British Isles Travels-Inverness, Scotland

One of my greatest fears about this cruise was the day and a half sail up and over the top of Scotland into the North Sea; I really don’t like to feel seasick. Jim uses the Scopolamine patches and for me SeaBands on my wrists usually help, but I still hate nausea. Turns out it was a very smooth sail; you just never know. We docked at Invergordon and took a motor coach tour called Highland Castles and Loch Ness. We were in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, Scotland’s northernmost district, exploring heather-covered hills on a scenic drive. On our first stop we walked over the drawbridge to visit Cawdor Castle, home of the Cawdor Campbell clan, an ancient castle where the family still resides today. The castle dates from the late 14th century and is filled with tapestries, paintings and antique furnishings (as well as the ancient dust and mold from ages gone by). Even the carpet was the Clan Tartan throughout the castle. The grounds are lovely and boast an amazing hedge maze. The castle was made famous by Shakespeare in MacBeth. Our coach next took us to the jagged ruins of Urquhart Castle which stand on a rocky peninsula on the dark banks of Loch Ness. It was near here that “Nessie” was reportedly sighted in 1977. The phrase “Scenic Beauty” was made for this area (and it was all natural beauty with no moldy old castle smell). Legend has it that a cave beneath the castle is the home of the sea monster. The Loch itself is 24 miles long, a mile wide and 740 feet deep. I had no idea it was such a gigantic yet beautiful lake. One of the highlights of the day for me was to see the Culloden Battlefield. I love the Outlander novel series and Culloden is a BIG part of one of the books; I had a moment of silence for Jamie and Claire there (for me as well as Ellen, Darla and Alyssa). The other bus riders thought I was a little nuts to be so overcome by a battlefield (they obviously don’t know Jamie!!). This was where we started to see all the Scottish Clan items available. We were searching for Moffat and Mackenzie clans and although Moffat is not easy to find, faces light up when you say Mackenzie. Big Clan in Scotland, that Mackenzie. Moffett is Scots-Irish from the Moffat Clan which originated in Scotland, migrated to Ireland and immigrated to America from there. As we began our sail away from the port, a young troupe of pipers played us away. It is a wonderful thing being of Scottish descent in Scotland. MA