Fort George, Culloden and dolphins

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On our 11th day, we toured Fort George which was built between 1748 and 1769 because of the Battle of Culloden. It is built on a peninsula that goes out in the Moray Firth and is almost a mile around. It is still used as an Army Barracks and the men did not talk to civilians, unless spoken to first. Pictures were allowed and our belongings weren't checked. Besides the barracks, there was also a chapel, interior ditches, brewhouse, provision stores, Grand Magazine used for gunpowder barrels, and a multi level Regimental Museum of the Queen's own Highlanders. The museum took an hour to see everything and was interesting. There was much to explore as we walked around and got views of Moray Firth. We had a beautiful, windy day and no rain.

From here we ventured to Culloden, the site of "the last military battle fought on British soil." This took place on April 16,1746 and was over in less than one hour in which the government forces won. Led by Bonnie Prince Charlie, over 750 Jacobites died. The last time we were here was in 1999 with a tour group and felt rushed, only seeing part of it. It is a field marked with memorial stones and markers where different clans and government forces stood. Two flags also mark the areas of each side. I felt sad seeing all the stones honoring the clans and especially where people had placed flowers by the stones.

We attempted to see Clava Cairns since it was Supposed to be free access, but the gate was locked and we took far away pictures. We had an Italian dinner down the street from our hotel. We went out to Hootananny's bar because there was a band playing Scottish music. A man that called himself a palm reader sat with us and read Suzi's palm but we were not impressed with his abilities so we left. We walked past Johnny Fox's but it looked dead so we walked back to our hotel.

Tuesday, before leaving Inverness, we went to the TIC and were told that dolphins were spotted that morning at Chanonry Point. We had planned for a dolphin trip but they were cancelled. We drove the A832 and sat for a bit at Chanonry Point on one side. Then I decided to take a stroll to the other side of the cute, little Chanonry Point Lighthouse. There were many people here and all of a sudden people were like"OHHH" and 3 dolphins were spotted so I ran back to the other side and got Suzi. I took some video but mostly saw their heads with a couple times jumping out of the water. We were happy that we saw some wildlife. We went to Beauly Firth then to Loch Ness for 2 nights at the Clansman Hotel. The best part was we were across the street from the Loch and had views of it from our room.

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Photos

Fort George
This area of Fort George faces the Moray Firth.

Memorial to the Battle of Culloden
People had recently placed flowers around it.

Culloden
Clan Donald Memorial Marker

Bonnie Prince Charlie's Stone
This was at the visitor's centre and the Prince was said to have stood on it.

Chanonry Point Lighthouse
At Chanonry Point by Moray Firth where we saw the dolphins.