The Redemption of Mary, Gay Bars, and Kinsale

Sunday, February 11, 2007

We woke up about 6:15 a.m. after a good night's sleep. Didn't freeze to death. In fact we were quite toasty . These blankets in Ireland are fantastic! We shower, and after a cup of the best coffee in Ireland (really!), Mary's husband, Sonny, drives Melissa, Megan and I to church. (The rest of our crew consists of unrepentant sinners :-) ). Mary warns us that they hit you up for two Euro a head on the way in, so I am prepared. 3/4ths of seats are unoccupied, yet there are numerous people standing in the back. I wonder if the $2 Euro is some sort of seating tax. It is a sunny, glorious morning, and mass takes only 27 minutes. The scenery outside the church is beautiful, even the graveyard (different than the one in Kilbehenny) adjacent to the church. We attempt to take to a picture from the steps of the church, with the Galty Mountains in the background but I think the camera batteries were worn out. No matter. I have the image in my head for the rest of my life.

Sonny, takes us around town and shows us some of the beautiful Church of England churches and possessions. He then drives us back to the B&B where we have more of that great coffee and a very good traditional Irish breakfast.

We drive to Cork City to allow Wendy and the girls to go shopping. Unfortunately, nothing is open until noon, including the bars in the area. Wendy and Megan go shopping at noon, and the rest of us go to some place called Les Chateau which is the only place open that serves alcohol . The place is quiet except for a few guys having drinks. You have to get a code to go to unlock the bathroom, which I find a bit unusual but the bartender is cool about getting our drinks and taking our food orders. On my way to the bathroom, this guy at a table of three two table over from ours gives me the evil eye which I think is a bit weird since I didn't think our table was even being our loud obnoxious, usual selves. On the way back from the bathroom, he looks at me again, and I give him my best "Fuck you" look. I figure we collectively outweigh these guys by about 150 lbs. and if we can't take them in a scrap, we aren't worth our salt. Nothing further happens. Megan and Wendy get back from shopping. My sister and Bruce say their chowder is good, and after a couple more drinks we leave.

After we meet up with Gene at the appointed time and place, we tell him where we went, and and he says in his Irish brogue, "Did you know that's a gay bar?" We figured that explained the looks we were getting from that table and had a good laugh about it.

We now drive on toward Kinsale. On the outskirts of town, Gene wants to show us something special. We lost on some old dirt roads, so Gene stops three ladies who are out walking to get directions. They mean well, but they are about as helpful as mud. "Well, if go down this road, there's a sign pointing to Charlesford." Gene explains we have been up and down this road three times and there is no sign. "Well, then take your second left where the sign used to be." Right. Gene eventually finds what we are looking for which is Charles' Fort. It offers a spectacular view of the Kinsale Harbor, and beyond that, the Celtic Sea. We have some great pictures that I'll add to this site when we everybody's pictures for the photo album (Hint, hint!).

Gene has called ahead, and there is a problem with our B&B. He assures us it will be taken care of . We try to assure him that if worse comes to worse we'll find a hotel, and work it out with Chris later. We drive on to Kinsale, where we stop at the Blue Haven Hotel for drinks and appetizers while Gene checks out the B&B. We watch the (Gaelic) "football" (a/k/a/ rugby) match on television. It is actually a pretty cool game. The scoring is like football, except there are 5 pts. rather than 6 for a "touchdown", and the point after is 2 pts. rather than one. You can kick the ball forward, but only can pass or lateral it backward. You tackle the guy with the football, and there are no pads, so you have to be a tough S.O.B. to play this game. Field goal opportunities are given when various infractions are committed, and can be taken voluntarily at other times which I never quite figured out. Ireland ends up losing a heart breaker to France in the last minute , 20-17. We end up yelling as loud as any one in the bar.

Gene returns and tells us the owners of the original place we were supposed to stay at went on vacation, but he found us alternate accommodations at the Ashgrove House in Kinsale. We find out that the Blue Haven doesn't serve dinner on Sunday nights and that only guests of the hotel get to have the seven course breakfast. The best laid plans. . .We check in at the Ashgrove house and meet the proprietor. She doesn't seem very pleased that we are here. We ask her to have coffee ready at 8:00 a.m. and then breakfast whenever she can get it ready after that. We have Gene drop us in town.

We have a couple of drinks at some pub and end up eating next door at a place called the White House. Dinner is very good for a casual place, and it is our turn to buy so we put it on a credit card. Luckily, Melissa checks the receipt before we leave and the bill was made out for 1,620 Euros (roughly $2,200 American). She points this out to the waiter, who doesn't even apologize for the error, but silently brings over a corrected bill for 162 Euros. It makes us wonder if the error is intentional. We have drinks after dinner at Dalton's but we head home shortly after arriving. It is raining out, and the taxi service says we are too close to them to be picked up, so we have to walk in the rain to the taxi stand and then intercom them from outside. Kinsale, a real customer oriented town. We watch a little t.v. in the sitting room at the B&B and then call it a night. In my opinion, Kinsale, is a tourist town that can be skipped.