Well, I'm back for Part 3 of my Trip Report.  I've also added my picture just to join in on the fun a bit more!

I left off on Friday afternoon having just left Muckross House and our Jaunting Car ride.  It rained on us on and off, but we still managed to get wonderful pictures.  The rain never seemed to come down hard, until our last 10 minute stretch of the ride... then it was yuck.

After we left Muckross, our destination was Kenmare.  We travelled through Killarney National Park and Molls Gap.  This is truly AWESOME scenery.  Looking down on the lakes below, it hardly seems real.

During my trip planning time on this site, I could never decide on if I wanted to stay in Killarney or Kenmare, so I left these nights open and did not pre-book rooms.  Once there, we decided to stay in both towns.  I'm so glad we did!  I had read about a wonderful place online a couple of months ago called Sheen Falls Lodge.  I said to myself, "If my husband decides he wants to spurge, this is the place!"  And so we did!  Wow, this is a first class hotel that even our President has stayed at.  Maybe it's easy to protect since it's in a quiet area right on the water.  Who knows, but I was loving it.  We had called ahead to check availability from Killarney and decided to stay in Kenmare for 2 nights to enjoy Sheen Falls.  Upon arrival, we wear warmly greeted and shown the facilities.  The Spa and indoor pool and hot tub are excellent.  Our room was huge and overlooked the Sheen Falls. We had no sooner than settled into our room for 5 minutes when Kevin found a spotted seal playing in the Falls right outside our window.  We grabbed the camera and ran down.  Of course he basically played hide and seek with us for the next 2 days, but we did manage to get one shot of his head bobbing up to check us out.  I loved that I could just sit in my room and watch him play in the Falls.  No one else realized he was there, which made it even more personal.  I named him Oscar, because one of their excellent restaurants is named that.  Ok, enough seal talk, moving on.

Sheen Falls epitomizes perfect Hospitality and Customer Service.  We had room service for breakfast and dinner one night.  The food could not have arrived any faster and hotter than if they had prepared it right outside of our room.  At one point we borrow a movie and had a problem with the DVD player.  A gentleman was there in 2 minutes with a new movie in hand and ready to help in any way.  We couldn't believe it, really.  Also, the food in general, every where we went in Ireland was excellent and so hot you couldn't put it in your mouth right away.  Fresh and delicious like the farm was in the backyard.  We've never experienced anything like that.

On Saturday we actually were running out of steam.  We were supposed to use this day for the Ring of Kerry but opted to hang around town instead.  We'll have to save that for our next trip.  Kevin played a round at The Ring of Kerry Golf Course with 2 Irish men and 1 Australian.  They had a great time together.  I on the other hand, I decided to take full advantage of the Spa with a facial.  I can say it was an hour well spent.  If you're hoping to book some appointments, do it ahead of time.  They were booked solid except for the last spot I grabbed the day before.  I know the hotel was not nearly booked, so they must have a lot of out Spa goers from outside the hotel.

Later that day we shopped and enjoyed lunch in town.  I had afternoon tea at the Lodge and then we stayed in that evening with a movie and room service.  The night before we had eaten dinner at Oscars and the food was excellent.

Ok, now my typing is running out of steam.  Chug chug stutter...

Now our last day in Ireland, Sunday.  We drove up from Kenmare to Bunratty just outside of Shannon.  I believe that was about a 4 hour ride.  No truly great scenery here, but a peaceful ride anyway.  When we arrived in Bunratty, it was too early to check in, so we toured Bunratty Castle.  I'm glad we did, because this was the only castle we had actually stepped foot in the entire trip.  I'm glad we did and it was worth it.  The Folk Park was interesting as well.  We had lunch in the little pub inside the Park.  My daughter had only asked for 2 things from Ireland (she is only 3)... Mommy, bring me an Ireland dress and a flute.  Ok, I thought, how hard can that be?  The flute was a piece of cake, but there was not a single dress to be found in any town we went to.  I thought for sure that they would make "mock" step dancing dresses for little girls, but I was wrong.  Thankfully, Bunratty had a linen and lace shop that had a beautiful hand made dress that I brought her and I can say it was made in Ireland.  Not quite what she expected, but something that can be passed down to future generations.

A quick add in here.  While we were there, we watched 2 great movies that we saw completely out of coincidence.  "Gangs of New York" and "Braveheart".  I had never seen either, but these are 2 wonderful movies.  Braveheart is a Scottish tale, but filmed in Ireland.

We stayed that night in Bunratty Meadows.  A newly built guesthouse run by a lovely wife and husband.  We were hardly there at all, but I do recommend them.  The bed and shower were great.

That last night we had dinner at Durty Nellies.  If you're in Bunrattly, this is the place to go.  We had one last flawless dinner and then closed the place down singing with a group of people and the pianist and guitarist.  THAT WAS A PERFECT WAY TO CLOSE OUT THE TRIP.  Of course that was the first hang over that I had to wake up to during the trip.  Yikes.

Our next morning we rolled out of bed at 6am and were were flying out of that beautiful country at 9am.  Oh how we will miss it and are so happy to say that we have had the great fortune of being able to visit there.  I had been wanting to go to Ireland since we booked a trip there 10 years ago and then had to cancel.  This was the first time since then we have been in a position to go and we are so thankful we did.

It will forever be in our hearts!