Kitchen Chat – Page 4 – Rebekah Lyn Books

What’s an Abbey?

I wish we could have spent more time exploring County Kerry, but we had other adventures planned. We got an early start, making a brief stop in downtown Killarney. The blanket Tricia had purchased the previous night had a pull in it and she wanted to see about exchanging it. The lovely shopkeeper was able to fix the pull in the blink of an eye and we headed north to Connemara.

Sheep crossing

What a view to wake up to!

We passed so many places we wanted to stop but Kylemore Abbey was our planned destination and with last admission at 4pm we had limited time to make it there and do some touring. Not being Catholic, I wasn’t really sure what the difference was between an Abbey and a Monastery. Honestly, I’m still not sure I understand it, but the story of Kylemore is rather interesting. It began as a home for a wealthy businessman in the late 1800s. During World War I, it became the home of Benedictine Nuns fleeing Belgium and is still run by the Benedictines today.

The sun was valiantly trying to shine when we left Killarney, but the clouds continued to build and rain showers intermittently fell followed by a couple of snow flurries. The moment we put the car in park at Kylemore it began to hail quite violently. I was worried about the car being damaged and the rental agency charging me for it.

When the hail let up a bit we made a dash for the visitor’s center. The ground was completely white with hailstones the size of large marbles! We get hail in Florida, but I’ve never seen it come down like this.

At the ticket counter we learned the main house was closed for renovations but we could purchase a discounted ticket to tour the grounds and visit the chapel. Tricia thought I was crazy to want to tour the gardens in this weather, but the sun had come back out and we were already there so we bought the ticket and waited for the tram to the walled garden. (It was a reasonable distance away and I wasn’t completely crazy. There was still a little rain and a lot of cold wind).

Even without much blooming the walled garden was a sight to see. The brick wall helped to cut the wind, the rain had now stopped and the sun was shining brightly. I don’t remember seeing anyone else out here so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We spent around an hour admiring the design of the garden and visiting the head gardner’s house, a rather cozy and well appointed home.

Blue skies returned
Head gardner’s cottage
Fritillary (in the lily family)

Overview of the formal garden

We took the tram back to the visitor center and the\n walked past the Abbey to the chapel. There was a bit of hail along the way, but it was much smaller and only a brief shower. I’m glad we carried on. The chapel was amazing.

To think this was built for the man’s wife and obviously no expense was spared is mind boggling. I can’t imagine how much it cost to maintain much less build. We studied many of the intricate details, but could have spent hours more marveling at all of the carvings.

I sat in one of the pews to soak in the atmosphere and say a silent prayer. While I sat there, the clouds that had formed during our walk parted and a shaft of sunlight fell through one of the tall windows right onto where I was seated. It was a special moment that gave me goosebumps and I hope I will always remember.

After a peaceful and restorative time in the chapel we strolled back to the welcome center as the sun was starting to dip down to meet the mountains. We had just enough time to pick up a couple of souvenirs. I found these hot pads with the cutest sheep comics on them. My mom used to collect hot pads with photos of waterfalls or other nature scenes from our trips to North Carolina when I was a kid but now they are hard to come by. I struggled to chose just one for her and a smaller one for myself.

My little hot pad

Fortunately, our drive from Kylemore wasn’t too far, and we managed to arrive at our new bed and breakfast just before dark. We found this place on AirBnB and weren’t quite sure if we were getting the whole cottage or if the host/hostess would be on site. I am thrilled the hostess was on site because she was an absolute gem and a true highlight of our entire trip. I’ll tell you all about Pauline and Furrymelia Cottage when we meet again next week.

Sheep!

Reblogged from Rebekah Lyn’s Kitchen

Boxty, Bricin Restaurant, Bucket List, Charlie Chaplin, Dark Sky Reserve, Ireland, Killarney, Muckross Abbey, Ring of Kerry, Ross Castle, Sheep, Skellig Island

It was a little before noon when we left Liam and his birds behind, headed for the Ring of Kerry, a scenic drive around the Iveragh Peninsula. Tricia and I had a bit of a debate about whether to drive clockwise or counter-clockwise. Most travel guides and articles about the drive discuss these options, primarily as a means of avoiding the numerous tour buses that make this journey. I felt we were early enough in the year to be ahead of most tours and were unlikely to encounter many buses. Tricia was driving at the moment, and wanted to drive counter-clockwise, so I let her make that choice.

If you’re driving straight through, it’s a loop that probably takes about three hours. Stopping as often as we did, it took closer to six. The western side of the loop, takes in the towns of Killorglin, Glenbeigh, Cahersiveen, and Waterville. From this side you can take detours up to the Gap of Dunloe or to the Skellig Islands. We missed the signs for the Gap of Dunloe and the ferry service to the Skelligs wasn’t running yet. We did turn off the ring onto an even smaller road into Reenard Point, where we could see across to Valentia Island and daydream about getting out to the Skelligs.

