Day 11: Glengarriff to Gougane Barra A Secluded (and Possibly Haunted) Hotel on the Lake

Day 11 started out out kind of slow. We were all tired and moved slowly, even as our new guide, Darren, gently tried to prod us along. 

We loaded up the Rover and left Glengariff behind. We couldn't hear Darren over the microphone, so we had no idea where we were headed, but we didn't really care. Everywhere we ended up was beautiful, so why sweat the details?

We drove through the green hills and along the coast. Down in the water we could see buoys, hundreds of them, which Darren explained was an oyster farm. I didn't even know you could farm oysters!

Eventually, we stopped in a quaint little village to buy picnic lunches. 

We scrambled out of the car, and Darren told us to be back in 20 minutes. I knew this group wouldn't return for at least 45 minutes--I'd describe them as fun and happy, but not necessarily punctual.

We poured into the tiny little grocery store, all loud Americans running in 10 different directions but still crashing into each other. We raced down the snug aisles, marvelling at all the Irish products. (The cheese aisle--oh man, I could've died happily snacking there!) Somehow, the whole group congregated in front of the deli counter, where Linda was pointing at some filled-bread item and asking the counter lady, "What is that? I don't want it, but what is it?" 

Amber and I ran up each aisle like we were on a game show. (It was pure excitement--not like the tour was gonna leave without us!) After perusing every shelf, we finally filled our little basket with salami, jam, chips, water, fruit and cookies. We were almost done, until we saw the racks of fresh bread and pastries. Big round loaves, long skinny baguettes, fat little sandwich rolls. Amber and I squealed over all of it, and in our excitement, I accidentally knocked a roll onto the floor.

I picked it up, but there was nowhere to put it. 

"I'll bring it to the cashier," I told Amber. Surely she'd know what to do with it.

We met up with the group at the check out line. Everyone had huge baskets of good stuff, but Linda--not so much. She dumped her items onto the belt, and Amber scoffed.

"Linda!" she chided. "Are you seriously just buying candy and soda??"

"Margie bought the sandwich stuff," Linda said, pointing at her sister-in-law. Amber and I just looked at each other, and made a mental note to feed Linda something sugar-free. 

I handed over my fallen roll, explaining to the cashier that I didn't know what to do with it. I thought she'd throw it away, but later, at lunch, I realized she'd rung it up and put it in the bag with the other rolls. Amber and I just shrugged and took our chances--hopefully, we chose rolls that hadn't hit the floor.

Once everyone returned, we headed for our next stop, Dunboey Castle. We turned off the main road, and 4-wheeled it through a forest, down a bumpy dirt road. There was a giant fancy castle on our right, but apparently, that wasn't the one we were looking for. Instead, we drove past it, stopping only when the road ran out in front of the forest.

We climbed out and admired the view. There was a lake directly below us, which was gorgeous. And we were even more thrilled that for the first time in Ireland, we got out to hike and it did NOT rain on us! 

Darren led us over a rocky path toward a crumbling building, explaining that this was the actual castle. I was somewhat confused, but whatever--castle ruins are more fun than a real castle anyway. We immediately clambered up the hills, over the rocks, and explored the area.  

Darren gave us a brief history of the castle, and I felt a little sorry for him. He was like a college history professor trying to educate a bunch of squirrelly kindergartners who were climbing on the castle and pretending to shoot arrows like Katniss Everdeen.

He finally gave up and pointed us toward a hiking path. He said we should start and he'd meet up with us in a bit.

That caught our attention! We were used to Bébhinn taking charge--she always led us. (Or maybe, she didn't trust us not to get lost or fall off a cliff--whatever, we still felt better being with a fearless leader who actually knew the land.)

But we followed Darren's directions, and set out on the "coastal walk" around the castle grounds. 

It was beautiful--soon enough, we were smack in the middle of the forest. 

We hiked out of the trees, and along the path toward the bay. I love this photo, because it's what I'll always think of when I recall my favorites memories of Ireland--hiking some beautiful trail with all my wonderful new friends. Friendship and beauty, that's what this picture says to me, and it's the best thing I brought home from Ireland.

The forest opened up to the bay, where it was obviously low-tide. I just loved all the greenery--so very different from the dry, golden landscapes back home.

We hiked through more trees. The forest was quiet, except for the gravel crunching beneath our shoes, and beautiful. It really was a magical place.

And then, at the end of the hike, another surprise--a shipwreck! I'm not even sure how that boat got in there, but it must've been a higher tide than this.

After our hike through the forest, we climbed back in to the Vagatron and continued on along the Beara Peninsula, still unsure of where, exactly, we were going, but certainly enjoying the ride. 

