Saturday, July 13

We had to switch units today, so we packed and left our bags at the reception office and checked out. Then we hit the road with no breakfast. "We'll get something on the road". That didn't happen. As opposed to other stretches of the A9 highway, this one didn't have any rest stops with restaurants. We wanted a full British breakfast, but didn't get it.

By the time we got to Inverness, it was lunch time, but I still wanted breakfast. Our Tom-Tom told us about a restaurant by the river called the Mustard Seed. They told us where we could park cheap,. When we walked back to them to eat, they told us they would not be opening for another 1/2 hour. We found a small indoor shopping mall with a cute cafe that was serving breakfast - scrambled eggs, sausage, ham, baked beans and coffee. Linda wanted the cooked tomato that belonged with it, but she didn't get it.

We roamed around town for awhile, doing a little shopping. Linda was looking for a Fraser plaid again but everything was too heavy. We found a tourist information office and got directions to the Culloden battlefield and to the Lock Ness Exhibition Center. In their gift shop, I found the perfect scarf for me. The design was not a traditional plaid, but a much more subtle one of blue and gray with brown trim. It was made in Scotland of 100% merino wool - soft and light. I had to have it. And now I was happy.

With the advice of the tourist information official, we headed out of town for the Loch Ness site. It was only about 10 mins. We drove along Loch Ness and stopped to take pictures. At one point there was a long ripple in the water. We decided it must be from the monster. Or, a hundred other things. What do you think?

The Exhibition Center did a great job of explaining the geology, geography, and history of the area. And, they showed through videos and artifacts the host of different studies that had been performed over the years to determine if there really was a creature. The presentations also showed how a number of people created hoaxes - tree branches, painted submarines and dummy heads. It was a very objective approach to the place. We were surprised that we enjoyed it.

To get to the Culloden Battlefield, we had to retrace our path back into town and drive in a different direction. Again, close to town. On April 16, 1746, the clans fought the English for about 30 minutes and got wiped out. 1500 Highlanders died and just a few English. It was the final battle to take place on British land. The Scottish government has erected a very nice and comprehensive visitor centre to tell the story leading up to the battle and what happened after. The battle put an  end to any Stuart claims to the English throne and the clans were effectively wiped out. Its a sad story. One of the displays was a 360 degree film showing a reenactment of the battle. It was horrific by 18th century standards. They shot at each other with muskets and cannon about 100 yards apart. After that, we listened to a costumed guy in an English uniform. He told us about the men, where they came from and the muskets they used and how they compared with the French muskets. Prince Charlie had recruited some French. The French muskets were a bit more accurate than the English ones, but the English army could fire a shot every 20 seconds. They were the fastest firing army in Europe. He showed us what you had to  do to reload one of these muskets. It would probably have taken me about 90 seconds to get off one shot. I asked the guy if that rate of fire could be sustained for very long without the barrels overheating. He said, no. Two shots was about it because the enemy would be in their face about then.

Then we walked the battlefield. They gave us personal GPS devices which were supposed to give us some commentary as we reached each significant point on the moor (a large grassy field that 250 years ago would have been wet and boggy). Nice idea when they worked. The walk gave you a sense of what really went on and how close they were to each other.

Linda suggested we eat before heading back to the resort. We headed back into town and thought we would try the Mustard Seed again. Well, don't you know, the Scottish Open was being played this weekend and without reservations, we were out of luck. On our third try we found a pub that had room for us and enjoyed a good dinner with a dark bitter and a shanty for Linda. I had a burger with pastrami, mushrooms, and chili and she had vension again with something called bubbles and sketch (a cabbage dish).

Before getting back into the car, we stopped at a Tesco to buy some groceries to eat back at the resort. Can't eat out all of the time.

On the road back, I noticed a sign for the Clan MacPherson Museum. We had to stop at that because our brother-in-law Don is a MacPherson. After some searching and asking people who were walking down the road who turned out to be tourist, we found it. It was 8:30 and closed, but we took our pictures. Turns out Ruthann and Don had found it on a previous trip of theirs.

Back to the resort we checked in again and moved into our "new" unit and went to bed for a deep sleep.