Glasgow!

Before leaving Brodie we took a quick stop at the Countryfare store then we were on our way - again! Drove through Nairn, Inverness and all down along Loch Ness. We didn't see Nessy! Hehe. Not as spectacular and exciting as I was expecting. Then again it was a drab day so everything looked pretty dull. It looked like any lake (called lochs in Scotland) with rolling hills.

We drove through another mountain range (can't remember the name) and a portion also had lochs nestled below the mountains and beside the road. It was a beautiful drive. I unfortunately didn't take any pictures. I would like to do that drive again and maybe stop and check out the mountains. However, it is another remote area and there isn't much else around.

On our drive from the North down to Glasgow we stopped at the Dalwhinnie Distillery as Keith had to see this one too. We visited the gift shop and bought another bottle of scotch. The Scots call it whisky, we never heard it called Scotch. He now has quite the collection and will need some of you to help him drink it, because it won't be me!



We arrived in Glasgow at supper time in crazy rush hour traffic with no idea where we were going. Good times! We spent an hour driving through the city. We did have a small map with the hotel on it, so that was a huge help. We arrived at the hotel around 6pm. Once we dropped our stuff and relaxed for a minute we headed off to town. It was about a 15 minute walk. We went to Bella Italia for supper as it's one of my favs. Great Italian food, at great prices. We had a really nice dinner. Afterwards we found an internet cafe as I was in withdrawal! It seemed strange to go a week without being in contact with anyone. I did text Dad as we hit the Scottish border and called him on our way into Glasgow. Once finished checking our email we took a walk around a bit of the city, then we went back to the hotel. We had a few drinks and then crashed for the night. And how nice, it's suppose to rain tomorrow when we'll be spending the entire day outside watching the piping championships. Can't wait!

The Whisky Trail!

Woke up with a sore throat. Sneezing for the past few days, guess I have a cold! Dammit! Yeehaw whisky country here we come! Our first stop was in Dufftown at the Glenfiddich Distillery which was a 20 minute drive from where we were staying so not too much driving today.

Wow, what a place! Very impressive property, grounds, buildings, the whole thing was amazingly well cared for. Very commercial, but nice. We of course took one of the tours! The tour involved watching a film of how Glenfiddich came to be, a tour of the distillery including each step at which whisky is made and how it is made, and a tour of the warehouse where the casks site for atleast 12 years to mature. At the end of the tour we got to sample the wares and have a wee dram! Dad, I was thinking about you here too!

Once our bellies were warm from our dram we took a walk around the property and checked out the gift shop. Even the gift shop building was immaculate.

While doing the tour we learned that Glenfiddich also makes Balvenie which is another of Keith's favorites. This saved us time as they sold Balvenie in the Glenfiddich gift shop so he bought his first bottle of whisky (during our vacation that is - haha).

I bought some Glenfiddich fudge and oh is it good! I bought some to send home to Dad so he can try too. Once our shopping was completed we walked up the hill beside the distillery and checked out the Balvenie Castle.


Next stop, the Speyside Cooperage. The Cooperage is where all the casks are made for whisky, brandy, wine, etc. We took the tour and watched the local coopers make and repair the casks. Not an easy job! The process has been handed down for generations. Most of the coopers were older, but there were a few younger guys.

Keith even tried to build one himself! Haha. Not anywhere close to the workshop the coopers work in or the strenuous work they do. He got it all together until he was inserting the final piece of wood and it all fell apart. It was entertaining. This tour also included a wee dram! The wee dram they offered was Heather Cream Liqueur which is a smooth liqueur similar to Bailey's. It was gooood!

Next stop, Cardhu distillery. We only visited the distilleries Keith was most interested in or we would have been in a million of them. There are distilleries everywhere in this country and many of them are built in the same vicinity so there are several within a square mile. Keith had only even seen Cardhu once and it was in duty free on the ship years ago. he was anxious to get another bottle since he finished his previous one ages ago. We also took the tour here and had another wee dram when finished.

By this time it was getting close to supper so we jumped back in the car and headed to Nairn (between Brodie and Inverness). We went to an Indian restaurant - Indian restaurants are everywhere in the UK. After supper we dropped the car off at the B&B (Invercairn House) and walked to Brodie Castle, which is located about a 1/2 mile walk behind the B&B. Really nice walk through the forest and onto a well manicured estate which the castle rested on. The castle was closed by this time, so we toured around the property and through the gardens. Very peaceful.

The North - Brodie/Forres

Today is my little brother Jamie's anniversary. He died in our house fire 27 years ago today. 08/08/80 (Did I ever mention I don't like the number eight?). A day doesn't go by that I don't miss him. I love you Jamie.

