Inverness

The next morning I was up and doing a workout in the living room of our Inverness apartment which was much needed. I didn’t get a high heart rate like I did the day before but it was some good strength exercises. J was looking for coffee so we looked for an “open” place on Google Maps and I drove over – which ended up being the train station! – and he jumped out and I had to circle around 4 times but luckily it all worked out. 

We got ready and off to Dad & Cindy’s house to meet Matthew, our tour guide. His car fit 7 which didn’t fit our 8, so I continued to drive. I was following him and he was happy with my ability to keep up! He tried offering to call us so we could “hear” him talk but my TMobile plan was $0.25 per minute and Sam was not a fan of listening to him the whole time. J probably was not either but he didn’t give a comment but either way, we were fine just listening to him at the stops and enjoying our quiet car.

We first went to Clava Carins and it was this historical site of cairns (rocks built up) which were gravesites and where they burned their dead. It was really fascinating and Matthew had some good facts, and also what he called “beliefs” – haha. He mentioned that it was said to be an inspiration for Outlander so we did some funny poses on one of the rocks. 

The cairns were very interesting though. Two of them had a small entry/walkway, and it was lined up for the sun to hit on the shortest day of the year. One of them didn’t have any entryway at all and since these were… really old – Bronze Age (4k years ago?) there is not much data about them! What’s interesting is that on each one, there is a stone that has clear circle marks on them – very old and dull indentations of circles IN the rocks but were very clear. Matthew said it may be constellations which is an interesting theory. 

After that, we went over to Nairn and saw a Highland Cow and fed him carrots. He was so cute. Definitely Sam and Kara’s highlight of the day. We walked on the beach, although Dad and I walked on the path above the beach because he (we?) didn’t want to get our boots sandy. We had a nice walk and talk. The beach was so lovely though, great day, very clear, and Matthew had some good info about the land on the other side. Plus some trivia of famous people who had houses nearby! 

We then went over to a whiskey tour. The distillery was interesting. I’ve been on several wine tours and it’s all very similar. Our guide was a bit talky and not super friendly but the kids at least kept their game faces on.

The hysterical thing was that we had a full on conversation about bringing IDs for the kids. Except. (There is always an except…) Ryan had lost his wallet (he found it the next day), Kara was the one running late (driving Cindy crazy because they were 10m late), so Kara didn’t hear the ID conversation. Dad went back in for Ryan’s passport but Kyle said HE had his ID… anyway.

Kara did not have an ID. And it started where Dad was going to talk to the guy and try to explain that Kara and Kyle were twins… and Cindy had a picture of Kara’s drivers license but as Sam was showing HER ID.. I realized I had Sam and I’s passports in my wallet so I told Kara to stand behind me and be quiet.

So basically they were happy that we had birth dates for older than 18 young adults (since the drinking age is over 18), I didn’t feel bad for lying because it would be a bummer for Kara to sit back and not participate in the tour, and I thoroughly confused Dad and Cindy. I walked over to Dad and was like, DAD, I had her passport in my purse, it’s fine. And of course – Dad and Cindy like to know details. Which I appreciate. I also like to know every single detail. But in this case, knowing all the details out loud was NOT GOOD. So I literally told Dad to shut his mouth and not worry about it and it finally hit him what I was doing. Haha. We had a good laugh about it. Matthew chimed in and told the guys there are NO problems here! No worries! LOL

Cindy and I weren’t drinking but the rest did their tasting and, well, whiskey is gross but they were all entertained. So all was well.

We were starving at that point but Matthew had ONE more place to visit – which was this really cool stone “Sueno’s stone” which had so many interesting carvings on it. It was said to be lying down but they stood it up and encased it to preserve it. 

We then had a nice lunch at Mosset Tavern, a pub. Everyone really enjoyed their meal. Matthew was entertaining and after we walked outside, we saw a young man in a kilt and bagpipes. We think they were having a funeral and they were celebrating at the tavern but we made him take his picture with us. He was a good sport. Matthew was hilarious because parking was so random in the lot and there was NOWHERE for me to park so I did a… very random spot and he was laughing saying I was a terrible American. It was funnier than I wrote it, I promise. 

