The Wilson Family Overseas: A kid-less vacation granted

Dunnottar Castle was the very last site we visited on our eight-day trip to Scotland in August.

The last time Dan and I took a trip for just the two of us I was nearly seven months pregnant with Montana. That means it has been just over two years since we've had overnight alone time together. My sister offered to watch Loralynn and Tana several months ago when they moved to Stuttgart (just two hours from where we live). I was thrilled by the offer, and we were shortly planning an eight-day trip to Scotland for Dan and me.

When the time came to prepare for the trip, Loralynn came down with a high fever. We considered calling off the trip, but the doctor reassured us that it was a simple virus that would run its course within a few days. By the time we left Loralynn and Tana at the Smiths’ house, she was already feeling better.

The forecast in Scotland was dreary and rainy for most of the time we were there, but we were prepared with our raincoats and positive attitudes since we had a similar experience in Norway earlier in the summer.

University of Aberdeen's chapel was exquisite.

DAY ONE Wednesday we arrived in Aberdeen and rented our car. Lunch was at 2:30 p.m. in a pub near the University of Aberdeen/King’s College founded in 1494. The chapel there had the finest medieval woodcarvings in Scotland.

Before driving to downtown Aberdeen we walked through St. Machar’s Cathedral from 580 AD. We didn’t make it to any other sites before they closed in downtown, but we had a nice walk. The parking costs were outrageous, but this was the only place on our trip that it was frustrating. We walked along the beach and found a lovely restaurant selection. Chiquita was our choice for some Mexican food that we enjoyed fairly well. Footdee Fishing Village was our last little walk before we headed back to our car on some deserted and sketchy roads.

Whisky-making has many stages within a week's time.

We retired at Craibstone Suites which offered free parking from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., breakfast in the room, really loud seagulls outside the window, and free WiFi and TV.

DAY TWO Thursday we drove about an hour to Dufftown for a tour at Glenfiddich Whisky Distillery. It was a fascinating tour, and we sampled three different whiskies at the end (yuck). Some of the facts we learned at the distillery: 1. It takes one week to make whisky then the rest of the time it sits in a cask to age—between 12 to 50 (and sometimes 70) years. 2. Casks are never used new—they get them from the U.S. and Spain after sherry or bourbon have been in them. 3. Casks are flame-fired before each use and can be used three to five times. No nails are used anywhere—they are sealed with river reeds. 4. There were 436 million liters of whisky on the site we toured. 5. The Glenfiddich family was so concerned about the pure highland spring water on their land that they used to distill that they bought 1200 acres surrounding the river.

The ruins of Elgin Cathedral were fun to tromp around.

After a nice lunch at the distillery, we drove endless roads to Pluscarden Abbey. It was abandoned in the 13^th century after the Reformation. The monks returned in 1948 after purchasing it for 750 pounds. The Benedictine cat, Baxter, looked almost identical to my childhood cat Buttons. He was the best cat I ever had.

With the remainder of the day we hit Elgin Cathedral founded in 1224, St. Giles Church founded in 1828, watched the new Wolverine movie in the theater, and checked into the Laichmoray Hotel (full breakfast, free WiFi, TV and kid friendly).

DAY THREE Friday We drove to Aberlour in the morning hoping to watch the Highland Games, but we miscalculated the day. Instead we went to the Walkers Shortbread Factory

Inverness proved to be a very picturesque city.

Store where the shortbread company all started. We also bought a load of the “seconds” cookies since they were greatly discounted. The home of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” was next: Cawdor Castle. It was built in the 14^th century and is still lived in today. The dungeon kitchen and hunting room held very interesting stories.

Culloden Battlefields took a large chunk of the day after the castle visit. We learned all about the battle between the government and the Jacobites. Next, a short car ride took us to Clava Cairns (burial tombs). We arrived in the city of Inverness to find our first bed and breakfast “Inver Nevis.” Our dinner in a pub took super long to arrive and the server offered us a free round of drinks. We concluded our evening in the Scottish Kiltmaker Visitor Center where we bought souvenirs.

DAY FOUR Saturday was spent in search of the Loch Ness monster. Just kidding. It’s all a hoax, but “Nobody has come up with a better business plan yet” as our boat captain said. The man who took the most convincing photo of the Loch Ness monster admitted on his deathbed in 1994 that it was a fake.

Many tourists visit Loch Ness because of "Nessie."

A visit to Urquhart Castle (after seeing it from our boat tour) was superb. It dates from the 13^th century and has held some of the most powerful men of medieval Scotland. It was virtually impenetrable during the wars of independence. It also had the biggest sling shot I’ve ever seen—actually a called a “trebuchet”.

On the way to our B&B “MavisBurn” we stopped for some nasty fish and chips after we watched the river locks transport boats from a high elevation lake to a low elevation lake.

Eilean Donan Castle is the most photographed in Scotland.

DAY FIVE Sunday we attended the service at Church of Scotland Invergarry. The order of service was traditional, but the sermon by a woman pastor was quite different. From there we drove the beautiful Glen Shiel road to Eilean Donan Castle. The most interest fact I took away from that castle was when three people defended it against a siege from MacDonald-- they were successful!

From there we drove to Armadale Castle Gardens and Museum of the Isles. The museum was an overview of Scottish history: tartanization (when kilt patterns were assigned) of Scotland began in 1815, bagpipes were banned in 1746 for 11 years, the Scottish clearances, and more.

After a dinner of rumpsteak and lasagna at one of the few restaurants we found in the area, we drove the road to Elgol. It was super long and ended with anti-climactic views. As we drove back, we determined that it was a waste of a lot of time. On the way back to the same B&B, a giant red deer ran in front of our car!

DAY SIX Monday started with a malfunctioning shower in our B&B but turned into a nice hike to Foyer Waterfall later. After our hike, we ate a quick lunch and headed to the Cairngorm Reindeer Center. Reindeer were extinct in the region for 1000 years but then were reintroduced in 1952. We went with the herder on his daily rounds on the high slopes to visit some of the 150 reindeer there now. I got to feed Monty and bond with one of the other reindeers as he almost fell asleep to my scratching behind his ears.

A hike around Loch an Eilean on the Rothiemurchus Estates concluded our day. The highlight was when I “saved” a frog by walking him back down the hill to his pond (or maybe he was really upset that I ruined his progress uphill to some other unforeseen goal). We ate pizza at a local joint after finding the hotel restaurant down the street fully booked. Clune House B&B boasted new owners only one month into the B&B business.

Wolverines don't look like wolves at all.

DAY SEVEN Tuesday we made a short visit to the ever-open Ruthven Barracks. Then we spent most of our day at the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore which was amazingly free to enter and a interesting and lengthy stop. We finished our day at the Kincraig Highland Wildlife Park where we saw a wolverine (looks kind of like a giant skunk-badger) for the first time as well as a “highland tiger” or Scottish wildcat which looked entirely like a housecat—maybe it was. We ended the day in Braemar town with chicken tikka and a hamburger before retiring to our youth hostel.

DAY EIGHT Wednesday brought a visit to Braemar Castle. The tour was long and cramped but interesting. The castle is owned by the Farquharson family. Next was Crathes Castle founded in 1596 and has been best preserved in Britain by the Burnett family. Dunnottar Castle was the final stop for our trip and it was a grand one! It held out for 8 months against Oliver Cromwell’s army in 1651 thus saving the Scottish crown jewels (which were their identity and pride). We ate dinner in Stonehaven—one of the worst meals we had—and Lairhillock Lodge had us for the night before we flew back to Stuttgart the next afternoon.