Whiskey & Chocolate?

Interesting combination, for sure, but today’s tour of the Dalwhinnie Distillery featured that unusual combination, and I am surprised to tell you that I liked it!

I am not a whiskey drinker, but this particular 15 year aged whiskey was light, with a wee bit of  a vanilla taste, and after placing a small bite of Highland Chocolate into my mouth, followed by a swig of the whiskey, I was amazed at just how good it tasted.

But, to be quite frank, if I need to have chocolate to make the whiskey enjoyable, I’d just as soon just eat the chocolate.  Just sayin.’

But let me back track a bit and tell you a bit about our morning.  We started our day with a lovely breakfast of porridge and fruit while catching up with Isobel, the proprietor, whom we’ve come to really enjoy. (and vica versa).  Then, we headed out on the M90 for the trip to Dalwhinnie.

Marty loves to make the drive with classical music playing on the radio, so that he can relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.  Somewhere along our travels, the music stopped, and I had presumed that Marty had decided to turn off the radio.

We were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, close to our destination, and concentrating on making sure that Marty made the correct turn when…..suddenly…..the radio began belting out the Hallelujah Chorus from Handle’s Messiah.

Not exactly something we had been expecting, and we both jumped while I asked Marty just what iin the world he was doing!

And, he responded by saying that he hadn't touched anything……the radio must have suddenly found an adequate station for transmission. 

As the Hallelujah’s were echoing through the car, I looked up, and standing in the near distance was our intended destination, the Dalwhinnie Distillery.

 I realized just how ridiculous this whole scenario was….it was like I was living a scene from a Chevy Chase movie when the moment of realization comes, and the movie watcher hears this famous song playing in the background.

We couldn’t have planned this set of events had we tried!  We certainly got quite a laugh out of the whole thing and decided that it must be destiny.

What other explanation could there be?

This particular distillery sits on a high mountain in the Cairngorms, and there is, literally, nothing to be seen for miles……except mountains.  It has stood on that spot since the  late 1800’s and has made Whiskey for most of the years since, save some years during World Wars and destruction from an onsite fire.

The extreme elevation results in a natural source of water from the melting ice that still caps some of the peaks from last winter..

Marty and I signed up for the tour and soon found ourselves among mashing bins and distillation columns, walking through the entire distillation facility and ending up in a warehouse that holds thousands of oak barrels filled with whiskey.

The tour was extremely interesting and I learned that this whiskey contains  only 3 ingredients:  barley, yeast and water.  It goes through a double distillation process to result in an alcohol content of about 56%.  The whiskey is aged, on site, for 15 years in oak barrels, previously used to age brandy in the United States.  Apparently there is some rule that US brandy casks can only be used once.  No worries there…the Scots are more than happy to use them to age their whisky. After 15 years, the end result is a light caramel colored whiskey with about a 43% alcohol content, as, over time, some of the alcohol evaporates out through the casks. 

At the end of the tour, we received a sample of the finished product, along with a melt-in-your-mouth piece of a special Highland chocolate. 

And I am now the owner of a beautiful glass, etched with the distillery’s name.

But, more importantly, I now have to my name a Whiskey Passport.  

I'll bet that you never saw that happening!  We were encouraged to sign up for this whiskey rewards program which offers free tours and tasting at most of the local distilleries.  

In my book, you just can't beat free. And, since I'm not really big on tasting Whiskey, this works out great for me, because I can still go on the tour with Marty (who wants to visit a couple of others in the area as they all have their unique flavor) and not worry about wasting the money.

Having completed the tour and tasting, we once again headed out on the windy road to Kingussie. (pronounced Ken  goose ee).  

Just on the outskirts is the Highland Folk Museum, an open air museum which holds original structures from as far back as the early 1700's.  When these treasures are located, the trust painstakingly moves them to the museum and reconstructs them in the original form.

There are several volunteers dressed in period who gave excellent presentations of what life would have been like in those days.  As you can well imagine, the interior is quite dark, with no windows to offer any light.  A fire was burning in the middle, and the smoke would make its way out through the thatch, thereby no windows.  Not only did 15 people live in one of these things, but their animals had their own special area inside as well!  