We drove through little towns, which gave way to the occasional house, and then, after a while, nothing but rolling green hills and super twisty little roads. The roads--heck, the whole peninsula!--seemed completely empty. Every once in a while, a little car would come whipping around the corner, but our car was much bigger, so they always gave way. The roads were too small for tour buses, so it was really cool to be out in the middle of nowhere with no one else around. 

While coming out of one little valley, we saw a group of brightly-colored homes off in the distance. We scrambled to take terrible photos (the car was bumping along and the houses were far away), not realizing we were heading directly to the village.

The town was just adorable--we passed a real-life cobbler's house to get to it! (Seriously, a COBBLER!) The colors were even brighter up close, and we were all panting to get out and look around. But Darren drove on, and we all sat back down in our seats.

About five minutes later, Darren suddenly stopped the car in the middle of the road, and motioned for us to get out. We were totally confused, but we got out, and brought our lunches with us. Darren pointed to a small gate, and said he'd meet us on the hike after he parked the car.

No one was really sure where to go, but we passed through the gate, and along the path. Once again, Brian and Margie held out their hands and helped us all cross over a small creek, reminding me why I loved them. They are just such good, kind people! 

We followed the path, past colorful flowering bushes, up and over boulders, and eventually into this beautiful clearing. It was just so spectacular that we all stopped, gasped at the beauty and declared this our picnic spot. It was the most beautiful lunch location of our whole trip!

Darren caught up to us, a bit surprised we'd stopped where we did.

"There are some pretty sea arches just up a bit," he said, but we'd already unpacked and started in on the lunches. We were totally happy where we were.

After lunch, we did go exploring, though. Ashley, Mary, and George headed up the hill to see the arches, while Brian and Ben went down toward the water, finding a cave below. We knew they found a cave because we could no longer hear them scrambling about and laughing, which made us a little nervous. Then, suddenly, we heard a giant "WOOOOOOOO!" echoing through the rocks, and they yelled, "We found a caaaaaaaaave!" 

They howled again, and the next thing I knew, here comes Ashley, running down the hill at breakneck speed. 

"Where are they?" she asked, excitedly. "I wanna go, I wanna go!" And then she ran down the hill to find them.

I was cracking up--she heard them calling, and came running. Ashley didn't want to be left out of anything, let alone something as exciting as a cave!

Amber and I walked up to the hill in search of the arches. We weren't sure what to expect, really, so when we saw it, it took our breath away. 

The sea arch! We were standing on the very edge of it (see where those flowers end? Sharp drop below into the ocean!), which was scary and exhilarating all at once. It was gorgeous! And BIG, much bigger than this photo gives it credit. Here's the view from that arch to the first arch we were standing on...look how little Margie and Mary are!

It was a rush to peek over those arches, into the choppy sea below. It reminded me again how protective everything is in the U.S.--you'd never be able to climb to those arches without fences, rangers and warning signs everywhere. It felt good to--literally--live life on the edge, even if it was for just one afternoon. (And thank God it wasn't muddy, because I am super klutzy!)

We spent a lot of time up there. We realized this is probably where Darren intended us to have lunch, if our group hadn't stubbornly staked their claim below. But we were here now, and we reveled in feeling like we were on top of the world. We could see the Skellig Islands far out in the ocean, and the various group members scattered all over. I don't know what it was about that day--the gorgeous hikes, the beautiful views, the comradery of being cooped up together in a Land Rover for a week, but it all came together that day, and I just felt good. Like everything was as it should be--I was here with my new family, in a place that far exceeded my hopeful expectations, and I was just happy. Everything was right in the world, and my heart was bursting. It was an amazing feeling.

Eventually, we had to move on. Darren pulled the Land Rover into the middle of the road again, we hopped in and off we went.

We were thrilled when Darren pulled back into the colorful little town of Alihies again. This time, he stopped and let us out--ostensibly, to use the bathrooms, but hey, the Craic Pack doesn't pass up a chance to scout around.

There were public restrooms, but they were tiny, and our group was not.

"I saw a pub over there," Linda whispered to me. "Let's go there."

I nodded, and we ran off. I could hear part of the group calling out to us to return, but I said, "Don't look back" to Linda and we ran off to the bright blue pub.

Upon exiting the pub, Linda asked me the name of the town. I had no idea, but she remembered seeing a sign on our way into town.

"Yeah, but that was kinda far away," I said. 

"I'm going for it," she said, looking around. I could see Darren peering over the Land Rover, looking for us, so I told Linda, "Be quick. And don't make eye contact with anyone!" She took off running, camera in hand.

A few minutes later, I accidentally caught Darren's eye, and he waved me over. I looked nervously to the left, but couldn't see Linda returning yet. So I nodded, pretended to tie my shoe, then slooooooowly wandered toward the car. I was hoping the group was not waiting on just me, but when I looked over toward the village basketball court, I saw Brian and Ben shooting hoops. That slowed my step considerably--it'd take more effort to get them off the court than it would take Linda to get back.

