Ho Hum… Yes, I got to sleep in today. How
else should one start a day of rest and relaxation? Our main activities for
today included doing laundry and blogging. On the fun side we both took some
longer walks with Lucky to explore the town. The Admiral visited the general
store for some provisions, and I went through town out to the rather nice
Killarney Mountain Lodge and explored the grounds with Lucky. The main street
along the waterfront is all relatively new, but across the
street most of the buildings would have been here on my last visit some 55 plus
years ago. For example, the beautiful stone church in the photo at the right
was built in 1950. It looks like they may have used local stone, which seems likely given the isolation of Killarney until the road into town was completed some 12 years after this church was constructed.
After lunch on the patio at the
Sportsman’s Inn, we set off on a nearly two mile walk with Lucky to the
Killarney East Lighthouse. The first half mile was along the highway connecting
Killarney to the Trans-Canada Highway that was completed in 1962 after my last
previous visit here. Before that all transportation in and out of here was by
water or air. We turned off on the airport road, and the road soon turned to
hard packed gravel and split several times before reaching the lighthouse. The photo at the left shows one of several
small lakes that we passed as we approached the lighthouse, and this one had an
abundance of lily pads.
The Killarney East Lighthouse sits on a very
rocky point and makes a magnificent setting (photo at right). After seeing the
rocky shoreline, it was hard for me to imagine the light keeper rowing out here
from Killarney in bad weather to light the light. The Killarney West Lighthouse is even more exposed
and much further out from town. That was one tough job! According to the Killarney web site, one interesting side note is these lights are useful in the winter to guide snowmobiles on the ice. I had not heard that before about other lighthouses that we have passed.
Lucky had fun climbing around the rocks
and trying to reach the water for a drink (photo at left). There were lots of
people (and dogs) walking around the area, and a few people even braved the
chilly water for a refreshing swim. As for me, I was not tempted to go swimming even remotely.
In general,
this particular spot with the rocky shore line reminded me very much of some of
the New England coast, especially around Newport, Rhode Island. Anyway, the clear blue skies and bright sun
made for a lot of beautiful views. Then it was time to head back to town with,
of course, a stop at a souvenir shop and at the ice cream shop on the way back
to the boat.
It is not
often that we can truly wear Lucky out, but this walk seemed to have done the
trick. When we got back to Lucky Us, she retreated to her kennel under the
chart table and hung out her do not disturb sign! That is a sure sign that all she wants to do is sleep, but she did show up at dinner time only to disappear again. Also, shortly after this we
said good bye for the last time to our friends on the go fast boats as they
departed the marina to head back home to Michigan (photo at right).
For dinner we
had reservations in the main dining room at the Sportsman’s Inn. I had a huge
filet of pan fried whitefish with a baked potato and steamed veggies. We really
splurged and shared a dessert! This was a great way to close a very nice stay
in Killarney. Later, when I took Lucky on her last walk of the day, I saw the
movie that they project across the inlet for all to watch. The photo at the
left is the best that I could do to capture the movie in the darkness. I had read about this, and sure enough they really do have this fun event. It was kind of like a drive-in theater for boats, but you had to bring your own popcorn… Can't see anything? Well, neither could I. Somehow the write up on the marina web site made it sound better... The
sound is broadcast over an FM radio channel.
Then it was
time for bed after a long day.
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