Scottish Coastal Beauty

Once again, I was treated to a fabulous breakfast at the B&B:

 Eggs Florentine

And, a lovely latte.

You're drooling, aren't you?  Well, you should be....'cause both were FABulous!

But, it was time to move on, so we checked out of Brambles in Inveraray and began our journey south, back through the Trossachs along Loch Lomond, and down the coast.

But first I managed to capture this photo of Inveraray Castle from the road.

I still can't get over how beautiful it is.

We had planned to stop at Ayr (pronounced Ear), but the traffic was crazy, and to be quite honest with you, we had no idea where we were going.  And, once on the road south, we both decided that we were perfectly content to keep on going.

Our plans were to head to Culzean (pronounced Coo-lane) Castle, which stands majestically right next to the coast.  I had the map, Marty followed my directions, and we arrived without issue.  

The castle is actually closed until April, but 600 acres of woodlands are open to visit year round.

We drove down the long lane to the parking lot, and were immediately entertained by the numerous lambs that were laying in the sun out in the field adjacent to the parking lot.  You'd think by now that seeing them would be second nature to us, but we both get such a kick out of watching them romp and jump around.  At one point, one little lamb couldn't find his mama and he kept turning around, bleating, over and over again.  Poor little thing!

We managed to pull ourselves away from this entertainment, and headed towards the castle, which stands along the shore.

The grandeur was pretty amazing.  The castle was originally owned by the Kennedy clan, but in 1945, it was purchased by the National Trust of Scotland, and, at that time, the top floor was renovated into a large flat, which was bequeathed to President Eisenhower as a gesture for America's support during the war.  He apparently stayed in the castle on four separate occasions, once while President of the United States.

And, if you are interested, you can actually rent out the flat for your own holiday.  I can't even imagine what that would cost you!  Plus, you'd have to deal with pesky tourists tromping around.

The view of the Isle of Arran was highlighted by the sun shining on it when I took this photo.

You can see the snow peaks in the distance.

We walked along the grounds, admiring the castle from a distance.

I took a shot of Marty standing next to this cannon.

Doesn't it look like someone is going to shoot right at you when you look at it?

Our walk took us to a Swan pond....

and through the woods we spotted Snowdrops, which are in bloom here in February and March.

While walking back to our car, we were surprised to see deer romping around the fields.  

We stopped in the bookstore for a 'cuppa' tea and had a lovely chat with the volunteer couple in the place.  It turns out that their son lives in Lewistown, PA, just about an hour north of Harrisburg.  He married an American girl, and ended up moving to the US.  

After enjoying our hot beverage to warm us up, we jumped in the car....me with the atlas and directions, and Marty behind the wheel.  The drive was phenomenal......kind of like driving along the Oregon coast, but the road is closer to the water.   The roads here in Scotland are much narrower, and sharing them with semi's (called Lorries here in Scotland) can be a bit nail-biting, to say the least.

And it doesn't help when the Grouse seem to think that it's perfectly acceptable to amble right onto the highway as if they don't have a worry in the world.  They are certainly beautiful birds, and easy to spot, but we still had two near misses, and saw several casualties along the road.  Makes you wonder just how one became famous on a whiskey bottle.  (The Famous Grouse whiskey is big here in Scotland....just in case you didn't know.)  And, considering that they are obviously fairly brainless, it makes you wonder why anyone would want to drink that brand of whiskey!

We found our B&B easily enough and had to laugh when we realized just how close it is to the P&O ferry that we are scheduled to take tomorrow to Ireland.  

Here's the view from our bedroom

We just have to drive out of the lot here, cross the street, and get in the queue for the ferry.  It doesn't get much easier than that.

In the meantime, Margaret, who owns the B&B, suggested that we dine at the Bay House Restaurant a few miles down the road.

The sunset over the water was beautiful.

And Marty enjoyed a fabulous Fish Pie with a Belhaven Best for dinner.  (Today was his birthday, and I'd say that he had a pretty grand time!)

And tomorrow we head across the water to Ireland for the much anticipated visit of the Harvey clan in County Donegal. 

Now this should REALLY be an adventure!