The funniest part was that as I waited for Linda, I looked around--and saw this on the public restroom wall!

It was a map with the name of the town--the very thing Linda ran off to find! 

Suddenly, Linda came running up to me, waving her camera triumphantly. 

"I got it!" she said. "The name of the town is--"

"Allihies?" I finished. She looked at me, I pointed to the sign on the wall, and we both collapsed into laughter. 

Poor Darren finally rounded us all up again. "I have a surprise for you," he said, turning the Land Rover onto a narrow dirt road.

"Off roading!" we all screamed in delight. "We're going off roading!" 

And indeed we were. Darren explained that these hills were old copper mines, now defunct. But the road was still there, so we took it, bumping over rocks and clinging to steep cliffs. For one scary minute, it seemed we might not make it up the mountain--the Land Rover whined helplessly and rolled back a bit. But Darren gunned it, the engine kicked in and we made it through the narrow pass.

This was our reward for making it over the pass--a sweeping view of the peninsula! 

We also passed lots of sheep in the hills--some so close, you could reach out and grab them. (A suggestion I repeatedly made to Amber, sitting in the window seat, who only gave it a half-hearted effort.)

Eventually, we ran out of unpaved path, and Darren headed back to the winding main road. It was getting late in the afternoon, and we still had a couple more stops.

The first stop was the Uragh stone circle. Built thousands of years ago, the circle was ceremonial, sacred, a place for people to worship and leave offerings or prayers. 

The stone circle was far off the road, on private farm land, which was gorgeous. We parked by a lake, and crossed over a little bridge. We walked up a hill, and then, from the top, we spotted the circle, with another lake and a series of waterfalls behind it.

We learned about the circle, admired the view and waterfalls, and then, of course, it started to rain on us, so we hiked back to the car. The view, overlooking a lake, was just as spectacular heading back.

We'd seen a lot, but now it was time to head to our final destination for the day--the lovely lakefront hotel in Gougane Barra. I'd been looking forward to visiting here, and it certainly didn't disappoint. 

Due to our late arrival at the hotel, we only had 30 minutes to wander around before dinner. Amber and I were exhausted, and not thrilled to see the steep flight of stairs we had to carry our heavy suitcases up. But before we'd walked five steps, the proprietor, Neil, stepped up, grabbed our bags, and ran upstairs with them.

"What room?" he asked, and we told him 12. He was off in a flash!

We followed the hallway maze, turning left, then right. We walked down a long hallway, through a doorway, and then, to our surprise, saw our bags in front of our room--no Neil in sight! 

We were literally two minutes behind him, but somehow, in those two minutes, Neil managed to dump our bags and completely disappear. Amber and I exchanged a look of amazement, surprise, and a little bit of fear. (Seriously...where'd he go???)

Before we could even unload our bags, Ashley was in our doorway, and she was not happy.

"My bed overlooks a GRAVEYARD!" she said. "I am NOT sleeping there tonight!" 

We piled into her room, across the hallway from ours. She was right, there was a tiny graveyard with creepy tilted old headstones jutting out of the ground. It was your textbook haunted graveyard, and I was suddenly very grateful for our view of the lake.

I'm telling you, I am not a superstitious person (OK, yes, I totally am!), but that hotel, cute as it was, gave me the shivers. I'm convinced it is haunted, and it kinda freaked me out.

Amber and I ditched the unpacking in favor of exploring the grounds. We walked by the lake, stopping to ooh and ahh over the sweet little chapel on the lake:

We wandered past a small sports field occupied by a dad, his son, and a couple sheep. We hurried past the creepy graveyard, and ended up over by the chapel. We looked at the old crosses, and finally ended up along the river, where we tried to take a selfie.

Ashley was across the yard from us, and when she saw us in selfie-mode, she sighed loudly. Poor girl watched us try to master the selfie and fail miserable all week. (I'm sorry, this is just not a skill anyone over 30 years old has.) Silently, Ashley walked over to us, and put out her hand, motioning for my smartphone. I handed it over, she aimed it at us, and took this picture. 

Then, after giggling at herself, she actually took our photo, too. (But I like Ashley's mischievous prank picture better!)

Amber and took a few more photos, including the inside and outside of the chapel, and a lake monster before heading back to dinner.

The hotel was booked solid, and had only one restaurant, which is why we had to make it to dinner on time. The restaurant was nice, fancier than most of the places we'd eaten (save for the castle), but the menu looked amazing, if a bit complicated.

