“Kerry” On Our Way…

To part of the Ring of Kerry, that is! After a relaxed morning, we headed further west and enjoyed the views of our brief drive on the Ring of Kerry before we darted toward Dingle.

Our first stop of the day was at Inch Beach. Although it’s an overcast day with a sporadic light mist, the views along the way/at the beach were still beautiful. We can’t get over how dramatic the greenery is and the pop of color all the wild flowers add even on a somewhat dreary day.

From here we made our way into the city of Dingle…we were surprised to see just how large it was. Full of crowds, and a few tour buses; but, rightful so (completely understand why you love this place, Tessa & Alex)! This is a stop we’d add to the “return to” list. We enjoyed exploring the city streets, and grabbed an outstanding lunch at the Chowder House. We weren’t really hungry when we got going today, so decided to each have a banana with some Nutella…guess it made us work up an extra big lunch appetite. We decided to share two of the daily specials because we were both torn between the haddock and salmon. Yummm…this may have been one of our best meals so far! With the heavy fog rolling in we decided to see if it would pass and explored the town a little, including a stop a Dick Mack’s (thanks, Uncle Ken) for a sample of whiskey (the other side of the bar was a leather shop where we saw a man making a belt as the customer waited right there for it). The bar also had some celebrities names like Hollywood stars in the cement for those that have visited, including “Tom” for Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, and Dolly Parton! We also spotted a Great Lakes Brewery sticker amongst the collection on the bar and talked to Finn that runs the bar about how it’s our hometown. (Side note, if you look back at yesterday’s photos from Rock of Cashel, we noticed a “photo bomber” in one of our pics is also rocking a Cleveland Indian’s baseball cap!)

We then decided to grab a cup of coffee (Bryan)/cuppacino (me) and explored more shops (including a hat shop called the Mad Hatter) before we head down the “Wild Atlantic Way” to Slea Head (the most western point of Europe). Unfortunately, the heavy fog limited our views (maybe a good thing for me to not be able to see the cliff directly next to my passenger side door 🙃), but I don’t think we’ll complain if we make a trip back for a different perspective! The tight roadways and sharp turns weren’t bad to manage except for when passing larger cars/SUVs and tour buses. On our way through Conor Pass (one of the highest Irish Moutain passes) we even happened to see sheep right next to us on the road!! As we made our way up to Tralee the fog shifted and we really experienced some killer views. I’m not sure photos can even do this country justice, but here’s a few (we also only had a few areas to safely pull off the road for photos, so excuse any blurry ones that were taken while I was a passenger). Also, this area is not far from the famous Skellig Michael featured in Star Wars. We had all intentions of visiting, but during our trip planning I got scared away by the safety video and also was concern about having a bad weather day (you have to dedicate a day to it and I’d be bummed if we couldn’t go, etc.). Maybe one day this will be a different “fear to overcome!”

As we got into Tralee we decided to check out the Blennerville Windmill and learned more about how this port was used for immigration to America and exactly how the mill worked within the 21.3 meter structure. Including the fact that the roof of the entire building could turn 360• to maximize the wind power (takes ~4 hours for a full rotation).

From here, it was on to the charming town of Adare (thanks, Uncle Don). Loved the hut structures throughout this very well kept city, their beautiful community park, and decided we’ll have to return to possibly (wish list) stay at the Adare Manor once it’s done being updated (closed for renovation currently). We grabbed dinner at The Blue Door which was a very comfortable hut…Bryan enjoyed fresh scallops while I had great seabass ontop of mashed, mint peas.

Following dinner, we drove about 20 minutes to our stopping point for the night, Limerick. What a cool city…seems most tour groups pass through this city only on the weekends, but decided to get out and explore the quiet streets. I have to admit that when we booked our hotel for €50 for the night (Limerick City Hotel) I was worried about where exactly we were staying…turns out we just picked the right night of the week to be here! We made our way to check out Michael Flatley’s pub (looked like a night club) but decided to stop into Flannery’s across the street that looked quiet inviting instead. It was a great choice! We ended up talking to a few locals for nearly 2 hours and learned so much about everything from farming, to local traffic laws, to places they had visited stateside. We also learned that one of the guys was Tom Condon, one of the “best Hurler players in the county.” If you’re not familiar with the sport, it’s like a cross between lacross, hockey and football (but the ball is almost like a ridged baseball). Really nice group of guys!