Then, off to the main event – for Dad at least! The cashmere factory! While the kids may not love these types of tours, there are little cool moments. And seeing the different “fabric” from goats come into the warehouse, and then how it’s processed, and then what it turns into, was absolutely fascinating. The goats of Scotland are very coarse so it was mostly coming in from the middle of China. A few other areas that I’m blanking on. There was the softest South Afriacan… something or other that was the softest thing I ever felt and it was very sad that we would have to either decide on buying a house or a sweater if we went for that one. Haha (They don’t actually sell it but they do sell blends. So soft!)

It’s amazing to see a full world of business in just constructing a sweater or a scarf. Sam said she wanted to come back and intern here. I think she quickly forgot about it a few hours later but I’m glad she liked it! 

I wasn’t going to get a cashmere sweater but after the whole tour, well, I needed one. HAD to have one! When I had looked at their store online a few weeks ago they had 3 colors but their store had so many beautiful options and I tried on two and well… I DESERVED a cashmere sweater! Sam and J just rolled their eyes. 

It was late at that point. Sam and J had turned into pumpkins and we jumped in our car and headed home. The drive home was a little quiet. It bothered me a little but I turned on my music and enjoyed the scenery. I did ask the best part of the day was. I think Sam said the Highland cow! J said he was surprised that none of the fabric/fur from the cashmere factory was coming from Scotland. Yes, that was surprising but not what I had asked! Ha! Then, I asked what the best part of Scotland was so far and Sam said the first day at Glencoe. I had to clarify… that was the second day! But she just meant walking around the Glencoe area, seeing the swing, and the drive. 

Then both of them fell asleep and I enjoyed the drive home. 

We tried to move back our restaurant booking but it didn’t work out. We always play with a bunch of personalities but J and Sam like to eat earlier for health reasons, Dad likes to eat later but we all arrived at 6pm to the River House. I was worried Kara would not find something to eat but they had mashed potatoes and French fries and so she was happy. 

The River House was incredibly tiny and SO good. Most of us had the Halibut and it was perfectly arranged. I had mine without the sauce and they gave me so many extra shrimp and crab. I had to give some to Ryan because his was missing a bunch but we both enjoyed it! 

At that point, J and Dad turned into pumpkins, and wanted to go home. It was our last night in Inverness and we wanted to hear some live music after hearing so much about the local music scene. So Cindy and I, and the kids, wandered off to the wobbly bridge and over to gelato. 

We all enjoyed, although they didn’t have pure chocolate but I went with their Ferrrero Roche which clearly had some sort of biscuit/candy in it, and got half mint & chip, and it was delicious. 

We wandered over to the Highlander and music was starting. Ryan and I did walk over to the place across the street to the Hootananny see if that was any better but they looked like the same crowd (and sitting down to dinner rather than barstools) so we said the Highlander was a good choice. It was 8pm so I was very grateful that we had live music so “early” but it was an older crowd so Sam was a little bummed later. But the violinist was amazing and the guitar guy was singing a bit. Kyle and I had a drink and we listened for 20m before Cindy wanted to drag all the kids home. She didn’t want to leave them in Inverness to fend for themselves, lol. 

Sam wanted to walk home and it wasn’t as windy tonight so I was good with that. We walked past another music place, the Soundbar, that clearly had two young women singers and that sounded much more “young”. We agreed that if we were ever back we would try that place! 

The walk home was easy (less than a mile) and J came down to let us in. Oh man, the way to get in this place was horrible. The apartment owners need to put in new doors. There are literal signs ON the door on how to OPEN the door, that’s how bad it was. It was some crazy magical “turn left, then turn right, and pray” type of thing. 

The next morning we were hopping on a flight so we agreed that we would leave at 8:15am. I then proceeded to spend hours trying to sleep, with my mind racing, and way overthinking too many things. So that was annoying. But at some point I must have gotten a few hours between 2 and 5. 

I didn’t end up working out the next morning but I cooked up eggs in the morning for all of us and J made do with the Nespresso “expresso” and we cleaned up the apartment and hopped in the car. 

On the way to London!