nicole has some beautiful pictures of the garden on her blog. Here are a few of her pictures to temp you to go and check it out.
Resting on the front lawn.
After the tour of the Bantry House, we headed on to Crookheaven. We had lunch at O’Sullivan’s Bar and restaurant. It was right on the water. I had a crab sandwich which was all crab and no filler. For dessert we had pie with tons of fresh whipped cream. To die for!!!
After lunch I went looking around the small town. Only 3 shops! One was a silversmith. I bought a beautiful sterling silver ring. Afterward, I went exploring down by the water. I guess I got carried away. It started raining so I headed back to the bus. I was 15 minutes late!! Everyone was on the bus, and I felt just awful. The all applauded and gave me a good teasing.
One of the 3 stores in Crookhaven.
That’s our bus in the distance. I was too busy down by the water to pay attention to the time.
I was on this lower dock when it was time to go.
View from lower dock.
After another short drive we went to Barley Cove Beach. To access the beach one has to walk on a boardwalk and pontoon, which protects the surrounding wetlands from the impact of visitors feet. T he beach itself was a gorgeous stretch of golden sand. Well worth the long, long, long walk.
Pontoon walk to beach.
Nicole at Barley Cove Beach.
Nicole, Doug and Rosie.
Always happiest at the water.
Long walk back to the bus. After the beach we headed back to Skibereen for a rest before heading out to more Irish music in the evening. We went to a pub called De Barra’s Folk Club. The pub is located in Clonakilty. Clonakilty is a market town. Clonakilty is famous for two important Cork products. First it was the birth place of Michael Collins (commander-in-chief of the army for the Irish Free State, which won independence from Britain in 1922). Secondly, it’s the source of the best black pudding in Ireland.
Later that night we went to De Barra’s in Clonakilty. It is a marvelous pub with walls splattered with photos, press cuttings, masks, and musical instruments. This pub showcases the cream of live music every night of the week making this a busy pub. It was here that I got my first kiss from an Irishman.
Cindy, Suzanne, and Todd
Jane, Nicole and Tom
Cindy and Todd
Cindy, Rosie, and Bill
Jim and Martha
This wall was covered in beautiful masks. I w sh I got a close up of each mask. They were amazing!
Nicole and Rosie. The singer that night was amazing. He asked Kate to come up and sing some songs. It’s funny that she sang only two songs, and one was Nicole’s favorite and the other my favorite. She sang, “Crazy in Alabama” and the song that I love, “Perfect World”. Made me cry. That song always makes me think of Richard. After the show we hopped back on the bus and headed to The West Cork Inn and bed. Bed never looked so good.
End of day 3.
Blessings!
Recent Comments