After two hours of deep sleep, I am awake in the darkness watching slight pockets of illumination light the fields with a silver glow, as wispy clouds move slowly across the moon. Today is the day I have dreaded since our arrival and apparently, as I am up a full three hours earlier than I need to be, do not want my last bit of time here to go unobserved even if the trade-off is the loss of much needed sleep. Instead, I will lay here in the dark, try not to wake anyone up from their slumber, and just enjoy my quiet thoughts as they swirl between thankfulness and sadness. Maybe, I’ll even catch a few more minutes of sleep before the blaring alarms we have set throughout the cottage, ensuring we get up on time, begin their blasting at quarter to four.

We concluded our last day in Ireland cleaning and preparing for the journey home. Multiple loads of laundry were completed as I would rather travel with clean clothes than dirty, suitcases packed and repacked because we are returning home with more than we left with, floors were vacuumed, and dishes put away. We watched as the neighboring field for our cow friends, was prepared for their return. Unfortunately, we will not be there to greet them, and this saddened all of us. We had hoped to have one last morning with them to laugh and giggle but it was not meant to be. By late afternoon, we finished the set tasks for the day and embarked on our final adventure in Ireland.

High on a cliff overlooking the village of Ardmore and the bay, resides the Cliff House Hotel. Inside these walls that appear to jut straight out the side of the steep cliff is the Michelin-Starred, House Restaurant. Donning our fancy clothes, we made our last drive into the village and up the narrow side of the cliff to the hotel. We enjoyed canapes and cocktails in the lounge, with its giant floor to ceiling windows overlooking Ardmore Bay. The girls were so excited to have their very own mocktails served in fancy glasses. We moved from the lounge into the dinning area, again with a wall-to-wall view of the water, and embarked on a 7-course tasting menu. We tried Ardmore Lobster, Hand Dived Scallops, Hen of the Woods, Wild Turbot, Thornhill Duck, Yoghurt Sorbet, Amalfi Lemon Gateaux, and finally finished with tea and Petit Fours. We tasted, sampled, and enjoyed the whole experience. To my surprise, both Ellery and Audra sampled each dish and the occasional few they did not enjoy, passed over to either me or Kevin to finish. We ate well. After many comments from the staff as well as other guests, complimentary ones regarding the girls, we determined that this is not a restaurant kids are seen at often, if at all and the only discernable misstep made came, not from them but from myself when I gave a thumbs up sign with my hand, to the waitstaff.

Following dinner, we had our picture taken out on the balcony and returned to the cottage to pack our last few remaining items. As this night’s adventure had us out late, we quickly went to bed to acquire as much rest as possible to make the journey home. The alarms are set to go off at any minute and I am prepared for a crazy day, but only after I finish my cup of tea.