The second weekend of September we were all slated to go to the Beara Peninsula, West Cork, for David to ride in the Ring of Beara ride for his second year. Plans being what they are, they were foiled. David ended up being sick so Sally, Riley, and I headed off on our own (it was nonrefundable!) to allow him to recoup without getting us sick. We were sad to leave David behind and even sadder that he wasn’t able to do his ride.
It’s a long drive down to Bantry, and the last almost hour was a one-lane windy road comprised primarily of blind curves up over the mountain. However, it was completely worth the white knuckles because we arrived at dusk at the airbnb and it was stunning. A lovely older, refinished farm house among the cattle with a view across the mountains and down to the bay. With cattle lowing, we picked blackberries and did cartwheels as we unpacked under the fading light of the spectacular sunset. Even Riley was delighted to have a friendly dog from next door greet her and hang out with her during our stay.
We really lucked out with the weather - it was warm and clear all weekend (it made up for June and July during which it rained apocryphally). Saturday morning we headed into Glengarriff to catch the ferry to Garnish Island. It was a short ferry ride (15 minutes, even with a stop to see the seals) out to the small island through glassy calm waters. These days the island is primarily a large garden appropriately renowned by horticulturists. We explored the “jungle” (really! - apparently the Gulf Stream makes a big difference here), Italian garden, Grecian temple, and Martello tower (first time we’ve been in one of these old fortified watch towers from the 19th century). They were just gorgeous. We finished up with a delicious slice of cake at the island cafe before ferrying back to the mainland. While Glengarriff is apparently adorable, we quickly got out of dodge because the first racers were coming back and the town was about to be nuts.
We grabbed a picnic from Centra (so fancy) and spent the afternoon at Shanvalleybeg Beach, where we went last year as well. This year it was so warm that we actually swam and played all afternoon. A completely delightful time was had by all and again Riley made friends with some other dogs and kids who delightedly threw the ball for her as tirelessly as she retrieved it.
Finally we picked up some pizza in Bantry and headed back to enjoy another gorgeous sunset at the house. Joined by our neighbor dog, we had a picnic dinner on the lush grass to make the most of the weather. The night stayed clear so before bed Sally and I gathered blankets and snuggled on the deck to appreciate the stars (living in a city with a lot of fog/clouds that’s a rarity!), and we even both saw the same shooting star.
On Sunday we enjoyed a leisurely morning then drove to Inchydoney Beach (a “blue flag” beach with lots of surfers) to get some final vitamin D. Sally charmed a toddler who spoke no English (actually she did the same at Garnish Island!) and he adorably followed her about trying to do cartwheels with his chubby legs, diaper, and poor balance. We stopped at an apple farm near Cahir to stretch our legs and buy strawberries (and a couple apples) before arriving back home, where David had recovered. We missed him terribly but had a memorable and beautiful girls’ weekend.
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