An early morning today, we got up and got out of Edinburgh with a big storm out of Ireland hot on our tail.
Steven took the first shift and it was so nice to be on the move again, driving up the coast along the North Sea.
We went through Perth and Dundee on our way to find the home of the smokies in Arbroath.
Smokies are small haddock that have been hot-smoked using a process that has remained relatively unaltered for more than two centuries.
Lunch, we were looking for lunch...
At quarter-to-pint, we landed at The Old Boatyard and hit the smokie jackpot. We devoured a delicious smokie chowder appetizer, followed by half-smokies smothered in hot butter; Nancy enjoyed the smokie paté and we all found another new IPA fave in the Royal Mile.
Smokies for the win!
It’s always my turn to drive after we’ve “participated” in lunch and I took us, curb-checkless, to Dunnottar Castle just outside of Stonehaven.
This was maybe my favorite experience thus far (except for maybe the John Denver sing-along in Bessingby).
Dunnottar rests atop a cliff surrounded on three sides by the vengeful North Sea. Its elegant moss-covered ruins easily award the site best historical and dramatic castle setting, thus far.
Prior to our arrival, Dunnottar was graced by the presence of William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, and it also played a pivotal role in saving the Scottish Crown Jewels from Oliver Cromwell’s army.
Certainly, the castle and its surroundings look different now, but standing in the King’s Chamber, gazing out the window toward the sea, I’d bet the sounds of the crashing waves below and the smell of the ocean is still exactly the same as it was hundreds of years ago.
Truly a magical place.
And a completely different experience from Edinburgh Castle: hardly a crowd to speak of and no one selling anything except a £10.50 ticket to get in.
With frozen faces, we hopped back in the car as Steven guided us to Aberdeen before taking a sharp left toward our home for the next couple days, Braemar, in the Cairngorms National Park.
The drive was, again, stunning: rolling hills, dense forests, and a lot more fall colors in the deciduous trees than we’ve yet to see.
It must be noted that, though he did take us all safely through treacherous, winding roads that kept getting comically narrower and narrower, Steven did hit another monster curb which squares us at four...
Braemar is a sweet little village a few miles west of Balmoral Castle, the summer home of the royal family. We are staying in a cottage called Derrywood, about 300 meters from our dinner spot, Farquaharson’s.
There’s a butcher across the street that boasts the best haggis in the Highlands and we finally braved a plate of haggis, neeps, and tatties.
I have to say, I’m a fan! The food was so good that, for a second, I didn’t even mind that every single picture frame in the place was painfully askew.
Tomorrow, we explore the Cairngorms...that is, if we’re not flooded out of Scotland. Serious rain in the forecast, but if we end up at a nearby distillery or even holed up at Derrywood, polishing off our own supply, it will still be a good day.
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