Neil returned, and tried to explain the menu to us. It was a complicated series of if > then>price combinations--if you order an entree, then the price is this much. If you order an entree but no appetizer and an entree and wine, it's this much. If you don't want an appetizer, but you do want wine and an entree with dessert, it's this much. I finally gave up and just told Neil what I wanted--I really didn't care how much it cost! 

The dinner, however, was FABULOUS. Turns out Neil's wife is a well-known and very talented chef, and the food really showed that. The desserts were equally beautiful, although Ashley opted to eat the solid chunks of crystallized brown sugar directly from the sugar bowl. (Amber and I tried them too--they tasted like rock candy.)

Someone commented on how dark it was outside, and George joked that we should start a rumor about a ghost woman who appeared lakeside every evening. He was joking around, but Neil gave him a very serious look, then quickly moved away. It freaked us all out, because in our version, the ghost was purely fictional. We were really looking for Neil to laugh and tell us how outrageous that was, but his silence told us something far scarier! 

Everybody was a little melancholy after dinner. It was our last night on tour together, and the whole group was really sad about it. We hated to say goodbye, to each other and to Ireland.

So we didn't, just yet. Instead, we convened in the lounge just outside the tiny pub. Amber and I ordered a round of beer from an adorable but seriously young barkeep. (I may or may not have questioned whether he was old enough to serve alcohol.) He filled our Guinness glasses, let them rest, then topped them off and set them on the bar. 

My glass immediately slid away! I am not even joking, he set it down, and it moved a good foot away from me.

"Did you see that?" I said to Amber, who simply nodded, equally shocked.

I moved the beer back, and it slid away again! And then for a third time! 

"I'm telling you, this place is HAUNTED!" I told Amber, and she said, "I know!" 

We moved the chairs into a circle in the lounge, and went around the group, re-living our favorite memories from the trip. Ashley took some panoramic pictures, trying to get the whole circle in, when Brian declared that he wanted to be in the photo twice--once at the beginning and once at the end.

And so he was. He sat with me on the left side, then ran behind Ashley as she panned to the right. She got to Nate, the last person on the right, and suddenly, there was Brian again. We were cracking up and encouraging Brian, so he decided he wanted to be in the photo THREE times.

He started with me again, ran behind chairs to the middle of the photo, and then froze, realizing there were no chairs to hide behind as he raced to the last place. So instead, he dropped to the floor, crawled across the carpet like a giant toddler, and then bounced up into the chair just as Ashley finished panning. I thought we were all gonna bust a gut, we were laughing so hard and so loudly.

But he did it--here is King Brian defying the laws of time, space, and photography.

However, turns out not everyone appreciates our group as much as we do. The young woman who'd checked us into the hotel entered the lounge and very quietly closed one of the pub doors on us. 

We immediately stopped laughing, glanced around at each other, and then burst into hushed, uncontrollable giggles. We felt like school kids getting busted by the teacher.

A few minutes later, we realized why they shut it. We heard voices, angelic voices, rising up from behind the door, and it silenced us immediately. We looked at each other, puzzled, and then crept over to the door to see the angels singing.

We were surprised to see the singers--the front desk clerk, our dinner waitress, and the young bartender! Two held instruments, a guitar and a ukulele, which they strummed. 

They were fantastic, and we were mesmerized. They finished their song, and we applauded them, then stood in the doorway for the next 15 minutes as they continued their hootenanny.

"Have you played together for very long?" we asked from the doorway, and they smiled.

"We're siblings," one girl told us. "This is my brother and sister."

"Ooooooh!" we said, and suddenly it all made sense, how Neil proudly kept telling us this was a family-run business. 

They played a few more ballads--sad Irish tunes, of course, and then the more upbeat "Riptide" by Vance Joy on ukulele. We clapped after every song, and gushed about how wonderful they were. Purely by accident, we'd stumbled onto another Irish gem of a music session.

"Can we open the door now?" we asked after a while. "We promise we'll behave." They nodded shyly--we'd convinced them we weren't always raucous tourists.

We stayed another half hour or so, but then I scooted off to our room. Mark had returned home from summer camp that day, and I was eager to call him. I really missed that crazy kid.

However, the haunted hotel had other plans. My phone was dying, and I didn't want to disturb Amber, so I brought the phone and charger into to the library just outside our room. I tried to call a couple times with no luck, before realizing the hotel was really out in the middle of nowhere, and there was no chance I was gonna get a signal. I was about to try one last time, when I noticed a book right next to the phone charger--it was titled "Seances."

And that did it for me! I wasn't about to be caught alone in an empty library at midnight, haunted by ghosts I was convinced lived there. I grabbed up my phone and charger, and booked it back to the safety of my room. I've never been so glad to see Amber in my life!!! 

