Day 66

December 8, 2021:

The storm passed overnight. It was still pretty windy the next morning, but was manageable. I was again served the traditional Irish breakfast. I brought up the matter of payment. I had registered for the B&B on their online site, since I had wanted to pay with card, but it didn't actually accept payment there, though it had taken my card info. Mary said it was alright, and that her husband had worked with her in the morning to bill the card. She handed me the receipt for my stay. She had lowered the price of the first night to 50 Euro too, which was kind, so my total was 150 Euro for the three nights. That's so steep. But it was, as I have said before, an exceptionally nice B&B. As much as the price of staying there stung, I don't regret having done so. They say you get what you pay for, and in this case I really did. It was like an anti-Killarney. I'll be sure to give them a good review when I get the chance. I exchanged contact info with Mary before I left. I think I'll send her and Luke a postcard sometime. Maybe when I reach Istanbul.

I went back through Carrigaholt but doubled back to Cross to follow the coast road on the north side of the peninsula. I'm glad I did. It was still windy today, and it stirred the waves to hammer against the rocks far below. The spray from those waves flew up the cliffs and streamed over the top. I had to pass through several, and each were like a horizontal shower. But the water froze mid air, and I was struck with a little sea-hail, which is something I hadn't expected. It wasn't cold enough to freeze water, especially not salt water. Maybe it just whipped it so fast against my face that that's what it felt like. My left eye and brow were more exposed than the right, and that section of my face stung. I had to adjust my buff to specifically cover that part of my face. The hole in the index finger of my right glove also felt a bit cold. Buffetted by the wind for so long, progress was still slow.

Kilkee was a surprisingly nice town. I had expected it would basically just be a cluster of trailer homes on the shoreline, because that's what I'd seen in the distance when I had cycled to Carrigaholt the other day from Kilrush. There was a mobile home park there, but that wasn't all there was to the town. Instead, the town is a beachfront villa with established buildings around a small cove that sticks inland providing a somewhat protected harbor from the waves. The beach was nice, and the sand was fine, as opposed to the many rocky beaches I've seen elsewhere in Ireland.

From Kilkee, I continued north, towards Doonbeg. Doonbeg has the particular distinction of being home to a Trump International Hotel and Golf Course. There are signs for it all over the peninsula. I wondered how the locals felt about it. Probably good, because anything that draws tourism to the area is probably seen as a financial boon. The golf course sits on a large beachside estate that has a gigantic multi-section Irish-style house. I suppose that must be the hotel. Each section is basically a two-story Irish house, but they're all adjoined to form a castle-like compound. The beach itself in Doughmore Bay is a good one. Walking out to it reminded me of Pebble Beach in CA, though I remember Pebble Beach as being nicer.

At this point, the N67 turned more north, still roughly following the coast. I stopped at a pitifully small convenience store for food. I wanted a sandwich or something from the deli, but there wasn't anything pre-prepared. I was in a rush to reach Lahinch, and didn't suspect I'd make it by dark. As a result, I didn't want to wait for the clerk there to slice meat from the rounds in the deli counter as well as cheese and so forth. Instead, I just grabbed a bag of sour candy and made my way out. The candy was thin green slices of sour apple flavored gelatin-based stuff. I try not to think too much about what gelatin is and how it's made. But for some reason this candy can feel almost irresistable to me if I'm in the right mood. It just cost 1 euro, and I honestly should have gotten a second pack. I think the convenience store was in Quilty.

By the time I reached Spanish Point, I was on high-alert for B&Bs that I might be able to stay at closer than Lahinch. Spanish Point had a sign relating to the Spanish Armada, but I didn't stop to read it. It was going to be a windy, rainy evening, so I'd still prefer to be indoors. There was a red van I saw stopped at the side of the road by a B&B. I saw them call the number, then drive off. I guess that meant no luck. I kept watching the red van, seeing it get far ahead of me. Each time, it would pull back into the road and keep driving. I got a little anxious that they'd get the one B&B that was open before I could, and that I'd then be stuck without a room. I checked Google. A lot of B&Bs don't have their phone numbers online for some reason, so that's probably why the guys in the red van were driving to each one. But I have found that the B&Bs that list a price estimate in Google tend to be open. On such a hunch, I cycled to Milltown Malbay.

It's a small town with a single main street running through the middle. It is lined with restaurants and B&Bs. I suspected most B&Bs were closed, but there was one called the Townhouse that showed a price estimate of 55 Euro on Google maps. I called the number out front. I specifically didn't inquire about the price offer showed by Google. I simply asked for rates and availability, hoping they'd list a lower price. If they didn't, I could always show the online listing in a bid to get them to lower their prices. That worked in Clonakilty, if you recall. A guy named Johnnie picked up. He said he'd offer a private room for 40 Euro. No need to negotiate that price. I've learned that 40 is the minimum you can reasonably expect pretty much anywhere in Ireland.

I met Johnnie out front The Townhouse about ten minutes later. He parked a white van on the other side of the street, then walked across with a young girl in his arms. He unlocked the front and bid me in. He said the offer only applied for cash, and that if I paid with card, he might charge something more like 55 or 60 Euro. Fine, whatever. I don't want to give away all my cash, since I have a very limited supply of them with me. Thankfully, I've been able to pay with debit card most everywhere with minimal charge through Chase, so it was alright. I wondered if it had to do with the card fees on his end, or if it was for tax reasons.

I parked my bike in the hallway. Johnnie said I was the only one staying there tonight, so just leaving it there was fine. He said there were more facilities in the back, and could use the kitchen to cook if I wanted, provided I cleaned up after myself. The room itself was clean and larger than I had expected. Johnnie turned on the heat, and I was glad for it.

He recommended a few restaurants in town. My original plan was just to drop by the small grocery store and prepare some cold food, but I changed my mind when I saw the specials at The Bakehouse, which was just two doors down. I forget what it was that originally lured me in though. There were more specials I hadn't seen, and I instead ended up ordering a beef stew made with pepper cream sauce and served with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. The food was good, but the star of the show was the beef. It made the meal. The 'seasonal' vegetables in Ireland always refer to the mashed potatoes (which I suspect never go out of season), and chopped cabbage. The cabbage is always terrible. This dish also had some sort of hot carrot paste with it, which was alright. I basically just drizzled everything with leftover pepper cream sauce, and that helped a lot. The sauce was fantastic. I gave my compliments to the chef for the beef, which was legitimately so so good. I spoke a little with the hostess, a Bosnian woman named Larissa. She wants me to someday send them a postcard later on in my trip. I think I may just do that.

After dinner, I went back to my room and cuddled in the covers as I listened to my audio book.