I awoke this morning to an empty room already brightly flooded with the morning sun and quiet noises emanating from the kitchen down the hall. Kevin is up and I finally slept in. As much as I enjoy being the first one up to watch the morning light slowly illuminate the cottage and the land surrounding it, I do not regret sleeping in. As one who has always required more sleep than the average bear, to put it simply; I needed more sleep. It is also a nice deviation from the routine to wake up snuggled in the big four poster bed with the white linen canopy and admire the patterns on the bedspread created by the light flooding through the lace curtains hanging above the windows. Additional, much needed sleep, and pretty patterns to entertain me as I attempt to clear my head from my sleepy haze; it’s a happy way to get up in the morning.

Yesterday, in planned fashion, was intended to be a day of rest, spent locally to avoid burnout and ensure everyone is getting the time they need to recover from long, busy days, but as I am apt to change my mind frequently, our plans changed. We began with a delightful breakfast of scrambled eggs with mushrooms and began our 45 minute car ride into the seaport town of Cobh. Some will be more familiar with the town of Cobh by the name it went by from 1849 until 1920; Queenstown, the last port of call of the Titanic in 1912. Upon arriving, we were greeted by steep downward sloping streets, a multitude of brightly colored houses, shops, and restaurants, and a boatload of people everywhere we looked. Literally, a boatload, as Cobh is a popular stop for cruise ships and a Carnival Cruise ship arrived in the harbor shortly before we did.

After locating a parking space we headed down the pier to board a small boat to take us across Cork Harbour, the second largest natural harbor in the world, to Spike Island also known as ‘Ireland’s Alcatraz’. Since the eighteenth century a large star-shaped fort has stretched across the island protecting the harbor but the islands history stretches much further back into the past. From evidence via a multitude of historical writings, Spike Island earliest known inhabitants were Monks and it is to be believed that a monastery was built upon the island but later destroyed upon the arrival of the Vikings who then took over the island for a time. Despite the current lack of physical evidence of either, because of the written accounts of these happenings, Irish researchers and archeologist have not given up on locating artifacts from that time. The island became a home to smugglers and pirates and later to British and Irish soldiers and sailors, housed German prisoners of war and Irish convicts, as it was used as a prison a many times but most famously, during the famine era and more recently from 1985 to 2004.

We chose to skip the guided tour because we only had around three hours to explore the entire island so we began by walking the outside perimeter of the island to take in the views of the harbor, remnants of old buildings, a sports field, and a cemetery. Upon entry to the fort, we had our mug shots taken and proceeded in and out of the different buildings that made up the fort to see what the prison lift was like and to admire the old artillery equipment that is currently displayed in the fort. From lookout towers and battle stations, to the museum that covered the entire history of the island, we saw it all and were probably most intrigued by the prison riot of 1985. We wrapped it up with a quick snack at the cafe and a stop at the gift shop to collect our mug shots and the crimes we were being accused of. Kevin was accused of grand theft auto, Ellery, disturbing the peace, and Audra and I, burglary. After a quick trip across the harbour we returned to Cobh and the masses of people to have lunch.

We had wanted to eat at the Titanic Bar and Grill but the wait was too long if we were going to make our next time specific destination. Unfortunately, due to the cruise ship in port, all of the local eateries and bars were full up and we settled on a chain restaurant called Supermac’s. All I will say in regards to this restaurant is that most of us left hungry and we will not be returning to it. The calamity of lunch was soon forgotten as we entered the historic White Star Line ticket building to begin the Titanic Experience. Again, Queenstown, now known as Cobh, was the final port of call for the ill-fated Titanic and the old ticket building has been converted into an experience and museum to celebrate the lives of those from Ireland who boarded the ship. We each were given entry with a replica ticket highlighting the name of one of the Irish passengers who boarded and their class status and were led through an interactive tour of what their journey would have been like. From ticket collection, to waiting on the same balcony deck as the first and second class original travelers, and then guided through replica cabins for first and third class. We listened to details from the surviving Irish passengers as they described their experience of the ships sinking and were walked through the events of that evening. After the tour finished we made our way through the museum and were able to look up our assigned passenger to determine whether our ticket counterpart had survived the journey. The counterpart for both Kevin and myself did not survive but both of the girls ticket passengers did. It was an incredibly informative, albeit overwhelmingly sad, experience. We finished here with a trip to the gift shop and car ride, filled with much needed laughter, home.

We concluded the evening with a meal of grilled cheese and tomato soup, compliments of Kevin, and highly competitive rounds of Go Fish. Today, plans are definitely not changing and will be an easy day around the cottage, but only after I finish my cup of tea.