Luckily, Amber was still awake and happy to recap our glorious day. By the time we finished re-telling it, I was no longer scared. We both drifted off to sleep on an Irish high (best vacation EVER!) and a simultaneous low (goodbye, Craic Pack!), but we slept soundly, and happily.

Day 10: Portmagee to Glengariff Skellig Michael Tries to Kill the Craic Pack

Our day in Portmagee started off in chaos. It was Bébhinn's last day with us, but our sadness about that was overshadowed with panic about the day's itinerary. 

Most of the group, save for me and Jan, were headed out to Skellig Michael, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and a craggy island previously home to monks. 

Amber is super brave, much braver than me, and she was going, but she was pretty nervous as we got ready in the room beforehand. She'd signed up for the trip before we even got to Ireland, under the condition that she'd only go if she felt safe with our group after meeting them. She didn't want to climb the stairs unless someone had her back;  thankfully, our Vagabonders proved they did. 

I immediately opted out when I read the description of the trip, which included these helpful tips:

• The boat ride over is very rough, bring pills if prone to seasickness. (Hello, me.)
• The trip is approximately six hours, and there are no amenities on the island, so bring food and water if you want to eat or drink anything. (No water?? Or food, after I've thrown up my breakfast on the boat?)
• There are no bathrooms on the island. (See above, six-hour trip!)
• If the ocean is rough, you may have to jump to the dock to disembark. (Because, yeah..I'm good at jumping from a rocking boat to a concrete dock in giant swells!)
• There are 600 stone steps to the top of the island. They are slippery when wet, steep, have no safety railings, and are very dangerous if it's windy. If you are out of shape or afraid of heights, don't attempt to climb the stairs. (Hi, have you met me? I literally trip over my own feet walking down an empty hallway, and I am TERRIFIED of heights. And let's not even talk about my shape...)
• People have died on Skellig Michael. (I'm out.)
• There is a puffin rookery on the island. (PUFFINS!!!)

That last point made me squeal and for a moment I thought about going and staying at the bottom of the island. But the boat ride, no bathrooms, and fear of heights ideas did me in (and my wonky knee once I got there didn't help), so I happily stayed behind.

(Also, I hesitated saying no because Skellig Michael is in the new Star Wars film, so it would be cool to say "I was there!" Every time you said "Skellig Michael," the Irish people told you about Star Wars. They are very proud!)

Skellig Michael is about an hour out to sea--a rough, unforgiving, swell-y sea--the trip is extremely weather-dependent, and it wasn't until breakfast they finally got the okay to go.  

That was the good news, which you'd think the Vagabonders would be happy about. Instead, they were nervous, anxious, barely able to eat breakfast. They'd all seemed so excited about going before, but not anymore.

As we gathered for breakfast, Brian approached Bébhinn for reassurance. He wanted to make sure the trip was safe, and that he wasn't gonna die.

"Yeah, it's good," Bébhinn told him. "There's the captain right there."

She pointed at an older man with a hunched back, white hair, and hearing aids. He was slowly ambling toward the coffee dispenser.

"THAT'S the captain?" Brian said, immediately breaking into a sweat. "He's 90 years old!" 

Bébhinn walked away, leaving Brian in a panic.

We all convened at the table. 

"I don't know what to eat," Amber said, worrying over the menu. She was supposed to eat enough to fuel herself or six hours, but not too much, in case of seasickness. 

While everyone worried over what to eat, Margie quietly soothed Brian, trying to allay his fears, while Nate ribbed a sleepy Ben, and Mary handed over Bonine to Ashley, who downed them.

About 15 minutes later, Ashley asked if the Bonine had a particular ingredient in it. Mary said no, knowing that Ashley is highly allergic to that ingredient. 

"What happened when you took it last time?" I asked.

"I passed out for two hours," Ashley said. "I ended up at the hospital, but they just thought I was drunk."

"Oh God!" I said. Climbing the stairs up Skellig Michael was NOT the place to pass out!

"Oh God!" Mary repeated, carefully reading the Bonine container. "It's in here!"

"I knew it," Ashley said. "I feel really weird." She took a bite of her breakfast, then said under her breath, "I'm still going."

"Can I have one of those?" Brian asked. Mary handed it over, then he asked if he could borrow my motion sickness bracelets as extra insurance. I handed them over as well.

Suddenly, Ashley got up and ran out of the room. 

"Oh my God!" Mary fretted. "I killed my daughter!" 

Poor Bébhinn watched the madness all around, unsure of what exactly was happening or what to do. She looked at Mary.

"I gave her a seasickness pill," Mary explained. "But she's allergic to one of the ingredients. I can't believe I didn't look! My poor baby! I've killed her! I'm a terrible mother!"

Which confused Bébhinn even more. 

