A Magical Time Day 4

Enjoying a taste of Arran Gin and Tonic
at Bay Stores

Our next adventure was one that is always dear to my heart - visiting the Isle of Arran. But, this time, Arran exceeded all my expectations!

First of all, my daughter Whitney, was able to join us!  So this was truly a mother/daughter expedition.

First we had to get to the Ardrossan ferry and get our breakfast.  Check!

Then we headed out to the Machrie Moor Standing Stones since this, to me, is required viewing for anyone visiting me, time permitting.  Check!

Next, and third time lucky for me, lunch at the Sandwich Station just across the street from the Lochranza ferry.  I have wanted to eat here since I first discovered how popular and well thought of this little place was when  I did some research last year for our niece's visit.  We did not have the time then, nor the last time I was here with Dana and Danny. So I rather insisted this time. And the Sandwich Station did not disappoint!  Check!

The Arran Distillery

Following lunch, Carmen and Savannah had a tour of the Arran Distillery while Whitney and I got a lovely coffee and sat outside in the sun.  I have done this tour 3 times, and since I was driving, there was no point doing it again.  All 4 of us enjoyed our time at the distillery, in our own ways!  Check!

Burlington Guest House

Unfortunately, there was no time to linger in Lochranza, although that is where Carmen's husband's family claims their heritage from.  We needed to get from Lochranza to Whiting Bay in about 40 minutes so the Bay Stores was not closed for the day. This was another main point of being on Arran this time around.  So, Whitney drove directly to our guesthouse, the Burlington, we grabbed our keys left for us in the hall since there was no one there to meet us, and we walked as quickly as we could to the Bay Stores to meet Stuart Fraser for a free taste of Arran Gin.  But he had left already......

Arran Gin

Oh, wait, he came back!  And we had the best discussion of the history of Arran gin and the most amazing demonstration of its ingredients, before Stuart made us our own Gin and Tonics.

Such a nice way to discover a new gin!

These we were able to sit outside in the Scottish warmth and sunshine to enjoy. And Stuart joined us!  The end of a perfect day.....well, the end of all scheduled points of the day.

View from Eden Lodge

I had hoped to eat dinner at Coast since it was close.  Let me stress Whiting Bay is not a large village, but it is spread all along the coast and even walking to the restaurant Coast was about a half mile. We could not drive since we had already had that one drink, remember drinking and driving in Scotland is a huge no no!  But Coast was closed, the pub next door, Shore, was also not open. So we hit our phones to see if we could get a pizza delivered or anything, and stumbled upon the Eden Lodge, another half mile walk but an even better menu choice and this ended our perfect day....perfectly!

View from Whiting Bay, I could sit here forever!

A Magical Time Day 3

Anstruther

After a very early start, we stopped at Krispy Kreme just outside of Edinburgh for a quick bite to eat. Carmen  treated us to donuts and coffee since she is aware of how much driving Alan is doing.  He loved having his favourite donut for breakfast!

The Isle of May

Next stop was Antruther, one of the darling fishing villages in the East Neuk of Fife. There is an excursion ship there - the May Princess. We boarded this a headed off to the Isle of May which is 5 miles off the mainland.

The May Princess

The goal was to see thousands of nesting seabirds.  The Isle did not disappoint.  I had never been this early and the Puffins were still incubating their eggs so more seemed to be just sitting around instead of frantically feeding their young.  It was as if they knew their free time was limited. But funny not to see them with beaks full of sand eels!

We had also stopped at the Co-op for a meal deal, sandwich, crisps (potato chips) and a drink so we would not go hungry while out there. This is something I love about the Isle of May but something that you need to be aware of .....  there is NOTHING there except birds. No tea shops or anything.  (there are public toilets thankfully!) Oh, yes, there is a snack bar on the May Princess.  I had not been aware of that before this trip, but you can only buy snacks and drinks, they do have a Gin Bar though!  So if you want to eat during the many hours you are lucky enough to be there with all those birds, you need          to bring your own food!

Eider duck incubating her eggs,
keeping them warm with her down.

Here are some of the bird photos I took, there are hundreds more and I apologise for probably posting too many here anyway!  It was great to be able to share this with Carmen and Savannah.

Kittiwakes

Puffins

So many Puffins!

Guillemots

It was a super day on the Isle of May and all that was left at the end of the day was fish and chips at one of the best chip shops in Scotland.  My goal is always to eat in the restaurant, but this never happens because it is just too busy.  Same this time, so we ended up getting the best fish and chips ever, and eating them in the car.

Our next stop was back home and then early to bed since we had an early ferry to catch for our next adventure!

A Magical Time Day 2

Kelso

We had an early start today because we were invited to a surprise 50th birthday for a good friend of mine. Only problem? It was in Kelso, the Scottish Borders!  But really, no problem at all, just had to see if my friends could come along and then introduce them to a part of Scotland I have never taken visitors to! And why not? The Borders is gorgeous!

