Day Two:
We started out on our second day of our Scottish Highland vacation with a down pour of rain. We had planned for rain, and coming from The Netherlands where it is rainy a majority of time we never alter our plans for rain. We just dress for it and go on!
Fort George
The closed front gate in the downpour of Scottish rain
Located on the entrance of Moray Firth this massive fortress was built after the Jacobite Rebellion. We made it our first stop of the day and arrived at the gate in the pouring rain to find we were a bit early. Standing in the rain we took in the site of the walls and marveled at the shear impressiveness the fortress. I have toured other military forts but his one was huge in comparison to any other I have visited.
The Principal Bridge that leads into the main garrison.
Once the large gate was opened and we paid our entrance fee of 11 pounds and purchased the guide book. This site is part of Historic Scotland that has a register of over 300 sites throughout Scotland. This site is also an active British Army Fort and you can witness soldiers who are stationed at the Fort going about their normal daily duties as you visit the museums and structures.
Called by many who have served at Fort George, Fort Misery we could understand on the day we visited why it would have such a pet name by service members. It is walls, barracks, a chapel, a parade field and guns to protect the British Crown. Little else of comfort is contained within the walls of this structure.
What I could see of the Moray Firth
Checking out the Fields of Fire from a gun point.
Killing time at Fort George, active military troops and vehicles.
The highlight of this visit was the Highlander’s Museum. This multi floor museum highlights the contributions of those who have served in the Queen’s Own Highlanders throughout their long battle histories.
We spent about two hours touring this location and the rain kept pouring down. Our next stop…
Glen Moray Whiskey Distillery, Elgin
Glen Moray Distillery
A quick drive on A 96 a mostly double carriageway and we arrived in Elgin, Scotland and the home of Glen Moray Distillery.
I am the whiskey fan, it has never been the hubby’s sort of drink but it was the perfect tour for a rainy day. We paid our five pounds/each for a tour and learned all about making whiskey. There seems to be hundreds of these sort of whiskey distilleries in the area and I just picked the one that seemed closest to our location.
We learned about malting, and the types of barrels and how that adds to the different tastes of the whiskey. Why are some aged much longer? What makes the taste or blend better? It seems it is mostly in the type of cask it ages in.
One of five of the original distillers at Glen Moray
Display casks of whiskey
After our tour we were able to sample some of the Glen Moray productions. I had to drink the hubby’s samples as well… I was very happy at this point of our day.
An American, Scottish Whiskey connection at Glen Moray
The hubby poured me into the car and took over the driving to our next location…
Brodie Castle
The picture of the castle is our featured image and since no photography was allowed inside the castle we don’t have more pictures to share.
The tour of this castle which existed in one family, The Brodie of Brodie (around 400 years). It was given to the National Trust for Scotland when the last of the family line passed away in 2003. The castle interior has been kept as it existed when the last member of Brodie of Brodie lived there.
The tour was small (maybe 8 people). We had a new tour guide. We were his very first complete tour. If he hadn’t have told us I doubt we would have known. He was very well versed in the history of the castle.
The one thing worth noting was the wonderful Dutch Master’s paintings that hung on the walls. Yes, we knew they were Dutch before we were told by the tour guide. Someone in the line of Brodie was very fond of Dutch painters.
I found the library of over 6000 volumes of books that had been collected by the families to be the most interesting. The wealth of history within all those books would be fabulous to research.
In the spring the castle garden contains a large daffodil collection. It was the hobby of the last castle resident of the Brodie family.
When we finished our castle tour we headed back to our apartment via the back roads, once again taking our lives into our own hands, negotiating the narrow roads with crazy fast Scottish drivers.
Coming Next Blog … Fish and wildlife
Have you visited this area? Toured a Scottish whiskey distillery? A castle? Fort George? Please add your comments/insights below to our blog.
© The Cedar Journal, 2019, all rights reserved.
The Cedar Journal 
Sounds like a wonderful trip you’ve got going on there! I’m a whiskey fan, too. Or should I say “whisky” since you’re in Scotland where they leave out the “e”. 🙂
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😂 My hubby has marked all the sample bottles and accused me of drinking while writing the blog. Several proofreading issues on this one had to be corrected.😂
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I didn’t actually notice any! My partner proofs my blog sometimes, too. Today, in fact!
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Good thing, as it was not making sense before publishing yesterday. They are so good to have around for the many things they do for us, proofreads are only one of the many talents.
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Whoa, thought I was all caught up and low and behold there’s another post from the Scotland trip! I am also a whiskey fan (or as Kathleen educated me, whisky) – we try to catch a distillery or winery on all our trips to sample the local spirits. How odd to see the American connection (barrels) to such a historic country. They gave us golf so that is probably the least we can do, especially since golf is so much more entertaining with a stiff drink hehehehe.
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Yum. Perfect sort of weather for a wee dram or two!
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You are very correct! A wee dram in the past rainy weather is very Scottish thing to do.😊
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