Father's Day Weekend - Part 2

Let's see........where did I leave off...........oh............Saturday night.......right.......

Okay so Sunday morning we got up, had breakfast and Jeff started mapping out the best way to get to Balmoral Castle and still get to see something great on the way. Balmoral Castle is East of us, almost directly East. We choose a route that would take us directly through the Highlands! Sure it would take us a bit longer to get there, but hey......its the Highlands..........right! So we got on the road around 11:00 and headed a little South to get on a good route to head East through the Highlands. As we were headed East we could see the Highlands in front of us but just seemed so far away. Before we knew it though, we were in the heart of the Highlands. So beautiful! The curvy roads and hills left a little to be desired though on the narrow roads. I'm not one to get car sick but I was really glad when we finally got through the highlands. There's just something about driving on the "wrong" side of a windy road, on top of the high hills of Scotland that just doesn't really give me the warmest fuzzies!
Once we got to the highest point of the Highlands there was a little "Park" spot to where you could take some pictures and look over the Highlands. Wow! It was really quite a sight to see! And the thing is, you want to soak it all up, save it in the memory bank forever because all I could think was, "WOW........we are actually standing in the Highlands of Scotland!!!!"

The Highlands of Scotland

It was really a nice day for being in the Highlands too!

The ride down the Highlands was a little nerving I think for Jeff. Of course the roads going down are just as curvy and its not like you can lay on the breaks when going at that sort of incline down. But we made it and kept on toward Balmoral Castle.
We did stop for lunch in Banchory and found a nice little tea room to have lunch at. We both had their soup of the day (cream of mushroom) and a ham and cheese wrap. Like all the other homemade soups I've had here............it was the best cream of mushroom soup I've ever had!
Banchory is a neat little town (like most small towns in Scotland), just East of Aberdeen.

After lunch we headed on to Balmoral Castle.........which was about another 40 minutes East. The roadway that goes to Balmoral Castle from Banchory runs along side the River Dee. Rivers here are so different than much of what you see there. Its a shallow River and probably reminds me a lot more of the Guadalupe than say the Sabine River. LOL I would imagine that its just as cold as the Guadalupe! Along the way we found a ski resort! And really its not a far drive so I am thinking this winter it might be fun to drive to the Ski resort one weekend and finally take snowboard lessons!!! Hm........maybe that's what I should ask for, for my birthday this year! Finally its beneficial for me to have a winter birthday! LOL

The River Dee near the entrance to Balmoral Castle

So a little information about Balmoral Castle. They have a website if anyone wants to look it up, check out the info on it. Its the Queen's estate in the Scottish Highlands. Its her residence so touring the castle inside is off limits. However they do have one ballroom that has memorabilia and pictures and such in it that you can you tour. It was originally Queen Victoria's. Its a huge modern day castle (by modern I mean well maintained) and its got horse stables that are bigger than most houses in Texas (times 3) and has big open lawns, gardens and guest houses, Innkeepers quarters and such. The Details of the castle's exterior is really quite remarkable. And the estate runs along the River Dee, so you cross a bridge over the river to get to the estate gates. They have a gift shop and little coffee shop (where you can get a light meal) and of course tables and benches all over that you can sit on and enjoy the view. The tours aren't guided but you can get a hand held device that you can listen to and punch in certain numbers to hear the history. Jeff and I were probably there for about two hours just walking around, looking at everything and taking pictures. It really is a sight to see. But truth be told..........I enjoyed Dunnotarr Castle more and I think only because its practically in ruins and more what I think a castle looks like back in the history of Scotland.

Balmoral Castle (The Queen's Estate in the Highlands of Scotland)

The clock tower on the "east side" of the castle

I really love the details!

On the way to the estate gates, after crossing the River Dee there is a memorial there to honor the men who fought in World War II.

The memorial right outside the estate gates

We decided on the way home to take the more traveled route home. We would get home quicker and we also didn't want to really take the Highlands home since we were both getting pretty tired by then. We had a great Father's Day weekend though and really enjoyed seeing the castle, the highlands and of course our date night!

These cars were sitting out front but we think they belong to people that were there visiting the grounds. Lots of Bentley's and Royal's.