Beach at Rossbeigh

The views of the coastline were stunning, even on this overcast and growing grayer by the hour day. We pulled over at probably every third turn off, never tiring of the rugged beauty. We had our first close up sightings of sheep during this drive, which made me nearly giddy and I’m not sure why. The largest pullout actually had a parking lot and is part of a dark sky reserve. I imagine it must be a beautiful place at night. With no cities for miles around, the sky must be filled with stars. There are a number of these reserve areas throughout County Kerry, but our entire trip we never had a night clear enough to see stars.

I think to do the ring properly, one would need to plan to stop for a night at a couple of points along the way, taking time to explore some of the quaint villages. In Cahersiveen, we toured the Old Barracks, built as a police station for the Royal Irish Constabulary in the 1870s to protect the Irish end of the transatlantic telegraph cable. There are exhibits inside on the Great Southern and Western Railway, The Life and Times of Daniel O’Connell, The Fenian Rising of 1867, The 1916 Rising and Monsignor Hugh O’ Flaherty. Also in this town, we could have visited Ballycarberry Castle ruins, the Daniel O’Connell Memorial Church, or taken in two stone forts. Some of the places we passed through didn’t offer such an abundance of sights, but it would have been nice to take a walk along the main street, peek in the shops, and try a bit of local fare.

The Old Barracks
View from the Old Barracks

By the time we reached the southern point of the peninsula, though, we were starting to feel pressured to make it to the end of the ring before the sun set. The eastern side of the peninsula is more forested and had an entirely different feel. I had wanted to shop in Kenmare to visit the lace shops. I was hoping to pick up something locally made as a gift for my mom. Unfortunately, it was close to 4pm by the time we made it to Kenmare and we’d learned most shops close at 5pm.

We did stop at the Avoca Shop and Cafe outside Kenmare. It was getting ready to close so we didn’t spend too much time here, and the prices were well outside our budget anyway. The best part about this stop were the sheep crossing the road, and one was kind enough to pause in front of the shop for me to snap a photo. Avoca sells mostly woolen goods, so this scene made us giggle. Were the sheep checking out the place their coats would one day be sold?

Ross Castle and Muckross Abbey were places I had wanted to visit and why I’d wanted to do the ring clockwise, then they would have been our first stop as opposed to our last. By the time we arrived they were no longer admitting guests. As the rain turned from a sprinkle to a more insistent drizzle, we hurried from the car to take some pictures of Ross Castle’s exterior then set off in search of dinner.

Before we’d left our Hawk Walk experience, we’d chatted with Liam about life in Killarney and asked for recommendations on things to do and places to eat. He told us his favorite for boxty was Bricín Restaurant. Boxty, he explained, is a potato pancake and it can be filled with seafood, venison, corned beef, and vegetables.

Bricín was wonderful! The interior is beautiful, it was warm and cozy against the chill, wet night, and the food was amazing. I had the venison boxty and for the life of me I can’t remember what Tricia had. I was so glad Liam had made this recommendation and told us about boxty, I may never have tried it if he hadn’t already explained to us what it was.

Feeling revived, we wandered down the street. Most non-dining establishments were closed, but a couple of tourist shops were still open. I’ve taken to collecting Christmas ornaments from the places I visit and so far this trip I hadn’t purchased a single one. I found a cute ball ornament and Tricia purchased some more wool goods, a blanket this time. She’s going to have to move to Alaska to use everything she ended up buying!

Coming up, we will hit the road again and experience every variation of wet weather imaginable.

Waterville has a Charlie Chaplin festival each year. He enjoyed vacationing here.

An Experience I Never Imagined

As part of the Apollo 11 celebrations I had the opportunity to attend an event with several of the children of Apollo era astronauts. Having a chance to spend time listening to many children of the Apollo astronauts was an experience I never imagined and I want to thank the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation for arranging the event.

The moderator had a number of good questions prepared and a few questions were taken from the audience. It was interesting to hear stories of how they grew up, how friendships grew between the kids that lived in the same neighborhood or who spent hours playing as their parents tried to manage the demands of work and family life, having work sessions at home over the weekends.

Learning about some of the staged photos for LIFE magazine was also entertaining. Rick Armstrong mentioned a picture of him in the swimming pool with a scuba tank and how they had never owned scuba equipment, it had been a prop basically. One of the other kids laughed and said it was probably the same they had used at one point.

The question about whether they are now appreciative of all the media attention documenting their childhood brought responses I hadn’t anticipated. Overwhelmingly, they said they do appreciate being able to look back and see so many experiences captured. Susan Lovell (I believe), told a story of searching online for a photo she remembered being taken but no one seemed to have a copy of. When she found it, she was offered the chance to purchase it! The audience laughed heartily at this.

Living in Houston, surrounding by families who worked for or supported the space program in some manner, made their status as an astronaut’s child less impressive, so they didn’t grow up with the impression their dads were any different than other dads. Logically, that makes sense, when one lives in a bubble, they don’t typically recognize the exceptionality until they spend time outside of it.

