Well ladies and gentleman - I didn't actually see the Loch Ness monster but I have been to Loch Ness and it was a wonderful experience indeed. Friday, July 9th we set out from Inverness (after stopping to drop off the 2nd of 3 COVID tests I had to submit) and made our way along Loch Ness to catch a boat for our tour on the Loch itself - and maybe a Nessie sighting!
The River Ness flows into Inverness - which gives the town it's name - and it also flows into the deep loch that forms Loch Ness. Our drive on Friday was fairly short and the day started out with heavy cloud cover shrouding the surrounding mountain peaks in fog. Once the road began to wind alongside Loch Ness, the statues of Nessie began to pop up everywhere and y'all know my sister and I can't eve miss a good photo opportunity - so we stopped at a couple along the way!
There have - to date - been over 1,000 sightings of the creature called Nessie that cannot be debunked and the boat we toured the lake on had advanced radar and imaging installed so that if anything is on the move during your tour, you'll know about it! Our guide was named Mike and due to a scheduling conflict, we ended up being the only people on the boat during the tour - which was pretty awesome!
The water was calm and the weather slowly started to clear, so that as we cruised along the loch the mountains slowly began to emerge from the fog and mist! The tour left from near the town of Drumnadrochit - which is easily one of my favorite Scottish town names - and the location of Urquhart Castle, which has had a place on the banks of Loch Ness since the 12th century.
Mike has been leading tours for several years now and hasn't seen Nessie himself but did show us a scan that the radars on the boat picked up during one outing that showed something very large moving through the water. *shrugs* He also shared about participating in a Make A Wish experience for a young boy who wanted to see Nessie... the tour group contacted Hollywood to have a lifelike Nessie made and Mike swam inside the costume/machine for over an hour to give the little boy his Nessie experience!
As the clouds cleared and our tour ended, we climbed back into our car and headed toward the coastal town of Oban - by way of Drumnadrochit, Balachulish and Fort William along the way - some Scottish towns have the very best names! We grabbed lunch at a pub in Fort William where I had a very tasty cheese toastie and had my first sighting of Ben Nevis - the highest peak in Scotland, the United Kingdom and the whole of Britian!
We dropped off our things at our AirBnB in Fort William and then made our way to Oban - a coastal town that is also home to the Oban Distillery. That's right y'all - even more whisky! And you know what? I actually preferred the Oban whisky to the Glenfiddich whisky from the previous day! Our tour guide at Oban was named Mike (yep - two Mikes in one day) and he was beyond excellent at his job - he was hilarious, knowledgeable, personable and just a delight to chat with as he shared all about the making of Oban whisky!
The tour was a bit smaller than the previous day with only four people along for the tour (my Mom sat this one out) - but we saw so much more, including the barrels where the barley was fermenting, the stills where the mash was being heated, the wash back bins and the warehouses piled high with Oban whisky! We sampled two different whisky options and we were given our very own Oban whisky glass to take home as as souvenir!
You might be wondering what made the difference between the two whisky variations that we sampled and the most notable difference is that Glenfiddich hails from the Speyside region of Scotland and Oban hails from the Highland region of Scotland. I cannot tell you exactly where all the differences come in but I guess when it all comes down to it, I'm more of a Highland whisky gal than a Speyside whisky gal! Granted - I haven't tried whisky from the Lowland, Campbeltown & Islay regions... so who knows?
Our tour guide recommended a restaurant called The Olive Garden - and jokingly mentioned that it wasn't like the restaurant in the states. The restaurant was filled with delicious fresh seafood and wonderful pastas and every bite was so very divine! The seaside town of Oban was so picturesque and charming, with colorful buildings lining the streets, boats bobbing in the harbor and islands twinkling in the sunshine in the distance. The weather was stunning - with sunshine, fluffy clouds and a gentle breeze with temperatures hovering around 75. I am so glad we had a chance to explore this little town!
Our final stop was to head up to McCaig's Tower - a hilltop with a coliseum-like structure on the top and stunning views of the town and bay laying out below it. There had been a brief rain shower and everything was a little cooler and twinkling with raindrops... and the views were not to be beat! We also stumbled on a little cat wandering the coliseum and taking in the sights.. a cat that was very open to receiving pets from my sister and I!
As we made our way back down the hill, I found a pre-made daisy chain looped on a tree branch and topped my head with it, sending a silly picture to Ryan back in the States. We made our way through Balachulish, stopping to snap pictures of some castle ruins along the way and as the sun started to set over the lochs and mountain peaks - I couldn't help but be persuaded yet again that Scotland might be the most beautiful place on Earth.
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