August 08

Our most recent guests were friends from the "old days" in Oklahoma. Janet Nichols Stuart is from Vinita. She is the niece of Frances (Nicki) Butler, my godmother, one of mother's best friends, and the "Frances" in my name! Janet and I knew each other as children, spent some summers together at Sequoyah Club in Muskogee, and knew each other at OSU where she was Tri Delt president. Her friend Mary Goodpaster McCarty grew up with her in Vinita and was a PiPhi at OSU; she and I both lived in Stout Hall as freshman, but hadn't met in 40 years! So, the visit was a wonderful reunion as well as an opportunity for more great touring our favorite places. They were only here 5 days, so we had to carefully select our tourism sites. I am including here pictures of some highlights. The day they arrived I met them at the bus station in Killarney and took them to tea at Deenagh Lodge, the tearoom in the National Park run by the Down Syndrome Association. The picture of Janet and me is in front of the lodge and its beautiful hydrangeas. That evening we picked Dana up from work - here you see us enjoying Peachy Chicken Salad in our kitchen - a delicious and appropriate welcoming dinner, as they were both called "Peachie" as children!








The next day we drove to Kenmare. I have included here 2 pictures I took that day - this is one of my favorite corners. It is the Quill's store, which has lots of good wool and many good tourist items. I really like the colored walls - these pictures show the walls going each way at the corner and the road signs - for some reason I alway like this view. After a pub lunch in Kenmare, we drove back on the Ring of Kerry (not our usual route to and from Kenmare), so had a quick look at Sneem.

This picture of Mary is at a really colorful house in Kilgarvan, on the road to Kenmare. The picture at the top of this posting is of the 3 of us at Ladies View.







The next day we went to Dingle - I drove them on the Slea Head Drive, my first time to drive this without Dana! We had pretty decent weather (at least for this summer) and enjoyed all of the beautiful views. A new stop - a cute stone cottage near Ventry - here I am pouring tea for Mary! They didn't do the dolphin boat tour, but couldn't resist the great photo op on the statue of Fungi, the dolphin!









This is a church on the Slea Head Drive: Official description - The ancient monastery of Kilmalkedar, founded in the seventh century by St Maolcathair, is one of the foremost Early Christian sites of the Dingle Peninsula. The existing church is a twelfth-century building consisting of a nave to which a chancel was added at a later date, as was the usual practice. Many of the features which typify Irish Romanesque architecture are present. The bold antae with animal-head decoration are well preserved, as is the round-headed doorway with blank tympanum. The high pitched gables (one with finial) survive intact, but of the original barrel-vaulted roof only the merest fragments remain. In the nave is a good example of blind colonnading, recalling Cormac's Chapel at Cashel, with which it is often compared. late-Romanesque geometric motifs adorn the columns of the chancel arch.

A little happening for which I do not have pictures: Mary and Janet did a little shopping in Dingle while I awaited a table at Murphy's Pub. I sat at the bar, next to a man I have seen many times. Some of you who have been there with us may even remember my pointing him out and saying I see him every time we go in! Well, his name is Ned Sullivan and he was a treat. He insisted on buying me a beer (I wasn't driving for several hours so I gave in!) and filled me with lots of lore and craic for 1/2 hour. What fun!! He has brothers and sisters who emigrated to the US, but he's "not an emigratin' man"!


They toured Killarney on their own on Saturday. We picked Dana up from work and drove to Meenagahan (an inlet between Tralee and Ballybunion) to pick up 3 lobsters that Paul Pierse and gotten for us! We had a nice cup of tea with Paul and much of the extended family at brother Ribhard and Brenda's gorgeous house on the bay there. The picture is of their son Oran, with "rocket" (a kind of lettuce which is very common here) which he had grown. Then you see Dana cooking and me chopping the lobsters - they were an amazing treat - so fresh!


On Sunday, Dana drove us on our usual (and much loved) tour of Glenbeigh, Cahersiveen, and Valentia Island. Above is a picture of Janet and Mary on the road down to the little secluded beach on Valentia. They are surrounded by Mont Bretia, the orange flower (a color dear to OSU fans!) which grows everywhere in great abundance. We have learned that it is called the "back to school" flower because it is at its best as the school year begins! Below is a picture of the 3 of us at Ballycarbery Castle in Cahersiveen. If you look closely we are spelling out OSU! We also went to the round fort, but had some rain so didn't get good pictures. And you also see Dana, MFE, and Mary in front of our regular R&R stop in Knightstown. A treat that day is that I finally got to meet the owner of this coffee shop and the attached used book store, which I frequent! She is an OT from California, lives in Ireland May-October.

Monday I had therapy in Listowel, so I dropped them in Listowel Town Centre. They took a tour of the castle, which I have not done yet, and enjoyed it. They had a pub lunch, then I picked them up and we drove to Ballybunion. Unfortunately by then it was raining, so we gazed at the cliffs from the car, then had a snack at a pub. We had a great conversation with a lady visiting there from Beaufort (near Killarney) who heard our American accents and came over to apologize for the weather!

And, on Tuesday they rode the bus to Shannon and flew back to the warmer climes of the US!

(Almost all of the pictures in this posting are by Janet, Mary or MFE - only the ones in Cahersiveen are by the usual photographer!)