After our day in Edinburgh, we decided to take this morning a little slower. Our next and final place to stay was about 2.5 hours north and we wanted to make a few stops along the way.

We checked out around 9:00 and headed to Pitlochry where we stopped to breakfast and see some castle ruins in a pasture.

We had a delicious breakfast at Victoria’s Restaurant. We ordered our meals without the famous black pudding (made of blood + fat). No one has dared try it, and none of us even want to look at it. However we have tried haggis (basically sheep meatloaf) in bon bon form. I wasn’t a fan, but then again I’m not much of a carnivore and I hated the fact that I was eating a bite of a sheep.

We stopped for petrol and continued north, driving through Cairngorms National Park and stopping at the laybys several times for photos. We also stopped once to check if the plants we were seeing on the hills were heather and discovered that they were! It was a fun change from the bracken we had been seeing earlier, even though the heather didn’t have much color anymore.

Just south of Inverness we stopped at the Culloden Battlefield where the final battle between the Jacobites and the British army was fought. They estimate that 1,500 soldiers were killed in one hour. They were buried there in mass graves and have gravestones for each different clan. We also drove past the Ruthven Barracks which the British army had built to try and stop the Jacobites.

Next we headed just down the road to look at the Culloden Viaduct which was opened in 1889 and is still used daily for trains to pass to the highlands. We saw a train go across the viaduct while we were there, but sadly the iconic steam train wasn’t scheduled to cross until the next morning.

We made it to the beautiful Rowan Lodge at 4:00 and moved in immediately. This is definitely one of my top 10 vacation homes and we are loving all the details. Highland cows in the pasture behind the house, a tiny wood stove, all kinds of local goods for us to eat and drink, and walking paths to explore. There is even an honesty shop where we can buy gifts and food items to take home. If you’re ever in Scotland, I highly recommend Big Sky Lodges.

We ventured out to a beach that turned out to be a fail, but we did enjoy the drive.

After finding a chippy for supper, we stopped at Black Isle Dairy (just down the road from our lodge) and shopped at their honesty shop. They had milk, yoghurt, ice cream, cheese, meat, and even soap and balms to purchase. You picked out what you wanted and either left cash there or entered the amount at the card terminal and paid with a card. They had such delicious products (all locally made) and I loved the concept of a 24/7 shop where you can grab an ice cream anytime. The honesty shops have been a highlight of this trip for all of us.

Stay tuned to hear about the Orkney Islands!

Love and goodnight,

x Ella