We made arrangements to meet friends we know in Jedburgh first. We met them on a cruise, thanks to a  packet of  crisps (potato chips) and have been great friends ever since. I just wish they lived closer. But we met at one of our favourite places - Border Meringues!  We ate a delicious lunch and bought meringues to take home.  It was great catching up with dear friends and then moving on to Kelso.

Before lunch we parked at Jedburgh Abbey and just enjoyed the blue sky and wonderful history of this area.

Upon arriving at Kelso, we drove around so that Carmen and Savannah could enjoy this area.  I was also aware that my friend might be anywhere!  Surprise parties can be so stressful, even if you are not the one organising them!  Here are a few photos of this area:

Traffic jam!

Floors Castle

Alan went on to Kelso Abbey and I intended to, but the shops were calling to us and the 3 women enjoyed a bit of retail therapy prior to checking in to The Townhouse.

Just to give an idea of the creativity of
how to display books!
We could all learn from this man!

This is located very near the square and was a perfect location for the party.  I had no idea it was going to be a darling as it was though.  Perfectly decorated and absolutely full of books! All tastefully situated, nothing like the stacks of books at my house.  We could use some of the owner's style!  But then, this townhouse was also many floors with large hallways and many places to display his amazing book collection.

I am not posting any photos of the party for two reasons, the main one is, my camera settings were all wrong and I ended up with very short videos. The other one is, the birthday girl hates a fuss and doesn't like her photo taken and I am respecting her privacy!  (I wish I could just say that was the only reason!)  Suffice it to say, it was a magnificent gathering of so many people who love her.  Many of them drove the distance we did since she lived on our side of Scotland for years before leaving us for love!

This was taken through the top floor window of The Townhouse, overlooking Kelso square.

I highly recommend this place to spend more time than we did.  Sadly, we had to leave at 8am the next morning because I was taking Carmen and Savannah to a very special island in the East Neuk of Fife!  So no breakfast for us. We missed a great experience too. Or at least we think we did, the dining room where breakfast is served was breathtaking!

A Magical Time retracing steps and discovering new places Day 1

Greenan Castle

After years of hoping that my friend, Carmen, would be able to get herself over here, she did!  And she seemed to have brought Florida weather with her, making the week she and her daughter were here even more magical!

Dunure Castle - Tracy and Todd were able to spend some
time here, but Carmen and Savannah were just
driven by.  Time constraints.  If you look closely, this was
a scene from Outlander, but the castle was made to
look like it was on an island!

It has been visitor season in our household this year. Between Dana's visit and Carmen's arrival, another friend of mine from Minneapolis arrived from Edinburgh for just one day.  She and her husband also experienced excellent weather, people are not going to believe this part of Scotland is not always gloriously sunny! The special thing about this friendship is we were just two lost American women in Paris one year. And have stayed in touch! I was delighted she and her husband came all that way to see us!

Carmen was visiting her daughter who is in London for a while and they arrived by train. At the same "station" which still has no station attached thanks to the ruinous condition of what should be the Station Hotel!  This was on a Thursday, so the camera club I belong to was having their first summer outing at Greenan Shore and this is where I took our visitors.

We only had 2 full days to experience Ayrshire, so the next day we went on  a mystery tour.  This is because I had not been to the places I wanted to take Carmen and Savannah that I forgot exactly how to get there.  This turned out to be the best approach to seeing Ayrshire at its finest and I need to try this again soon.

Dumfries House

Our first stop was Dumfries House where the largest private collection of Chippendale furniture is located.  I had not been in  a while and was looking forward to the tour along with them. However, as we turned in, I noticed the sign for the Boswell Book Festival and knew our plans were not going to happen!  This is a great festival with many famous authors giving talks and workshops in all locations, including inside the house.  But not so great for us.....

All was not lost though, Savannah noticed the garden area and suggested we have lunch there!  This was perfect and allowed us to sit outside, in the sunshine, in Scotland!  Does it get any better than that?

Yes, it did get better, suddenly there was music in the air.  I asked and was told there are local men who just randomly get together to play together.  How wonderful!

How to follow this?  Well, the plan was to visit Bargany Gardens. For years, I would drive past the gates going from one work area to another, and every May there would be a sign stating the garden were open to the public, May only!

View from our table

What I did not factor in was that it had been years and my Ayrshire geography was not working well, so we ended up driving past Turnberry Hotel and decided to pop in for a drink. They got Bellinis, I got tea since I was the driver and the drink/drive laws in Scotland are very strict.  But the tea service is an event in itself, just handling the tea strainer and pouring milk from silver jugs.  We were all delighted with this accident of taking the wrong turn!

The scene most taken when visiting Bargany Gardens!

After this enjoyable break, I did finally manage to find Bargany Gardens.  It was beautiful, as it always is.  Just a nice walk amongst many differing kinds of flowers, but lots of rhododendrons!

We were even invited by the Lady of the Manor to stay and discover the walled garden, she understood we arrived late and that Carmen and Savannah would never be able to return.  This gesture made the visit even more special.

Huge Rhododendrons!

What a great way to start a week in Scotland!  The rest of the week was just as pleasant, but I will have to get to that when there is more time. Can't rush such a fabulous trip!