In addition to the early village, there were shops on display from the  mid 1930's for viewing.  One that I found particularly cute was this tailor's shop.  The building dates from 1895, but it is set up as it would have been in 1935.  I loved it. 

One point to make is that this area is known for its production of tweed.   The shop across the road from the Tailor featured all kinds of colors of tweed patterns on display.  

There was a lot to see, and we didn't actually get to see all of it.  But, it had been a free admittance and the weather was getting cold and rainy, so we didn't feel the least built guilty hopping in the car and heading to our B&B, the Arden House in Kengussie.

 Lovely place. Equally lovely hosts.

Upon checking in, after some delightful conversation, we were offered a dram of whiskey or sherry as a welcome.   And we both took them up on the offer.

Why not?

Beating Out Jet Lag

Well, it may come as no surprise for you to read that Marty and I are back in Scotland.  But this time, we are actually here to see the sights with no work involved…..or so he says.

If you recall, Marty’s job brought him to the Kingdom of Fife monthly and I was lucky enough to tag along with him several times.   Marty would head off to work, and I’d plan some exciting adventure for the day.  It didn’t take long for me to acclimate to this fair country and its friendly citizens and its weather. I’ll admit, I often felt a wee bit guilty that while Marty was dealing with crazy work issues, I was out gallivanting around this beautiful country and thoroughly enjoying it.

Not that Marty minded that. He enjoyed my company, and we would take some little side trips on weekends.

But he would frequently say that he wanted to come back and venture west, so with frequent flyer miles just waiting to be cashed in, I booked some flights and set up this trip.   With his feet on US soil only 72 hours, we headed back on a plane for a welcome respite from his hectic work schedule.

We arrived to absolutely beautiful weather,  checked into the Roods at Inverkeithing, one of our favorite B&B’s not far from the airport, and didn’t waste anytime venturing out to enjoy the sunshine.

.

Marty decided that he wanted to walk some of the Fife Coastal Trail, and, believe it or not, there was a section nearby that I had never trod.  So, we walked across the street and down the stairs to the train station (another lovely perk of the B&B….its location to the station), and boarded a train for Burntisland where we disembarked and began our walk towards Aberdour.

The term, Coastal Trail, is a bit misleading at times, as the path often wavers a bit from the coast.   In fact, we had to head into town from the train station which actually does stand along the Firth of Forth!

And, I'll admit that I did have to stop and ask someone to direct us to the trail, or Lord knows where we would have ended up, but he was more than happy to direct us.  Gotta love these friendly people, for sure!

We soon found ourselves hiking along a well maintained path with old stone walls bordering the sides. 

Obviously, the view of the coast was a bit limited, but it didn't take long before we could peek through the trees and admire the gorgeous vistas.

Not far along from here, Marty spotted these two lone seals, basking in the sun.

Mama seal must have heard us, because she turned her head and looked straight at me.

And I was lucky to have my 20X zoom lens to capture the moment!  How exciting was that?

Walking along afforded us some lovely views.

If you look close enough, you can see the Forth Train bridge in the distance.

sailboats in the harbor near Aberdour

And I zoomed in on Inchcolm Island which we had visited via ferry during one of our trips.

As you can see, it was an absolutely beautiful evening for a walk!

By this point, we had hiked quite a distance to our destination of Aberdour.

So, we headed into the charming village and enjoyed a delightful dinner at the Aberdour Hotel Restaurant before boarding the train back to Inverkeithing.

Believe me, after all of that walking, and little sleep on the plane, the comfy bed here was more than welcoming!

We'll be heading north today,  off to the Dalwhinnie Distillery.

Just the name itself sounds like fun…don't you agree?

No worries…..I'll be sure to keep you posted.  

Raise the Jolly Roger

With family still in town from the wedding, we decided that we would take advantage of the beautiful evening and spend one last hurrah taking in the Pirate's game.

So, after driving 4 1/2 hours, I found myself climbing the steps of PNC Park in search of our seats located in Section 307 Row Y.

