The Sassenach

 SONG - Clare/Jamie Suite from Outlander

Day 24 - May 23

I woke up with a sore throat & head cold and so Mr. B let me sleep in while he brought me back breakfast.  So sweet!  Today it’s raining quite a bit so instead of walking around the Royal Mile we thought we might go to a garden Mr. B discovered and Midhope Castle which I have been wanting to go to for 8 years. 

We decided to go to Midhope first which is near the Firth & Forth Bridge. Midhope Castle was used as the stand in for Lallybroch Castle in the TV series Outlander.  I got us tickets online and off we went in the pouring rain but by the time we arrived the rain had turned into a mist and then stopped altogether.

 We walked up to the castle, which is just a ruin inside and took some photos.  Walked around the to the back & explored a bit. 

Mr. B hamming it up a little with his “air sword” 

He looks just like Jamie right?  (Wink)

It was perfect without any crowds. We even had a few moments alone there. 

We then headed for Mallory Gardens but it was pouring by then and the parking lot was quite a bit away so we scratched that idea and headed to the Sheep Heid Inn for a late lunch/early dinner. 

Sheep Heid Inn - Established in the 14th Century 

We were both quite happy with our front door parking spot!

The Sheep Heid Inn is a great little gastro pub with a skittle alley (bowling) and even the Queen of England has dined there too in 2016. We enjoyed it in 2017 for my birthday and it oozes atmosphere. 

That bright thing above the chairs is a plaque stating that the Queen had been there but it’s got a spotlight on it so it glows…..

I remembered that Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish (both from Outlander) had been here recently and sat in big chairs like these. 

I just had to do it!

However as we headed home we hit a lot of traffic. They had closed down parts of the freeway due to flooding and everyone was trying to get through on surface streets. We made it back to our hotel several hours later and headed to the bar - but it was closed for a wedding. A very nice man who was affiliated with the hotel told us that the wedding wasn’t yet and the band was just warming up and to come on in. Wonderful one bagpipe player and three drummers. Got some shots and a video while Mr. B was getting our drinks.

Perfect end to a great day……

Well it wasn’t really “the end” as we were siting in one of the “sitting rooms”, the fire alarm went off and I thought it was someone near us with an obnoxious ring tone. But no, the staff came through telling us it was a real alarm and we needed to proceed outside. It was pouring outside but they handed us silver protective blankets and told us to go away from the building to the meeting spot.  

We went to our car and finished our glass of wine and watched people coming out in workout clothes, wedding attire, bathrobes and lots of silver blankets. The entire bridal party & the band we just heard inside were outside too.  Finally the fire department came and we got the “all clear” signal from the staff to go back inside.  Well done by the staff and all of the people here who were so calm. We visited with a few people from Texas and Glasgow and then came back to our room. 

An hour later I realized that the sun protector  on my camera lens had fallen off somewhere along the way. Mr. B went out to search and came back in about 10 minutes chuckling and saying “you won’t believe what just happened “   He searched our route through two elevators and down several halls, the table we were sitting at earlier and then went to the reception desk to ask if anyone had turned one in. A woman sitting nearby overheard the conversation and said a friend of hers picked one up on the floor and it was in her room. She came back within minutes and gave Mr. B my hood!  Hooray for today!

Sassenach = an outsider, especially one of English decent 

Wet and Wild

Song - Sunset Piper at the Inn at Spanish Bay


 Every night at sunset, there appears a bagpiper to say goodnight to the links at Spanish Bay.  He walks along the 18th hole with the ocean and sunset behind him.  It is a sight to behold.

So several months ago I decided to plan a trip to Carmel with Mr. B for his birthday and to surprise him I invited all of the kids to join us for dinner at Spanish Bay!

The weekend was great....except for the weather and road conditions.  In fact the hotel called me on Friday at noon saying they had no power nor did they have any idea as to when it would be restored so we could cancel. 

But Mr. B is an adventurous sort and decided if we could get food and wine, then we should go!!! Talley Ho....

 By the time we got to our hotel, the power had been restored, however the kids were staying at the Santa Cruz cabin and they didn't have power nor a break in the rain.  The San Lorenzo River was close to flood stage - but Mr. B knew none of this as it was all a big surprise! There were a lot of secret texts going on.

Have you heard that Carmel is a dog friendly town?  And it is, as is our hotel - there were dogs everywhere.  They were rather well behaved too! As we came down the stairs for dinner Friday, at the Cypress Inn, there was my cousin, her husband and their new little four month old Cocker Spaniel, Romeo. They have a home in Carmel Valley and their power had been out all day so they drove into Carmel for dinner and we just bumped into each other! Romeo had a proper neck tie on for dinner - of course.  I told you that they were well behaved!

Meanwhile we had intermittent breaks in the rain & wind in Carmel and spent Saturday shopping and poking in galleries.

We stopped in at the Tuck Box for Scones & Devon cream so we could practice for our upcoming trip to Britain.  Is it cream first then preserves or preserves first then cream?  So many tough decisions in life. It was so windy that the Tuck Box sign had been blown loose!

You can see that I decided to go with Olallieberry preserves first then the cream on my scone and all I can say is - mmmmmmmmmm......mmmmm....mmm...it was a mighty good choice!

Saturday nights dinner at Roy's was a grand surprise for Mr. B but it was freezing outside while waiting for the piper to arrive.  We were seated around a big fire pit with blankets passed around by the waiters but still it was cold and windy.  The picture above is the ocean whipping around that evening and the very top photo is of our piper.  I'm still not sure how his fingers played the bagpipe when it was so cold outside.

Great dinner together where we were warm.  The kids had stopped by Gayle's Bakery in Capitola and brought down a yummy cake - double chocolate with salted caramel.....yummmmmm!


Sunday we spent walking around Monterey with our son Jon and his friend Jackie.  We had a great lunch and they introduced us to an outdoor granite bench that is warmed from within - they had to tear me away!

Monday we headed home in the pouring rain.  It was a long drive with downed trees, mudslides, road closures, traffic accidents and flooding everywhere.  Mr. B thought he could outsmart them and took several back roads - most made us turn around to only to try to find another route but one worked out great.

We made it home safely and are looking out our back window with our own creek on the rise.

Hope you are warm and dry where every you may live.

" The Carmel is a lovey little river.  It isn't very long but in it's course it has everything a river should have.  It...tumbles down a while, runs through shallows, ...crackles among round boulders,  wanders lazily under sycamores, spills into pools where trout live.  In the winter it becomes a torrent, ... and in the summer it is a place for children to wade in and for fisherman to wander in." 

--John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

PS - at 4 am we had a blasting Emergency Alert on our cell phones - I thought the hotel was on fire but no it was to notify us that the Carmel River was flooding - I guess Mr. Steinbeck didn't have that joy!  We had about 6 alarms on our way home on Sunday notifying us of flooding in our area - thanks - I didn't notice!