Forgot to mention the amazing bathroom in this B&B. It was so nice I had to take pictures! It was huge, bigger than our bedroom here at home and had a corner tub, wonderful standup shower, and even a bidet! Haha. No, I didn't try it out. I was actually scared of it. Haha.

Anyway, the shower was incredible. Love showers that almost peel the skin off you. After showering, our hostess served us one hell of a breakfast. I had a concoction of bruschetta topped with fresh mushrooms in a cream sauce - it was excellent. I should have gotten the recipe from her. Keith had the full Scottish breakfast.

Spent the morning in St. Andrews shopping and taking more pictures. I was so amazed and interested in the Cathedral ruins that I had to go back. It is just so beautiful. And for some very strange reason I enjoy checking out graveyards (in daylight only!). I'm always interested to see the age of the head stones.


















Once I was pictured out we were back on the road. Today we're off to the North! We left St. Andrews at 12pm and drove through Dundee which looks very nice too, also located on the ocean. Seemed like quite a large city as it took us a bit to drive through it to get on our route. The lady at the B&B suggested we travel a secondary route that is much nicer and doesn't have the highway traffic.





We opted for her suggestion and took the road less travelled. Most of the drive was through the Grampian Mountains (one of the 3 major mountain ranges in Scotland). Surprisingly, there were no signs before entering the mountains to warn of the last gas station or anything. These mountains (this route anyway) were very remote, serene and untouched.

During the drive we travelled by Lecht Ski Hill Doesn't really look like much of a skiing area (this isn't a picture of it - I didn't take any of it) and I sure wouldn't take the time to travel to it! And Glenshee Ski Centre . Part way through the mountains there's a little village called Braemar that is nestled in the middle of nowhere it feels. We stopped here for lunch at Gordon's Tea Room and poked around in the shops.

This is a bridge we drove over in the middle of nowhere. We thought it was quite impressive. A good portion of the drive was one lane traffic. There isn't a lot of traffic but more than you'd expect. The key is to keep your eyes on the road and pay close attention that someone isn't coming around the corners!

We finally arrived in Brodie at 5:30pm. Once we checked in we hopped back in the car and went to Findhorn (nice small coastal village) above Brodie. Our friend Dave spent many years at RAF Kinloss which is right beside Findhorn and had told us of a great pub to visit, The Kimberlie. We decided to check it out. It was indeed a popular place and with no seating left so we popped next door to the Crown & Anchor. Not great food or as good of atmosphere as the Kimberlie, but it did the trick. Afterwards we went back to the Kimberlie to have a drink before heading back to the B&B.

Dumfries, Stirling & St. Andrews

Before leaving Lockerbie this morning we stopped at the memorial that has been set up for the disaster, just across from the site.

Once finished we headed to Dumfries.

Our purpose of coming to Dumfries was to check out Robert Burns' home. We visited the great poet's house and bought a compilation of all his poems.

Just before we left I had to check out this crazy toilet! You pay 20 pence (about 45 cents) to use it and it's hilarious! It's totally mechanical, so once you pop your 20p in the door slides open and it's like a little closet. You stand inside, then the door closes. Once you're finished, you place your hands in a small space built into the wall. Water comes out, then soap, then water again, then the water turns off and the dryer comes on! Then you press a button to open the door. Once the door shuts after you're out it's automatically hosed down inside. The whole thing is plastic and you have to wipe the seat off when you go to use it because it gets hosed down after every use. But it's always clean! Crazy invention!

Back on the road we headed to Stirling. I wanted to visit Stirling Castle as I head it's beautiful. Once we arrived we ended up at the William Wallace Monument and never made it back to the castle. My own fault as I pointed Keith towards the monument first and didn't realize until after we passed the exit that the castle was now behind us - we didn't feel like driving back by the time we were finished at the monument.


The monument is impressive in size. It was built within the decade and there's a climb of 240 steps to get to the top. These steps are narrow and in a tight spiral staircase. There are 3 floors and each floor has memorabilia of Sir William Wallace, details of his life and battles as he fought for Scotland's freedom. Once at the top of the 240 steps, it is an amazing panoramic view of the town of Stirling. However, it was insanely windy!





Back on the road again we headed for St. Andrews and Radernie, the small village we were staying at just outside St. Andrews. We travelled through various small villages, and one that still stays with me is Dollar, located in Clackmannanshire. We didn't stop but it was a pretty village and felt so welcoming as soon as we entered it. We arrived at our B&B, Anvil Cottage at 5pm. After grabbing some tea and biscuits (so Scottish!), we headed into St. Andrews for supper and to check out the town.