As I made the trek up, staircase after staircase, I realized, as I was climbing the last set of steps, that we would be sitting at the very top of the stadium, in the last row.  I jokingly asked if the game was a sell out, since, at the time, the stadium was relatively empty, and it seemed to be ridiculous to be so high up, but within the hour, the stadium had filled up, and it was obvious that we were lucky to have been able to get even these seats.

It was great to be able to spend this time together, and a good time was had by all.

There was fun with Gramma G

 The much anticipated Pierogie Race:

Sauerkraut Pierogie won:

Girls dressed up in matching shirts:

Cheeseburgers and fries

And a little ketchup

And, as the sun began to set, our seats offered the perfect view of the city from one direction

and the point from the other

with the magnificent church lit up on Mount Washington

The views were certainly beautiful, but brothers were much more entertaining.

 They live on opposite sides of the country, but they showed up wearing nearly the same outfit, and, as you can see, looking very much alike despite an eight year age difference.

It certainly was a fun evening, 

and, to top it off…….the Pirates beat the Rockies.

So, as they say in Pittsburgh after a win, "Raise the Jolly Roger!!"

Let's Party!

I have always considered the ceremony to be the most important part of the wedding day.  Friends and family come to witness the covenant made by two people who have chosen to share their lives together.

If you read my previous blog, you know just how special this event was.

We were bursting with happiness, as you can probably tell.

But the vows and the pledges deserve to be celebrated.  And that we did!

It may have been hot outside, but we were comfortably cool at the party.

The venue was perfect, offering an awesome view of the city, which even amazed the youngsters in attendance.

Marty and I had a blast enjoying our guests but we certainly couldn't miss out on some fun with the cutie-pie grandchildren!

Some dancing with Gramma G

hugs from Pap Pap

as well as some Hi-Five's from the ring bearer.

The bride and groom were announced

and began the event with their first dance 

When the DJ announced the name of the song, "When You Say You Love Me,"  by Josh Groban, I heard a sigh of "Aahhhhs" echo through the room.  

Dinner was served,

and let me just say that mine was fabulous!

Soon, it was time for the father-daughter dance.  They had chosen the song, Blue Skies, sung by Doris Day.

The selection was perfect!

The DJ had whispered to me earlier that after this special moment between father and daughter, I would be dancing a song with my now son-in-law.  I'll admit, I found this a bit unusual, as no one had mentioned it previously.  

I rolled my eyes and asked the DJ, "We aren't dancing to the song, Stacey's Mom, are we?"

He assured me that was not the case, so I dutifully rose from my chair and went to the dance floor to share a special moment with the groom.

We began swaying to something slow and comfortable, and the next thing I knew, the music changed, the groom started jumping up and down, and I went along with it, only to realize that we WERE dancing to the very song I had asked about.

The Chorus rung out, "Stacey's Mom…..she's got it going on".  Luckily, the verses were muted by the DJ, but I have the feeling that most of the younger people in attendance were very much aware of them as I could hear a lot of commotion as I was swung around on the dance floor for what seemed an eternity at the time.

At one point while we were dancing , I mentioned that I didn't really know the verses, and my son-in-law commented that was probably for the better.  Yep!  

 It was certainly quite the moment, as it appeared that the entire room was filled with laughter, including my parents, who most certainly did not know the words.  (And I don't plan on telling them, either.)

When the excitement was over, the DJ came over to me and told me that he was sorry that he had to lie to me.

Something tells me that his apology wasn't exactly sincere.  

But, I wasn't alone in surprise dances, as the bride also included a special moment with her sister, the maid of honor, danced to K-Ci and JoJo

as the younger sister was subjected to listening to this over and over in earlier days, when they shared a room together. 

The evening moved on with the cutting of the cake

and the city lit up, offering an even more amazing view

I tried to greet nearly everyone in attendance, and if you are reading this and missed my attention,  I do apologize.  

I hope that everyone enjoyed the cookies and festivities and had as much fun as we did.

Let's face it…….the event was truly spectacular!

Cheers to the newlyweds!!