RETREAT!

This morning was nice and lazy. Got some stuff organized and threw out a bunch of brochures that you seem to collect as you travel along. About 12:30 my tummy was saying lunch time....feed me. We decided to go down toward the shopping center where we had noticed a small restaurant (looked like fast food), Harry Ramsden. Great fish sandwich and an extensive take-out menu.

From there we headed out on A892 towards Beauly.

Tried to get some pictures of the Caledonian Canal which ends here at Beauly Firth. Looking back we could see the Inverness Bridge over the Moray Firth.



The vistas across Beauly Firth towards the Craignorms and Ben Wyvis.

Along the way, we noticed a signage to a Moniack Castle Country Wines. Well I know that the wines of Scotland are not going to be like those of California, but wanted to taste!
The entrance to the Moniack tasting room.


The winery is a family business which was started in 1979 by Phillipa Fraser. But because of government rules, the have to now outsource the making of the wines to other companies. But the recipes are the same. The wines are Silver Birch (from the birch tree), Elderflower, Plum, Cherry and Ginger. The Liquers are Plum Brandy, Cherry Brandy, Apricot Brandy, Moniack Sloe, Whiskey and Ginger. And then there is MONIACK MEAD! We tasted Ginger and Silver Birch. Lovely! Also we tasted the Whisky and Ginger. Then we tasted the Moniack Mead; a Honey Wine!
I hope you can read this history of Mead (honey wine)...it's a lovely story and explains the origins of "Honeymoon".

It was starting to rain pretty hard as we left this beautiful little roadside niche.

On to Beauly where I got a postcard (so silly) for Sonya. Then to the Beauly Priory dating from 1230 and the only remaining one of three priories constructed for the Valliscaulian order.






Back to the car we decide on a loop to take, around to Muir of Ord, Marybank, Dingwall and then back to Inverness.

At Muir of Ord we stop at the Glen Ord Distillery for a wee dram. They are fully booked for tours as they have two bus loads coming. But we are served a Glen Ord single malt 15 yr. You cannot purchase this single malt in the states; only in Scotland, Singapore and some other indonesean place.



It was a good single malt, but I think I prefer the Dalwhinnie better which is in the same family of single malts; Speyside.


On the way out to the parking lot, I saw the perfect photo op with Dick coming out of the tasting room, the fall leaves and the distillery in the background. Fumbling with my umbrella and camera and asking Dick to stop for the picture, I DROP THE CAMERA. In the crash. the camera lens was open and broke away from the camera body.

RETREAT!!! Back to Inverness where I had spotted Curry's, a store rather like Best Buy in the states. They had cameras on sale. We took a good look and went for another Kodak Easy Share M530. Of course the only drawback is that recharger connections are British style prong-outlets; and so when back home we will have to use the converters. Too funny. Life is never dull with Su Stroud around you to cause havoc!

Cheers.