September 3 – Ring of Kerry – Kenmare to Dingle

Ring of Kerry

It must be an Irish standard to order breakfast from a menu. We did this at The Hawthorn House, too. I had scrambled eggs with smoked salmon while Ann had porridge and toast. Good French pressed coffee, too.

We got up early so we could finish eating by 8:30 and to get on the Ring of Kerry in time to miss all of the tourist buses. The strategy is to drive clockwise as the buses drive counter clockwise. They have the right-of-way so you want to get to the portion of the Ring where they are prohibited before you meet on the narrow road. Once you are finished with the prohibited section, the buses have all passed you and you have the road to yourself. This worked perfectly for us.

We made several stops to visit sites, to take photos and to eat. Our first stop was at Staigue Ring Fort. The fort was built around 300 to 400 AD as protection for the local lord or king. It is composed of flat stones with no mortar. The lord had his manor and other building within the fort walls.

We carried on from there and climbed the Coomakesta Pass and stopped to photograph some fantastic views. This is one of the major highlights of the drive.

Our next stop was in Waterville where Charlie Chaplin lived for awhile. Instead of focusing on him, we went to the Butler Arms Hotel for coffee, tea and scones.

We soon turned off of the big bus route to the Skellig Ring. We found out why buses are prohibited on the road because the road is very narrow in places and there are some very sharp turns with steep grades. We were treated with more very scenic vistas. In the middle of this Ring, we stopped in Portmagee for lunch. We went the inexpensive route and had forgettable fish and chips and vegetable soup.

The rest of our drive was focused on getting to Dingle.

We arrived at The Alpine Guesthouse around 3:00. Our room is on the top floor with a view of the harbor and part of the town. We took a short rest and then set out for a walking tour of the town using Rick Steves guidebook. We saw all of the highlights including several pubs which are stores during the day and pubs at night. There are several fine dining restaurants including at least one that has a Michelin rating.  We ended up in Fenton's Restaurant. I had the fish of the day which was large portions of cod and haddock with a sauce of sun dried tomatoes. Ann had stuffed chicken breasts. For dessert, I had warm brandied blackberries over vanilla ice cream while Ann had rhubarb strawberry crumble. We we happy.

Tomorrow, we might stay up later and listen to some traditional Irish music. But for now, we are turning in for the night.