Driving in from Radernie (6 miles) there's a point where you're totally overlooking St. Andrews and the ocean it rests on. Beautiful! I was so anxious to see the home of Golf as I heard it was a beautiful place. We parked the car and walked a bit, then stopped into a pub called the Dunvegan Inn. This pub is located around the corner form the 18th hole of the Old Course and has been visited by many of the great golfers. It's obvious once in the pub with pictures of Tiger Woods, Payne Stewart, John Daly, Jack Nicolas (to name a few) taken with the owners, decorating the walls. The pub had great food and atmosphere, but the unfortunate part is it's owned by a Scot and her Texan husband so it is very Americanized. Including the menu and the TVs running TSN.

After dinner we walked around the Old Course and grabbed a few pictures. That's me being goofy on the 18th hole! The picture was taken for Dad and I was in the midst of saying "Hi Dad! Look at me!" as Keith was taking the picture. Haha. The hotel resting behind the course (not the one in this picture) is spectacular too and a great beach called West Sands lies just down from the 18th green. We walked along the beach enjoying it's beauty, then walked through town. I'm in love with this place! The architecture, the ocean, the feel of it all is wonderful. I definitely want to come back. I took some pictures of St. Andrews Castle and the Cathedral which is century old ruins. Then it was back to the B&B for some sleep.

The pictures below are: Keith by the putting green, the view from West Sands Beach looking at St. Andrews, West Sands Beach itself, the Club House beside Jubilee Course, and St. Andrews beautiful Castle.

Off To Scotland!!

I'm So excited! I've been wanting to go to Scotland for years and finally the day has come and I get to spend it with Keith. Yay! We left Dale & Lauren's around 10am. We stopped in Tiverton along the way at Staples so I could get a new memory card for my camera. I bought a 1GB one and it was pretty cheap. The one that came with my camera is 2GB but that will give me 3 gigs when I get the broken one replaced. No shortage of space for taking pics! We also grabbed some food at the grocery store to last us the drive so we could minimize stopping.

Beautiful, sunny day again - what a waste for driving! We made good time until we hit the damn M6 (motorway/3 lane highway). There's a bunch of motorways but this one runs from the Midlands to the North of England and we've learned it sucks! Mostly because there must be atleast one accident a day that shuts down a part of the motorway. Along the motorways there are electronic signs that give you warning if there are delays ahead. We were warned that a section of the motorway was closed so we took a detour through Cannock & Stafford.

It took us an hour and a half to get through the detour because of so many people taking it - but it was still quicker than being at a stand still. We finally arrived in Lockerbie around 7:30pm. Tonight we're staying at Castlehill Farm B&B in Lockerbie. Lockerbie is approx. 45 minutes into Scotland and is unfortunately famous for the Lockerbie disaster that happened a few years ago when a plane crashed killing a few hundred people onboard. The crash occurred very close to where we stayed and our hostess remembers the day quite clearly as she could see if from her house. She was nice lady and had supper ready for us when we arrived (I had pre arranged to have supper there).

After eating we went for a walk down the hill to see the miniature ponies that another farmer owns. They are so cute! And so nosey. Mostly because they wanted food from us. They came over right away sniffing around and somewhat letting us pet them and take their picture. As we were leaving it it was getting dark and holy shit the bats! There were way too many for my liking. They freaked me out for sure. The rest of the evening we relaxed in the lounge reading, watching TV, and drinking tea. Haha.

Hot, Lazy Day

We spent the day at Lauren's parent's place, Waterloo Farm. The setting of their land/house is so relaxing away from everything except for the surrounding farms. It's a great getaway.
We spent hours basking in the sun drinking beer and Smirnoff Ice. It was a really hot day. First one we've had yet. Terry & Jane had a great spread of food for us for supper. Emma & Debbie headed off today to be back to work tomorrow. And we're off to Scotland tomorrow! Woohoo!

Shopping & Beach Bumming

The girls & Jack headed into South Molton for some wedding dress shopping. Since Lauren has had Jack she can no try on dresses. Since Debbie is getting married next year and Keith & I are having a wedding someday all three of us tried on dresses while Emma entertained Jack. We had fun but nothing there worked for me. Lauren found 2 really nice dresses. I'm anxious to see which one she has decided on.

After shopping we went to the Corn Dolly for lunch. Great food. Then we headed to Wollocombe to the beach. The boys & Olivia met us there as well as Lauren's mom Jane and brother Sam. Spent a few hours relaxing and soaking up the sun. On the way home we stopped for fish & chips as it would be too late to cook by the time we got home. It was an early night after so much fresh air and sunshine.