"She took a pill?" asked Bébhinn, who grew up on island, and shuttled across the ocean to school every day. "To go on the sea?" 

Clearly, Bébhinn felt she was missing something here...

I wandered outside, where I found Brian pacing back and forth along the dock. 

"Where's the car?" he asked. "Do we have to drive far to the boat?"

"The boat's right there in the harbor," I said, pointing down the dock. "You're not driving anywhere."

I meant to be calm and reassuring, but actually had the opposite effect on Brian. 

"Those tiny little boats?" he said. "I thought it was a big boat! I thought we'd drive out to the boat, look at the ocean, and I could decide then if I wanted to go. I can't even see the ocean from here!" He took off in a full panic. 

I turned to see Ashley nearby, taking big gulps of air. 

"How are you doing?" I asked her, and she shook her head.

"My eyes are getting big, and then they're getting little," she said opening them wide and then narrowing them down. "I feel pretty dizzy."

"Your pupils are dilating?" I asked, panicking a bit myself. There are no emergency services out on Skellig Michael, no doctors or even any buildings at all.

"I'm fine," she said stumbling away from me. "I'm still going."

Linda walked up to me, totally oblivious to all the drama going on. 

"Everybody is freaking out right now," I told her. "You okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm great," she answered. "Not worried at all. If I die, tell them to bury me holding a Skellig Michael brochure in my hands. That'll be my last little joke!" We both cracked up at that.

Amber came outside carrying a sack lunch.

"You got your hands full," I warned her, nodding at the various panicky people. "Be careful out there!" She promised she would be.

Captain Old Guy was ready to load up the boat, but I stopped everyone as they passed.

"Group shot with Bébhinn!" I said, and they complied, glad to think of something else for a few minutes.

They hugged Bébhinn good-bye, and all of us were very sad.

"Have we been good craic?" Brian asked her, using the Irish word for "fun" or "good times." Bébhinn just laughed out loud.

"The best!" she told him. "You're mad craic! I'll miss the Craic Pack!"

And that was how we got our name--the Craic Pack. It was so appropriate and fitting!

Everybody hugged Bébhinn, and then ran off to the boat. We waved and watched them pulling away into the harbor.

"They're all gonna die," I told Jan, still smiling and waving.

"I know," she answered back.

It was much quieter after the group left. Bébhinn had all sorts of ideas for Jan and I, who were both perfectly content to have a low-key day. Bébhinn said she could take us hiking in the nearby hills, or for a coastal walk. I counter offered with a trip to the local chocolate factory, and Jan seconded that suggestion.

The factory was a good 20 minutes away. But the drive was beautiful, up the hill, overlooking the green, quilt work-patterned peninsula. Bébhinn stopped first on one side, where we could see the harbor connecting the two strips of land, and all the lush green fields throughout.

Then she pulled to the ocean side, where we watched a surfer and and his dog playing with a giant stick. It reminded me again how lucky animals are to live in Ireland--no leashes, no collars, just a giant stretch of beach and water to run all along. That was the happiest dog I've ever seen!

We also had a great view of the Skellig Islands. They seemed so close. We wondered how our group was faring, and sent them positive thoughts.

 

Bébhinn pulled the Land Rover into the chocolate factory, and I clapped with delight. This was a good day already, and an even better day when I saw the adorable calves grazing out front!

 

The factory was empty inside, so the girl working there was excited to see us. 

"Step up for a tasting!" she said, so we happily did.

 

She was so excited to help us. She explained the history of the factory, showing us photos of when it burned down, and how the new building was open so that we could see the people making the chocolates right in front of us. 

She showed us the two-step process of making the chocolates, holding up a filled mold. 

"You really enjoy your job," Jan said, and she blushed a bit, but heartily agreed.

"I love it! It's the best job in the whole world!" she exclaimed. "That's why they put me up front here. I'd eat all the candy if I worked back there!" She was adorable!

Then, she brought out a mat, and placed a handful of chocolates onto it. She described each kind, cutting it into small pieces to taste. 

"This one's my favorite," she said, clapping her hands. "Strawberries and Champagne!" 

And indeed, it was fantastic. You could really taste the strawberry jam inside, and the hint of Champagne.

We tasted some other flavors that were also unusual (lime and pepper dark chocolate, key-lime chocolates, and even a whisky-filled chocolate) but equally delicious. It was an awesome morning!

We filled up on samples, and made some purchases. (Fine. Many purchases. A LOT OF PURCHASES. Happy?) Then Jan and I found this hilarious cut-out (chocolate-covered babies!), and Bébhinn took our picture.

Bébhinn tried again to take us hiking, but once again, we declined. Jan and I were digging our restful day! 

We agreed instead on a trip to the Skellig Michael interpretive center. Just because we didn't go out to the islands didn't mean we couldn't learn about them! (Plus, there wasn't anything else to do in town!)

