Thursday On our way to the Tomintoul Distillery tour, we grabbed some caffeine at the Caoldair Coffee and Craft Shop. I had a scalding hot latte that took me forever to drink (I finally had to get a...
Blog posts from Scotland
Scotland 2018: Spirit of Speyside whisky bars
Besides the Spirit of Speyside festival events we also visited several of the famous whiskey bars in the area. The Quaich, Craigellachie Hotel, Craigellachie Located just up the road from our...
Scotland 2018: Spirit of Speyside independent bottlers
During the Spirit of Speyside festival we attend three events that featured independent bottlers, groups that buy casks through brokers (usually) and then decide when and how to bottle the insides....
Scotland 2018: Spirit of Speyside Craigellachie Bridge tasting
Just like in 2017, Craigellachie hosted a fun tasting on the beach next to the Craigellachie Bridge during the festival. In fact, in 2018 they held an event on both Saturday and Sunday! On both days...
Scotland 2018: Spirit of Speyside distillery tours
Tomintoul Our first distillery tour of this trip. Through the festival, we scored four of the ten tickets available. Unfortunately for us, four extra people were added to our tour group that also...
Scotland 2018: Fort William food & drink
Eric and I did not spend much time exploring Ft William itself, mostly using it as a jumping off point for Glen Coe but we did have some memorable eating and drinking experiences in town. Tuesday...
Scotland 2018: Glen Coe, Hidden Valley, Glen Etive
Needing a break, our friends took Wednesday off from hiking, so Leandra and I set off on our own to explore Glen Coe. On an earlier trip we had driven through and loved the views, so for this trip...
Scotland 2018: Isle of Skye – Fairy Glen, Mealt + Lealt Falls, Quairaig
Our luck with good weather held out for our full day on Skye, starting with some great light in the morning. We decided to work our way along the Trotternish peninsula clockwise, making our first...
Scotland 2018: Isle of Skye – Eilean Donan Castle, Fairy Pools, Portree
On our way to the Isle of Skye, we stopped off at Invermoriston Falls (a falls we photographed a year ago) to take advantage of some blue skies. Then it was time to head west toward Loch Cluanie and...
Scotland 2018: Inverness + Drumnadrochit
Our first stop was the Clava Cairn burial mounds, just a few miles from the airport. These tomb mounds are ancient, dating back to the Bronze age, and the entrances are situated to line up with...
Scotland 2018: introduction
Scotland is definitely one of our favorite places, and over the past five years (2017, 2015, 2013) we've explored many different regions. When some well-priced tickets became available for the first...
Scotland 2017: Spirit of Speyside day 2
For our last day in Scotland we mixed several Spirit of Speyside events along with some drives and hikes through the beautiful countryside. I started off the morning with a photo session of the...
Scotland 2017: Spirit of Speyside day 1
The Spirit of Speyside event registration opened right after our return from Malaysia. A few days before that we went through the events available for Saturday and Sunday and made a prioritized...
Scotland 2017: Exploring the Highlands
Our second day in Scotland involved lots of driving, several waterfalls, one particularly rainy hike, and a few drams of whisky (naturally). We headed north out of Inverness along the A835 to Rogie...
Scotland 2017: Loch Ness
Upon landing and waiting for the rental car, the weather changed multiple times... sunny, pouring rain, cloudy, back to sun, etc. So, welcome to Scotland! We were waiting behind a couple who were...
Scotland 2017: waterfalls and whisky!
Back in late November, whilst enjoying the end of a warm day in New Zealand, we discovered some great deals to the UK. After some discussion we booked two trips, one to London in February, and a...
UK 2015: Edinburgh
Tuesday We dropped off the car after a long day of driving and walked back toward the airport's tram station. For 5£ each we were in the heart of Edinburgh in about 20 minutes. Thankfully the key...
UK 2015: Speyside to Edinburgh
Our group discussed a few options for what to do along the way to Edinburgh, and Eric and I were outvoted in favor of a trip to the east coast for castle and shore views. Our first stop was in...
Our Itinerary
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Bordeaux (Sep)
Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castile and León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)
2022 Trips
Florida (Feb)
NC Mountains (Apr)
Washington DC (Apr)
Valencia, Spain (May)
Hilton Head, SC (May)
Pacific NW (Jun)
Long Island (Jul)
Florida (Sept)
Chicago (Sept)
Poland (Sept)
NC Mountains (Nov)
Euro Xmas Markets (Dec)