Soapy Smith's Restaurant - Fairbanks, Alaska
To step into Soapy Smith’s Restaurant in Fairbanks , Alaska is to step back in time, yet it is a modern, up-to-date restaurant with good food and good service. (more…)
FORE!
DUCK!
GET OUT OF THE …. WAY!
OOPS! SORRRRY!
It’s time to hop a golf cart over to the birthplace of golf over 600 years ago, St. Andrews.
Actually, birthplace is not quite accurate. Golf in some form was probably played in another country before it came to Scotland, but hey, Scotland just had a better marketing department! (more…)
Even though we just got there (Edinburgh), it’s time to get out of town!
What do Mel Gibson, Liam Neeson and Angus Macfadyen have in common? They have all portrayed Scottish heroes at your local Cineplex. Whether or not the movies were entirely accurate (Braveheart & Rob Roy) is beside the point. The characters were real. William Wallace, Rob Roy and Robert the Bruce were, in fact, local heroes, much to the chagrin of the British monarchy at the time. (more…)
At this time, we will be nearing the end of our trip. There are still enough things to see that we could probably spend another week in Scotland, but that’s not going to happen. So, we have to make some decisions about what to see and not … (more…)
As promised from yesterday, we’re continuing our journey down to Edinburgh.
Distance: 126.0 miles
Time: 2 hr 48 min
We are going to make a few stops and hopefully we’ll have time for all of them.
The village of Blair Atholl is approximately a 90-minute drive north from Edinburgh or Glasgow just off of the A9, 35 miles north of Perth.
The seat of the Dukes and Earls of Atholl is touted as Scotland’s most visited historic house and is also the home of the Atholl Highlanders, Europe’s only remaining private army. (I think I’ll see if I can rent them out for a few jobs that I have pending around the house.) (more…)
We had a real scare around here last week. We got an e-mail from Qantas Airlines touting incredible fares to Australia from L.A.!!! And guess what? They were during the same time we planned to go to Scotland! There was even a free stopover thrown in.
Of course there was!
As Australia and New Zealand are our number 2/3 destinations after Scotland, we decided to take a look. I even got out the Australia/New Zealand travel brochures I had been storing, some for over five years! (more…)
Okay, we’re staying put for the day … sort of …
We’re looking at a train ride, a little clan homecoming, and lots of scenery.
As I mentioned in a previous installment, my reasoning for staying in Aviemore (yes, it’s really on a map) for several days was due to its centralized location in the highlands. It is also the middle of recreation country.
The Cairngorm mountains and Cairngorm National Park host a plethora of sporting activities: fishing, canoeing, mountain biking, rock-climbing, hiking, golf, horse riding … even skiing in the winter (if there is enough snow). (more…)
Someone once said you can’t have cookies without having something to wash them down with. I believe they were talking about milk, so they must not have been from Scotland!
Today we are off on a tasting tour of the Highlands. No, we’re not looking for Haggis! We’re not looking for Cullen Skink! We’re looking for cookies … shortbread, to be precise. We’re also looking for something to wash them down with in the tradition of a fine single malt whiskey! (more…)
We leave John O’Groats for a short trip to the town of Wick.
John O’Groats to Wick
Distance: 16 miles
Time: 22 min
A harbor town, Wick is also noted in the Guinness Book of World Records as having the Shortest Street In The World! 1 Ebenezer Place is a whopping 6 foot 9 inches. Yeah, that’s pretty short!
Wick is also noted for having the most northern malt whiskey distillery in Scotland, Old Pulteney Distillery. Although tours are given, we won’t have the time. (more…)
We are settling in Aviemore for several nights as a base to explore the Highlands. Okay, you had to ask! Where is Aviemore, and why would anyone want to stay there?
Actually, there are three reasons: (more…)