Bébhinn drove us over and walked us right inside the center. I was super sad, because this was officially our good-bye. I was going to miss Bébhinn, her sense of humor, and her great stories about Ireland and the Irish people. It really felt like we'd been touring Ireland with a friend, not just a guide, and I was sad to see our friend go. (She had to because Irish driving laws say guides can only drive 6 days in a row.)

So we bid Bébhinn farewell, and promised to email her once the Craic Pack safely returned.

"I'm kinda worried about them now," she said, and we nodded in agreement. 

The interpretive center was small, and we finished the whole thing in about 30 minutes. They also had a movie, so we followed a big group of German tourists into the theatre to watch.

The funniest part was that 10 minutes into the film, one tourist pulled out his camera and snapped a photo of the movie! He even used a flash! I started to giggle, and then another tourist did the same thing! As we watched the whole film, three or four tourists took photos of the show. I could barely focus on the movie after that.

When we were done, Jan and I walked back to town. It wasn't far, maybe a mile over a straight, flat bridge. But once we walked over the water, the wind flared up, hard, pounding us with freezing air. We couldn't talk or hear each other, so we just flipped up our jacket collars, covered our faces, and walked single file to the other side. Where, amazingly, the minute we were over land again, the wind immediately stopped. That Irish wind is crazy!

By the time we reached the other side of the bridge, we were chilled to the bone. We had about 90 minutes until the boat returned, so Jan suggested lunch and I was down with that.

We picked an adorable little cafe on the water's edge. (Not a difficult decision--the only other restaurant in town was the pub attached to our hotel.) It was warm inside, and we found a table next to the window with a great view of the bay.

We ordered coffee and hot chocolate, and enjoyed our handmade sandwiches. As we ate, a heavy, sideways rain began to fall outside, and we watched it through our picture window.

"We definitely made the right decision today," I said, shivering, and Jan wholeheartedly agreed. 

We lingered as long as we could in the cafe, but soon enough, it grew really crowded (there were only 5 or 6 tables inside). We decided to wander around town a bit until our fellow travelers returned.

But as we walked by the dock, we saw them pulling in 30 minutes early. We waved wildly at them, and they waved back.

I watched Margie get off the boat first. She saw us, and raised her fist triumphantly in the air.

"Margie conquered the stairs!" I said, and Jan nodded. We could tell she was super proud of herself, and we were proud, too!

Mary and Ashley disembarked, and then Amber. Even from the dock, I could see Amber gingerly lift her leg over the boat, and onto the stairs.

"Oh no, Amber hurt herself!" I said. We watched her walk slowly up the dock to us.

I wanted to assemble the group together to take a photo for Bébhinn, but they all ran right past me and into the warm pub across the street. I felt Bébhinn's pain all week, trying to herd this group of runaways together.

Amber gave me the lowdown on the trip.

"How was it?" I asked, hoping to hear "GREAT!!"

"You would've hated EVERY MINUTE of it!" she said, and once again, I thanked my lucky stars, and my gut instinct for staying behind.

Apparently, the boat ride over was pretty hairy. It immediately started raining as the boat left the harbor--as you can see in this pic with the captain, George, and Brian.

Just then, a nice young man walked past us, and Amber nodded hello.

"I sat next to him on the boat," she whispered, then mimed him upchucking. "I'm pretty sure he had Irish stew for dinner last night."

Which made me gag a bit, myself!

Amber said the swells were HUGE and the Craic Pack got drenched. George felt fine, and talked the whole way out, but the rest of the pack was deathly silent (I didn't think that was possible!). Amber said the ride was very rough, and she was glad I wasn't aboard (I don't do well on boats).  She said that she held on to the tiny boat for dear life, because they rolled over every swell, and then fell, and got pounded with water on the way down. She said at one point Mary was near the edge of the boat, about to get sick, and Amber was convinced she'd have to grab the strap on the back of Mary's jacket to keep her from going overboard.

But they all came back alive, even Ashley (Mary was soooo glad she didn't kill her with the seasick pills.) Linda did not drown, but King Brian also threw up. We decreed him an honorary member of the Irish Hurling team, since he hurled right into the Wild Atlantic Way.

The group did alright climbing up the stairs, but it rained once they got to the top, because it's Ireland and that's what happens when we go hiking. Poor Amber slipped on the wet stairs and hurt her knee, so Mary helped escort her down. Amber is a tough New England girl, so she applied some of Mary's magic cream on her knee (we passed it around to everyone at some point!), and kept on. (She tried to play down the pain, but turns out she sprained ligaments in two places--ouch!) 

Amber took lots of great shots of Skellig Michael...this was the stairway to the top of the mountain!

