Walk on the ocean, step on the shores

This morning started out with another fabulous breakfast. Though, Pat was none too thrilled with the result when she ordered fried eggs. When the yolks bled freely, she lost interest. I had ordered bacon with my eggs, so I gladly shared one piece with her. We loaded up, and left Bantry to eventually drive the ring of Beara.

Before that, we thought we'd check out a couple of places Carrie had researched. The first was Gougane Barra. This is a place up in the mountains with an old church, a lake, and a forest park. I must say it

was extremely beautiful and peaceful. The lake was the clear-brown water you find a lot in Ireland due to the peat moss. We walked to the entrance of the forest park and back, and all you really heard was the wind blowing (except for a few vehicles and a gardener cutting grass).

We walked back to a gift shop where Carrie and Pat fell in love with some knitted hats. So, they each bought 2.

We drove back, and stopped at a castle ruin. We got some great pictures of the ruin as well as some friendly cows in a neighboring field. Back in the car again, we started on the Ring of Beara.

Beara is a pretty remote peninsula. I'm speculating that the scarcity of tourists has rendered some of its residents free of the typical niceness you see in the rest of Ireland. Case in point: we stopped at a craft shop. We definitely are shopping, and have been known to purchase many items in a stop. Carrie asked where their restroom was, and the reply was "only for customers." We then decided that we would not become customers then :)

Back in the car, we continued our ring. We went through a road-work zone where one lane was totally blocked. So, they had helpful men at each end of the zone with a "stop" and "go" sign. Unfortunately, coordination between them was somewhat lacking. That, or a few too many lunch pints flowed that day. In any case, we were given the "go" sign, and the sign man at the other end kept flashing "stop" then "go" then "stop" etc.., so another car met me in the middle of the zone - with only one lane. Fortunately, most of the Beara peninsula is what we in the States would call a one lane road, even when it is two over here. So, it wasn't that bad. You get used to slowing down, and sharing the single lane, so disaster was averted.

We stopped to see a copper mining museum, but after standing in the entry for 15 minutes with no acknowledgment, we decided to leave there as well.

Carrie did find one friendly person on the Beara when we stopped to use the facilities. She overheard Carrie saying she was going to use the restroom, and let her know there was no TP, so she should bring her own. :)

We ended up in Kenmare. Though, Google Maps tried to send us through a golf course's fairway to reach our B&B. Once we did arrive, we walked into town to shop and eat dinner. We had an excellent dinner, and walked back to turn in for the night.

After catching up on overdue journal entries, it is getting late, so I am calling it a night.