Mer officially handed off “being in charge” to me this morning. So, for better or worse, I have to make the decisions for the last week of our vacation. I got off to a rocky start.

We slept in as long as we could at the hostel this morning, and then grabbed breakfast in town (Kenmare) at a very cute cafe off of a side street. That was a good decision. Plus one for Our Hero.

After we checked out of the hotel, we got in the car and headed back to the Killarney National Park one more time. It was on our way (north), and I really wanted to see the last major sight we had missed – the Muckross Abbey, near the Muckross House. Before we got to the house, we did a quick stop at the Ladies Overlook again, to look at the view one more time, but also to get a good picture of both of us in front of that magnificent country.

We parked at the Muckross House parking lot and walked to the Abbey, which took about ten minutes. It was well worth a stop. The Abbey was forcefully abandoned under Cromwell in the late 1600s, so it is in ruins now, but the walls are still standing. The Abbey does not look too impressive as you approach it, but it turns out the complex is quite large. The Abbey was built around a courtyard which contains an ancient yew tree. The building was two stories in most places, and there was a four-story bell tower, which was unfortunately closed. The Abbey was full of low doorways and mysterious-looking stairs, and I had a ball exploring it. Plus two for Our Hero.

Then came the Long Drive. I wanted to get to Donegal before evening, and that is about a six-hour drive. But I wanted to stop in Lisdoonvarna to eat at a pub highly recommended by my brother and a friend of his. That would make the drive closer to seven hours, plus the time it would take to eat. Still, that was possible.

We got to Lisdoonvarna around 3:00, and found the pub/restaurant Shannon had mentioned. The door was locked, so we looked for another way in. While we were doing that, another man came up and someone opened the door for him, so we went back, only to find that the bar only does dinner. So we had gone an hour out of our way and could not eat there. Minus one for Our Hero. Happily, it gave us an excuse to drive along the border of the Burren, a desolate limestone area that is stark but beautiful.

Fast-forward several hours. After a long drive north, along which we saw some pretty mountains north of Sligo (including the poet Yeats’ favorite mountain, the distinctive Ben Bulben), we arrived in Donegal. It was about 7:00, and Donegal was much bigger than I had remembered (not huge – just bigger than I’d remembered). I beat a hasty retreat out of the town center and went back to a B and B for which I had seen a sign, and it turned out to have a room. It also had the bonus of being on the bay, which was quite lovely.

We walked into town to get supper, and picked a great-seeming restaurant. The food was good, but it took about forty minutes for me to get a burger and Mer to get a cup of soup. That was frustrating, and I’m not sure what took so long.

We got back to the B and B and jumped in the car to drive another forty minutes west, to the small town of Kilcar, to go to a pub to hear a musician we met the last time we were in Ireland, fourteen years ago. We found the pub around 10:15 (the singer was supposed to go on at 10:00), but we were surprised to find the pub empty except for the barkeeper. The owner of the pub, a very friendly man, came in after a few minutes to explain that the singer could not make it. Minus one for Our Hero again. We did get to chat about the Donegal area with the owner for about twenty minutes. It was a long drive back, and we did not get back to the B and B until about 11:15.

Happy note there – there was still just enough daylight to make out the bay, so we sat and watched it for a minute or two, until Mer declared it was cold, so we headed in. Overall, not the greatest day of touring, but not terrible – I count myself coming in at a score of zero for the day. But we are in Donegal, which was the goal, so I hope to have more successful days coming in the next few.