Nate the Great escorted a little old lady who was having trouble up the stairs, because he is such a nice guy. He also stood by the captain on the ride out, who informed him they almost cancelled the trip this morning due to the weather.

 

I see those stairs and all I can think is, "That's where I would've tripped and died." Skellig Michael is not for klutzy, unbalanced people like me!

Puffin!!! This is my one regret...I really wanted to see the puffin colony on the island.

Have I mentioned how proud I was of the Craic Pack?? Look at this path!

Like I said, the whole group ran past me after disembarking, and I found out later it was because they were wet and freezing. They rushed into the warm pub and immediately ordered hot soup all around. 

We figured our new driver, Darren, would arrive around 1:30 or 2, but by 3, there was still no sign of him. I felt really bad for the group, who was exhausted from the boat ride and stairs, and because they were still wet. Their dry clothes were packed away in the luggage trailer. Eventually, they just went up to the hotel lounge and crashed out on the floor.

Darren finally showed up around 3:30. He shook all our hands, and said we'd have introductions later, then said we were ready to go. He didn't offer up dry clothes for the group, just led us out into the rain, where we walked long enough to get completely soaked all over again. The group was not happy about it.

"Bébhinn would have brought the bus to us," Brian grumbled, and he was right!

Darren also had a different driving style than Bébhinn--he zoomed down the wet, windy country roads at a breakneck speed, oblivious to the pelting rain or rocking Land Rover. I feared I might actually get motion sick over the next few days, and a couple times, Amber and I exchanged frightened looks when he took the corners too sharply. But Brian saved the day again.

"Hey Darren, we're not in a hurry," he said. "We'd rather get there alive, so if you could just slow down..."

"Right!" Darren said, immediately laying off the gas. 

Amber and I, in the front row, enjoyed the sights, including a rainbow out the front window. But the rest of the group was very quiet--we couldn't figure out why, until I snapped a group selfie. They were all fast asleep!

Darren stopped about 45 minutes later to show us a ring fort. He tried to explain what a ring fort is, but the microphone stopped working, and as he was fiddling with it, it started raining outside. 

"I'm not going," Margie immediately said, and Mary agreed with her. They were done with the rain.

Amber and I hopped out, zipped up, and trudged through across a wet field and a flowing river overtaking it banks.

We walked into the middle of the ring fort, where Darren was telling us more about it.

I turned to look at all the walls, but when I turned back around, Amber was gone. 

I saw her huddled with Nate under the doorway.

"You okay?" I asked, and she just shook her head. 

"I'm done," she said in the most un-Amber way ever. (Amber is always excited and positive, but this rain was the last straw for her.) She turned and walked away, Nate right behind her. They were moving so fast, I could barely keep up with them!

We re-grouped in the Land Rover, where Darren tried to work the microphone again. It never really picked up, so eventually we just passed out snacks, buckled up, and headed off to our final destination for the night.

It was a 90 minute ride to our final stop, Glengarrif, but it was a lovely little town when we got there! We didn't have much time before dinner, but Mary, Ashley, Amber and I managed to check into our rooms and sneak in a little shopping before eating.

Dinner was lovely, but quiet. Everyone was just thankful to be warm and in dry clothes, so we ate quietly.

Darren went off to fix the microphone after dinner, so I busted out the box of chocolates Bébhinn bought the group as a farewell gift. They were really touched, and we raised our glasses to toast her.

I was full and happy when dinner was over, but not quite ready to call it a night. We hadn't even seen the town outside, other than the gift shop next to the hotel, so Amber, Linda, Brian and I decided to go for a little stroll. 

Little being the operative word here...we walked about two blocks down the street, and suddenly, we reached the end. Of the town! There simply was no more! I'm not kidding when I say we stayed in tiny little towns!

So we changed our plan, and walked back to the nearest pub instead. It was actually two pubs--one entryway, but two different doors splitting off into two different pubs. We walked into the door on the right. 

We chose wrongly, and ended up at someone's private wedding reception! We thought about leaving, but before we could, the barmaid took our order. There was a guy playing live music, and no one seemed to mind, so we figured we'd stay for a few songs and a drink before going.

We carried our beers over to an empty table. People were moving all over the pub, going in and out the front and back doors. But I was most surprised to see this guy, who made several rounds through the pub.

That's right, they let dogs in the pubs! 

They also let babies in, too! This little guy looked like a baby leprechaun, and he was totally busting a move on top of the pool table!

It was all kinda crazy, and yet, not. Welcome to Ireland, where everyone's allowed in the pubs, even dogs and babies!

And with that, we were out. It'd been a long day (longer for the Skellig Michael crew!) and we were tired. So back we went, to rest up for tomorrow, and whatever adventures that day would bring.