12.24: On the road to the Highlands

I left Banchory around 8:30A, which was a fairly common departure time for me. There was a lot of frost on the car, but little traffic on Christmas Eve morning and not much fog. Looked as though it was going to be a clear morning.

I took A980 toward Alford and stopped at Craigevar Castle. Then back on the road; I took A944 to Mossatt then A97 through Kildrummy and Strathdon and once again in the Grampian Mountains. Then A939 to Tomintoul ("two-man-toe") which was a town recommended by the bartender at the Burnett Arms. Alas, the "famous" Scotch place was closed due to family illness and renovation. Still, I parked the car and wandered around the town a bit. I went in to The Highland Market which was just across the way from the Toumintoul Scotch Corner; The Whiskey Castle was next to the market. It was just after 11A when I got there, and the proprietor and I chatted a bit about the weather, about tourists, about New Year's, and about why he couldn't sell whiskey until after 12:30P on Sunday.

He also told me that he'd heard a statistic that 83% of Scots don't believe in any thing, and he added that he thought there would be fewer wars if there was no religion. I laughed and told him that humanity would find something else to fight about. I didn't want to hang around Toumintoul for over an hour just to buy whiskey, so I was back on the road and headed toward Grantown-on-Spey, in the heart of Whiskey Country. From Grantown-on-Spey I took A95 toward Duinlan Bridge to A938 to A9. A lot of that area is part of The Glenlivet Estate, also simply known as The Glenlivet, which is huge. I stopped somewhere along the way and took a bit of a walk, but then back in the car to Inverness.

I managed to misdirect myself in Inverness and headed south on A82 along the shores of Loch Ness. It was still light and a reasonably clear day, so I stopped to take a few pictures, but then drove a bit further and found a nice little souvenir shop where I did a wee bit of shopping. I kept going down the road until I reached Urquhart ("Urkurt") Castle. It was then I realized I'd gone too far south. It was mid-afternoon so I got a few nice shots of the castle from up above because touring the ruins requires a ticket and some time. I had the former but not the latter and I knew I'd be traveling that way again in a few days. I headed back up A82 to and through Inverness and found my way to the A9 again, across a bridge over Moray Firth, and on up through Allness to Invergordon and The Kincraig House.

I arrived around 4:30P and was offered a glass of sherry or wine as I checked in. I was shown to my room--still no lift, but someone to help carry the big ol' suitcase up the stairs--after I made my booking for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day lunch. I had plenty of time to get cleaned up before my dinner reservation at 7P.

Christmas Eve dinner was a moderately formal affair, so I got dressed up (stocking and heels!) for the first time in days. I went downstairs to the lounge, which had a fire in the granite fireplace and has big comfy couches and leather chairs, to sit and relax with a glass of wine before dinner. The gentleman who was, in effect, the maitre d was wearing a tux and red bow tie. Dinner was an elegant affair--starter, soup, main course, and dessert. The food was quite excellent. Press coffee, too, though I threw them off by wanting my coffee with my dessert.

I realized one of the servers did not have a Scottish or English accent and we chatted briefly after dinner. She and her husband, who is one of the chefs, are Canadian. They're from Ontario and hope to return some day to open a fish camp. That will a long long way from The Kincraig House.

I sat in the bar after dinner, finished my coffee and enjoyed the fire there. Others came in, chatting quietly, formal sort of tension. I'd gotten the occasional sidelong glance during dinner, but I was thoroughly enjoying myself. After a bit I went out to get my sneakers (trainers) from the car and exchanged comments about the velvet black sky and stars with a gentleman who was taking a cigarette break. He invited me to join him and his wife for drinks, which I did.

There were others in the bar who chatted more freely once I was no longer a singleton, though Jen is quite a friendly woman. She, Malcolm, and I stayed up and talked and laughed until almost 1A. They and I had 3P lunch times, so she invited me to sit with them at lunch. I agreed. We wished the staff a "Merry Christmas" and left so they could finally clean up and go home themselves. Fortunately, most of them live very close by. It was an absolutely wonderful wonderful day.