Good sleeping at the Spa Resort last night and soon it was time for the ‘Full Irish’. These are just the hot items. They had a full selection of pastry’s, cereals, juice and fresh fruits. Good thing it is going to be another big day of riding!

. . . about half of our group arrives promptly when the doors open at 7:00am!!!

It was raining when we woke up and was still raining when we left . . . down the road was one of many mushrooms I saw today growing on the sides of the road. Guess they thrive in a wet environment!!

. . .WOW, the Irish know how to use color . . . maybe because the days can be so gloomy.

Today we needed to make a narrow river crossing which was facilitated by a short ferry ride. While Tom and I waited for the ferry . . .

. . . several more riders showed up for the ride across. Very similar to the Merrimac Ferry but this one cost 1.5 Euro to cross.

. . .riding through the countryside it was not uncommon to see the ‘quintessential’ Irish pub, restaurant and inn . . .

. . .this one even had a hand pump for bikers to fill their water bottles!!!

. . . further down the road I had a nice chat with Bessie, the Bovine, regarding the fat content of the famous Ireland butter. Mooooooo.

We rolled through Midleton, Ireland, population 13,000. A big town on our trip!!! The Mideltonians are trying to live the dream to by buying up the newly built 3 & 4 bedroom free standing suburban homes. All the residential construction seems to start with laying up cinder block walls. No wooden wall components!!!

Most of us stopped at the Cobh Heritage center to learn about the Titanic and the emigration of the Irish. Very well done!! Annie Moore left Ireland in 1891, with her two brothers, and they were first immigrants to be processed through at the newly opened  Ellis Island facility in New Your. There is a duplicate of the statue located there.

Typical of the roads we traveled today. Mostly two lanes but hedgerows and stone fences right up to the road edge.

As we came back down to the sea, right off the coast was this island with a lighthouse that had never been completed due to financial issues. Nice setting . . .

Oh and the Irish are VERY meticulous about tending to their hedges. Mowing was  being compete today by tractors with boom mounted rotary blades to trim the tops and sides . . .

. . . trouble was they were also cutting the thorny berries bushes too and the needles were all over the road . . . and as you can see here, they can go through Gatorskin tires (I put two new ones on on before I left).

It wasn’t until 4:00pm I rolled into Youghal, our home for the night. This is pretty typical of small town architecture in Ireland.

. . . with a nice arch every once in a while.

Youghal is big enough to have a movie theater and as you can see . . . the movies are all American made!!!

Tonight we are staying at the Old Imperial Hotel, where we are also having a group happy hour, our nightly meeting and a group dinner.

. . . another splash of color. Hope I can sleep tonight!!!!