Today was a long and adventurous day. It was up and at’em at the crack of dawn, a filling Irish breakfast and goodbye to our Killarney host for the trip. We were off to the Dingle Peninsula and….well…we weren’t too sure where else…honestly. We wanted to see Dingle, Bunratty and the Cliffs of Moher, but we weren’t too sure how far we would get or how we would get there…so we did what we always do in that case…just started driving.

We started out on the Dingle Peninsula (the slighted step-sister of the Ring of Kerry – and it shouldn’t be, because it’s just as beautiful). From locals, we heard Inch Beach was a sight to see and it was. Crashing waves on miles of beaches with rising mountains from the depths of the far Atlantic.

The Dingle Peninsula drive, also knows as Slea Head Drive includes the Blasket Islands and the Westerly most tip of Ireland. We were not disappointed. Barring an Iphone lost by Cierra (which we found 8 hours later at dinner), it was a great day! We walked on the beach, went up and down, down and up, in and around and finally made our way through Dingle, around the peninsula, back to Dingle, then on to Tarbert.

At Tarbert we crossed the River Shannon by Ferry and then headed into Ennis and finally on to the doorsteps of Bunratty. Tomorrow morning we will take in the castle, meet the local folks at the traditional Irish village (sure to be a lot of photo opps), finally on to the Cliffs of Moher and then a final stop at Dromoland Castle before heading on back to Dublin and then home for Tom and Kari’s wedding!

Cierra made friends with the receptionist/bartender at the Bunratty Castle Manor (our home for the night) and secured us a cheap rate (on a normally $500+ a night stay) at Dromoland. This will be the grand finale, in that Dromoland looks like something out of a Victorian or even Knights of the Round Table Era. The kids…now obsessed with Castles (or Cash’els as Mylan says) because of the trip are going to go crazy with excitement knowing that we are actually going to be staying with Kings and Queens in a Castle tomorrow evening.

Until then…..and hopefully with a lot more great pics…the Weatherly’s!!!