We started the day with our first real Irish breakfast. (We had had breakfast the day before, yes, but not an "Irish breakfast.") The proprietor had asked the night before what time we wanted breakfast. I think we picked 8. He said something like, "Oh, Mary will cook for you." Mary, apparently, is his wife. When she bustled up with our breakfast at the appointed hour, James and I wondered where she had been last night. Mary made the best scones I have ever had. They were just traditional scones with raisins in them but they were so, so good. (Clinton's Woodview Farmhouse, in case you're in the area.) I had heard about the black and white pudding in a traditional Irish breakfast, and it sounded scary, but I tried it anyway, I mean, you only live once. It wasn't bad. James, predictably, would not eat it. Mary was entranced by James's iPad, which he showed off before we left.
We only had vague plans for the day, but we knew we were staying in Waterford that night, which was about a three-hour drive. There was an emigrant ship on the way that I had originally wanted to tour but it had gone into dry dock the week before, according to the website. So our other options were the Hook Head Lighthouse, which I wanted to do but was pretty far out of the way, or the Waterford Crystal Factory once we arrived in town. I'm not big on Waterford Crystal, but I figured it might be neat. Plus we had one of our BOGOs.
Before we got on the road, however, I wanted to see the beach. Or, more specifically, the Irish Sea. And it was pretty. Someone either at the pub or the B&B, or maybe right there at the harbor, had mentioned Skerries Mills, which are two windmills that sort of dominate the landscape. One was built in the 1500s and the other in the 1800s. And we had a BOGO! Also, they opened at 10, which meant they would be open now, so we headed over to check it out. The little complex had a cafe and a gift store, and we were the only people there to tour (some other people came a bit later to start setting up for a music performance that was being held in the cafe that afternoon) so the guy who was there taking money said he would take us around. But first he and James and the girl working there all went outside for a smoke, and we stood around and bitched about the costs of car ownership. I think James asked if anyone had trucks, because we hadn't seen any, although with the narrow roads, I don't know why you'd want one anyway. The guy said insurance prices were ridiculous. Or he said gas prices were ridiculous. (Which they were.) He said he never liked to travel but his wife and daughter (friend?) went to New York every so often to go shopping, because even once you paid airfare you got better deals.
It was a pretty day, but cold. We could only go up in one of the windmills because the other was closed for maintenance or something. I think we went up in the older one. We also got to go through the mill area and see the waterwheel. They were setting up for a Santa Village that they apparently host so there was foil and presents and snow everywhere. It was cute. After the tour, James got some more hot chocolate, and I was probably going to buy some souvenirs, but the guy who had led our tour asked us to sign the guestbook, so we headed back downstairs to do so and the lady in the store fixed him with a death glare for running off her potential customers. Which he did, as we didn't end up buying anything. The guy was very nice, though, and invited us to stay for the performance they were having, but we had to get on the road.
We drove forever, but the views were incredible. We kept hoping there would be a scenic overlook so we could stop and look around, but we only saw one, which we dutifully stopped at. I incorrectly chose to not tour the lighthouse because I was afraid that it would be closed by the time we got there (after our Newgrange experience) or that we would get lost on the way there or back, and I didn't want to have to be driving/navigating in the dark, which came early. So we went to Waterford Crystal instead, but it was in fact inexplicably closed. It was also unclear as to where we were supposed to go. We drove by it a couple of times, following the signs, but then the signs just stopped. Finally we figured that black building must be it but nothing was going on. There were some other confused looking tourists wandering around, but not many.
We went to eat dinner in the city center, which had a cute little shopping district. We picked O'Briens Sandwich Shop and when I found out they took cash only, I cried. I couldn't help it. I'm not a good traveller and I was upset that I had picked wrong on the lighthouse, and that the crystal factory was closed and that we were already running out of cash, and how can it be SO EXPENSIVE. Anyway, we ate and James was mad that I had cried so we had a very silent drive to the B&B which we found after only having to ask directions once. This B&B, in contrast to our farmhouse lodging of the night before, had a new modern wing was very hotel-like. They had hot tea and snacks when we arrived so things were looking up. I mentioned to Susan, the proprietor, that we were having some trouble navigating the country as we had opted out of the GPS and she responded that she was adamantly against GPS as they melt your brain. She had strong opinions. James didn't like her. I thought she seemed quite fun. I tried some milk in my tea and liked it.
We couldn't figure out anything else to do, not really wanting to venture too far away, and James was still mad at me, so he went to bed early and I took a nice relaxing bath and read my book.