Westward bound along the coast of Ireland....

Good morning to Kinsale. I will say that Jo's is on quite a busy noisy street. However, honestly I was too tired and my eyes closed just fine. Another early rise by both of us....we were around by 8:30am and we packed our bags downstairs. Halfway down Jo met us and carried mom's bag down for her. We lined our bags in her hallway and stepped around to the entrance of her cafe. Mom and I shared a delicious flaky raspberry scone with raspberry preserves and 2 big cups of expresso...YUMMY!

View inside the cafe.

See those yummy pastries on the counter.

It was a good way to start our morning. We then made our way to the car to stow away the bags, do a little shopping and stop in at the TI for some info. The lady in the TI was very helpful and was quite surprised we had run into offices that were closed.

Off we went up tight almost one way looking roads to Charles Fort. It was a very cool historical site with great views and must see pics. The last soldiers to leave the Charles Fort were in 1921, so it stayed running for quite some time. Definitely a great stronghold to defend against the sea bearers looking to start trouble. 

Me outside Charles Fort & a view back into Kinsale.

Here are several views from Charles Fort...

Peek-a-boo...I finally got Mom in a shot.

Just love all the GREEN!

Our travels then took us west to Mizen Head. Along that route were inlets to beaches where we saw surfers waiting to catch waves. The water was just crystal blue in color...so beautiful.

This would be the itty bitty tiny road to Mizen Head. EEK!

Once we reached the final turn to Mizen Head the road was sooo narrow that meeting any car you had to pull off into a curved out section or driveway. That has to be the tiniest road we've encountered yet! YEESH!

We finally made it up the way to the visitor center. It was also the access point to go and tour the light house. We opted out of that and took pics from around the center. Very cool and picturesque to be at the southern most tip of Ireland. We could see a storm brewing on the ocean and decided it was best to be on our way.

Gorgeous! Look how big the cattle is...crazy!

See there's that storm!

Back to the tiny twisty road away from Mizen Head and onward to our final destination of Kenmare. It was a nice relaxing drive and great views of the countryside.

Here are a few pics along our drive to Kenmare...

Tree covered roads.

Pools of water and just lush greenery.

We arrived at Willow Lodge around 5pm. Finally we would get ourselves acquainted with Gretta. Ever since our first emails back forth making reservations we've been in awe of her sweetness. As we walked in the door we were greeted by Gretta...she was quite pretty, tall and a quick wit about her. She promptly started with banter and laughing back and forth with us. She gave us a quick run down of the current to do's...she would show us our room, turn down our bed, we'd get our luggage to put in our room and then meet her back downstairs for tea and tart.

Our Room

Sitting area downstairs.

Mom enjoying some hot tea.

Wow...what a great spread of hot tea and Rhubarb Tart.

Oh what a wonderful welcoming treat and tea to warm my insides. Gretta came out to visit for a while then back in to cook dinner for Paul. She was able to give us several recommendations for dinner 4 bars and 2 restaurants. We opted for The Coachmans, after stopping at a couple shops before. It was a great dinner. 

Starters....

I selected the melted goat cheese and tomato bruschetta.

Mom selected the seafood chowder.

And of course we had the delightful brown soda bread and Irish butter!!!!

We even ordered our first Guinness!

Entrees....

I selected the pan seared sea bass with white cream sauce, potatoes and mixed veggies.

Mom selected the Guinness beef stew...

We were accompanied by some music but nothing to lively. A couple sat next to us....they were both in the US Military (he was in the Airforce and she was in the Army), stationed in Germany and on holiday in Ireland. They were a great group to chat with and share traveling experiences. We wrapped up dinner and headed back to the B&B.

I tried to stay up late to Skype with Dad but only wound up emailing him. I posted one pic of the cliffs at Mizen Head to peak some of my friends interest back home and then crawled into bed for the night.

Wow...our trip was really coming together. That was the end of Day 4, August 24th!

~Curls~