3 days on the Isle of Bute - Day 1

Chandlers Hotel

We have just returned from a lovely break thanks to Groupon!  Funny thing is, 2 years ago was the first time we went to Bute together (I had been once before with my Mom and good friend, Karen).  The first trip was off season and my husband still fell in love with the place and we had to return.  Last summer, we took our grandson - who also loves the island and he was only 8 at the time!

We have been watching for another Groupon deal at the Chandler's Hotel and one finally popped up!  (This was before we got the camper van, not sure if we would have stayed at a hotel if this had been the other way around - glad it wasn't!)  Chandler's is what you would expect from a local, traditional hotel.  It is comfortable, small, and has a great dinner menu. The owner is actually the cook and he really seems to enjoy cooking because we have never been disappointed.  The Groupon voucher was misleading though. It read as if we had 2 nights' dinner, bed & breakfast.  We thought this was a fantastic deal and were looking forward to just kicking back and not doing much at the end of the day after the dinners. However, when we checked in and asked why our invoice only stated dinner on Monday night, the hotel staff took our voucher and assured us it was only dinner for one night.  Either way it was a super deal and I was quite happy to find a new restaurant to try on the second night.  But really....the wording should be clearer.

Just getting ahead of myself here though. It was too early to check in when our ferry from Wemyss Bay arrived so we drove away from Rothesay and re-visited places we enjoyed before and discovered a new place!  I really wanted to stop in a Isle of Bute Discovery Centre building right next to the ferry terminal. We had always missed that before and it has info on the island that just might be helpful.  This building was originally the 1924 Winter Garden on Bute and I am so glad they kept it. Not only is there a tourist information and shop in the front, there is also a fabulous display about what to discover on the island.  Then there is also a cinema at the rear of this building.  What more could you ask for?

I also learned there is an Isle of Bute Gin  so I had to search that out!  The only place listed that sells it on Bute was the Bute Brewing Company in Rothesay, so we went there to check it out.  Yes, they do seem this gin, but only in small bottles. The large labels are being held up for some reason.  This gin is not actually produced on Bute since there is a problem getting premises. They distill the gin in Glasgow using gorse picked on Bute as one of the ingredients.  I have not yet tried this gin but am looking forward to doing that soon!

After this, we drove to Ettrick Bay to enjoy the view of the Isle of Arran and the tea shop we know serves amazing cakes and pies!  Here are some views along the way:

Two years ago, we drove past this house and it was virtually in ruins.  I will try to find the photo but so far, I have had no luck.  We are so impressed with how it looks now! Even the Queen Victoria post box, that you can just see on the right of the building, has been totally and beautifully restored!

Ettrick Tea shop
Doesn't look like much, but don't judge a tea shop by
its cover!

Ettrick Bay is one of our required stops when we are on Bute.  There are a number of reasons for this and some have nothing to do with us at all!

1. I have been told many young people from Glasgow learned how to swim in this bay. This would have been during the time period when Glaswegians went "doon the watter" for their summer break.  Bute wasn't the only island they visited. There were numerous steam ships that collected people from Glasgow and took them all along the west coast of Scotland for their summer break. So I wanted to see this bay last time we were here and again on this trip.  (they also came to the beach resort that is my chosen hometown on the Ayrshire coast.)

2. The view of the Isle of Arran is so much different from what we are used to from our viewpoint on the mainland.

Our slices of pie were not as generous as in previous visits. 

I guess the economy is biting everywhere, but

the size was actually perfect.  

I could not have eaten anymore.

3. We discovered an amazing tea shop where, the Ettrick Bay Tea Room- at least 2 years ago - the man working there, possibly the owner, bakes all the cakes and pies.  I didn't have a chance to ask him this time, it was busy, but the selection was still fabulous and our lemon and toffee meringue pies were exquisite!

4. There is a bird hide there we have yet to find!

5. My grandson has asked to go back there to go swimming - too late this year though.

6, In reading the link above, I learned there is also a stone circle near there, so now another reason to go back!

After enjoying our pies and a bit of a walk on the beach, we found ourselves back in Rothesay, watching the ferries come in and go out.  It was nice to just stand there and take it all in.



From there, we went the opposite direction, toward Port Bannatyne, then taking a road to the other side of the island and heading south to Kilchattan. I read that there were standing stones relatively easy to find around Kilchattan (I never found them, we looked a few times.... another reason to come back!)  Instead, we discovered the ancient ruins of St Blane's Church and took a closer look at this fantastic building.

The sign at the base of the hill where St Blane's is located says the walk - mainly uphill - would take 20 minutes.  We were not sure if that was one way or the whole walk.  After spending a lovely time within these beautiful and thought provoking ruins, we think 20 minutes is the whole walk.  All in all, we spent about an hour. Again, reading the above link, I realise I missed seeing a hogback.  These are from Viking days and now I need to go back and see that too.

Higher graveyard
in dark ages, reserved for monks
in medieval times, reserved for the local men!
There is a lower graveyard for local people in the dark ages
and women in medieval times.

Hogback stone displayed in Govan Old Church
Well worth a visit and there is a free ferry to cross the Clyde
river to this collection. The Govan Stones

The only ones I have seen were relocated to a Glasgow church visited with American visitors earlier this year.  I have never seen one in its original position.

That is the extent of our travels on our first day on this beautiful island.  It was time to go check in and get ready for dinner.

There is a limited menu with a good variety of choices.  But our choice was not available and we had to "settle" for Balmoral Chicken.  This is a breast of chicken stuffed with Haggis and it is always delicious.  And it did not disappoint tonight!

Here are some of the views of the Isle of Bute from our drive today:

Since Chandler's is a bit out of town, once we had our drink with dinner, we were then limited to remain in the hotel.  I know I say it often, but Scotland is very strict with its alcohol laws and this location makes that sort of thing more obvious.  However, we had accomplished what we hoped for our first day back, and so much more. So it was nice to sit a very long time at dinner and then retire to our room.

“The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton, Tremendous Trifles