Our second day on the Great Southern Tour with Vagabond/Driftwood Tours was, as Denise put it, a "whiskey-drinking day". Rainy & cold, just as you would expect Ireland weather to be. Did I mention we arrived in Dublin a couple of days after a major weather event? We'd get our whiskey drinking on later in the day.
We left Kinsale and took a short drive to Old Head, the site of the Lusitania sinking. We hopped out into the wind and rain for a quick photo op. This was the first real view of some dramatic coastline.
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| My hood immediately blew down! |
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| Back on the van to get warm. That's our bonus Vagaguide in the very back. |
The Ringfinnan Garden of Remembrance is one of those "off the beaten path" places we visited. A Kinsale native worked in a hospital in NYC on 9-11. Each tree is in memory of 343 firefighters, as well a chaplain. The first tree planting was in 2001; the garden was dedicated in 2002.
We drove to Cobh (pronounced "cove"). I've seen pictures of how colorful the town is, but, unfortunately, I guess I didn't understand our option to go into town or the Cultural Center. I would have preferred to have gone into town but we ended up at the center. It was interesting, but there wasn't a lot of new information. We were given a ticket with a person's name and were able to find out his/her fate, much like the Titanic Museums if you've ever visited there. The best part was an excellent lunch of chicken vegetable soup & brown bread. An added bonus was running into the lady who sat next to me on the flight over. I didn't even take any pictures in Cobh.
Just before our whiskey drinking, we visited Kindred Spirits. This is an absolutely beautiful sculpture built in gratitude to the Choctaw Nation for their donation to the Irish people during the famine. The donation was sent only 16 years after the Trail of Tears and would have equaled thousands of dollars in today's money.
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| Kindred Spirits is made out of stainless steel; no 2 feathers are the same. The feathers are in the shape of a bowl to represent a bowl of food. |
The highlight of the day was a visit to Jameson Distillery. If you can get to Midleton, make sure you visit the distillery there instead of the visitor's center in Dublin. There is absolutely no comparison.
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| An Irish Coffee was first on the agenda while we waited for our tour. It did not disappoint! |
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| This is actually the doorway to the beginning of the tour. |
We were able to taste a variety of different whiskey products (Green Spot was my favorite) and received a complimentary drink at the end of the tour. I opted for
Powers Honey & Lemon since the other option was Jamie Ginger & Lime.
Our hotel for the night was right on the ocean. It was an older hotel but the room and bathroom were large. Ballycotton lighthouse was in the distance. We had a chance to see it up close the next morning.
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| View from the room |
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| A nice, large bathroom |
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| Sweet little sitting room/library |
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| Ballycotton Lighthouse has a black tower. There are tours to the island. |
The weather broke the following day, at least, for the most part. We had almost perfect weather for the activities that day. We visited more off-the-beaten-path sites as we left County Cork and entered County Waterford.
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| Gorgeous blooming trees on the way |
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| A large branch was in the road so Denise, Angela, and 1 of my sisters got out to move it. I got out, but only to take pictures! |
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| Success!!! |
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| 1 of the many sheep at Mahon Falls |
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| The road was "magic" in the Comeragh Mountains as the van appeared to move backward uphill on its own |
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| The view from the carpark at Mahon Falls |
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| This is what happens when you ask Denise to take a picture |
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| Mahon Falls |
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| Fairy Tree |
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| Tankardstown Copper Mine was a 19th century copper mine on the Copper Coast |
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| Benvoy Beach. At one time, nuns were ferried here to swim in seclusion. |
We ended the day in Waterford. 1 of my sisters & I took a walking tour of the city. More on that next time!