Close to the end of the panel, the moderator asked if any of the children had considered following in their father’s footsteps. Rosemary Roosa said she had submitted an application a number of years ago but been turned down due to her age, and Jan Aldrin’s brother, Alan, worked for United Launch Alliance (ULA) and now serves as the director of the Aldrin Space Institute at Florida Institute of Technology. None of the others expressed having any desire to become astronauts, but a few had children who work in support capacities.

I’d love to have a similar panel with some of the Shuttle era children to see how things changed over the years. With a growing astronaut core, I imagine the hours became a little more balanced when not training for a specific mission, but I may be wrong. In all of the biographies I’ve read, the family balance isn’t typically mentioned.

I believe this interview was videoed so it may be posted, at least in clips on the Astronaut Scholarship Foundations’s website at some point. I would highly recommend watching it if you are a fan of the early space program.

3-2-1 Apollo 11 Celebrations and Giveaway

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, the first mission to land men on the moon. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins launched from the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969 at 9:32 am, and landed on the moon July 20, 1969 at 4:17 pm. A little more than six hours later, at 10:39 pm, Neil Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar lander, taking his first step onto the moon at 10:56 pm. These events became the culmination of my novel, Undaunted, and since researching for that book I have remained fascinated with everything surrounding this mission.

Last week the National Geographic Channel had Space Week, airing multiple shows about the mission and the others leading up to this moment, including some never seen before footage. Silly me thought these shows would run during the week of the anniversary, but I did manage to record a few episodes, and I’m sure there will be a DVD to add to my growing collection of space research.

Here on the Space Coast, this weekend was filled with celebratory events, a few of which I had the pleasure of attending. Friday, there was a “Noon to the moon” street party.

One of the boutique owners commissioned an artist to create a print to honor this anniversary, which was also made into shirts and fleece blankets.

Pam had gifted me one of the shirts, and when we stopped in during the street party I picked up another shirt with a different design commemorating the launch.

Saturday, I woke up early and drove to Cocoa Beach for an astronaut parade.

Early arrivals for the parade.

There was 1 Apollo astronaut, Al Worden, 11 Space Shuttle astronauts and 10 of the children of Apollo astronauts in attendance. Of course, most of them rode in Corvettes but there were some Mustangs as well.

I loved the excitement in the air and seeing a large number of children. Listening to conversations around me, a number of the folks had been around for the original Apollo 11 parade in 1969.

Sunday was the crowning jewel in the weekend for me. Pam had heard about the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation events, which included a brunch and panel interview with children of the Apollo astronauts. Tickets were available to the public and Pam scored us a pair right away.

The children that participated in the panel were: Jan Aldrin, Rick Armstrong, Amy Bean, Tracy Cernan Woolie, Peter Conrad, Barbara Lovell Harrison, Jeff Lovell, Susan Lovell, Alan Roosa, Rosemary Roosa, Rusty Schweickart, Glen Anders, and Julie Shepard Jenkins. I plan to write a blog solely about this panel in the coming days. I want to listen to the recording again to choose the items that resonated with me the most.

After this panel was complete, we were cleared out of the room to allow the hotel to reset for the second group, Women of Space. I was particularly looking forward to this one since it will tie into my current work-in-progress. The female astronauts in attendance were Anna Fischer, one of the first women astronauts, class of 1978, Ellen Ochoa, and Eileen Collins. The hour allotted for this seminar flew by and before I knew it we were outside again waiting for the room to be reset for the final presentation of the day, the Future of Space.

Since my new book will be going into the future of space, I was eager to hear what this panel would have to say. While it was a good panel with presentations from Bob Cabana, director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center; Chris Ferguson, with Boeing’s Starliner program; Kelly Defazio, with Lockheed Martin’s Orion program; and Andy Allen, General Manager of Jacobs Space Operations Group,I already knew much of what they shared. Again, I will detail more about this and the Women of Space seminars in future blogs.

More than 400,000 workers were involved in getting Apollo to the moon. Contractors all over the country created parts, workers at Kennedy Space Center put them together and managed the launch, then Mission Control in Houston took over to monitor progress, and around the world, satellite listening stations provided contact with the capsule as the earth rotated.

A large portion of that workforce was laid off after the Apollo program. Some were brought back for the Space Shuttle and then layoffs began again when that program ended.

My dad is the one in the blue striped shirt. Photo credit NASA website

I’ve had times when I’ve despaired that America has lost interest in space exploration, but looking around the room during these panels, I was encouraged. The room was filled for each seminar with eager faces, even some from other countries who had traveled here for these events.

To help celebrate this momentous accomplishment in our nation’s history, I am giving away a matted copy of the print mentioned above and a signed edition of Undaunted, the fictional story of one boys fascination with the space race and how it changed his life.

The Rafflecopter is super easy to enter. Good Luck!

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Enter to win the this amazing Print and my novel, Undaunted, about Jessie, a young boy growing up in the shadow of rockets

I’m sorry but this giveaway is available in the US only but a digital copy of Undaunted and Destiny’s Call can be substituted for our overseas friends.

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