SCARBSTER, SCOTLAND

---

The day dawned sunny with bands of clouds. We sailed past the Scottish coast dotted with dramatic headlands and tiny villages. The temperature at 8:00 am was 59 degrees and the seas are calm. Looks like a perfect day to explore. Had breakfast in the dining room and got off as soon as the ship was cleared. The garage picked me up and drove me to the office to do the paperwork. I changed the car to a little, two- door, standard shift cutie. It took a bit getting use to shifting with my left hand but not too long.
The day was glorious and I headed out to a small village called John O’ Groat. Not much to see here except the view of the Orkney Islands. But the sun felt good as I walked along the shore. The rock formations looked to me like a miniature Giant’s Causeway.
Backtracking toward the ship I stopped at the Castle and Gardens of Mey. After King George died, friends invited the widowed Queen to Mey for a visit. That is when she first saw the castle. It was in terrible shape but she fell in love with the setting and started about restoring it. A combination of therapy and love conceived and established the site as it is today. It was turned over a charitable trust and is now open for public enjoyment except when Prince Charles is staying there as he does each year.
It is a small castle, compared to Windsor and the original parts date to 1566. The rooms are also tiny with very high ceilings and large windows. The steep narrow stairs are uncarpeted since that was the way the Queen Mum wanted them to be. The castle is filled with family memorabilia and pictures.
I waited until the ship’s tour went through and then had the docents all to myself. They are knowledgeable and enjoy relating anecdotes.
The Irish Guards were detailed to guard the Queen Mum. A soldier’s tour would last two years. At the end of one tour, a Guardsman pick up a stuffed Loch Ness Monster and put it on the top of a priceless 15th century tapestry in the Queens drawing room. The Ladies in Waiting were horrified but it was two high for them to take down. The Queen had it left in place and used it as an icebreaker. “Hello. Do you like my Nessie? She is making her way to the other end of the tapestry”.
Then there is the note to her to daughter, the present Queen who, was coming for a holiday. “We’re short of lemons here. Will you bring up a case? Love, Mum”. Charles’s desk has a picture of Camilla on it.
The bedrooms are tiny and hold a single bed, a sink and a dressing table with mirror. No giant antique four posters here. The dressing tables are those kidney shaped ones with fabric skirts and glass tops popular in the 30’s and 40’s. The house is a charming, warm, family home.
The gardens are extraordinary. There is a walled garden with plots partitioned with hedges. Each is magnificent. There are two large cutting gardens filled with flowers to decorate the castle. Artichoke, rhubarb, peppers and other veggies fill a bed and are strategically placed throughout. It is the perfect place to sit and relax. I can imagine the Queen Mum doing just that.
I stopped for tea and scones and enjoyed the view across the treacherous Pentland Firth and timed my departure just ahead of the tour bus.
The next stop was Dunnet Head, the northernmost part of “the mainland” UK. Sheep paddocks flank the road or else there are cow pastures or fields of hay. It is a sensory delight. Heather, followed by the smell of sheep, followed by the smell of the sea, followed by the odor of cattle.
Decided not to scale the cliffs to see puffins although I know Joe would have been off and running. My final stop was Dunnet Bay, a five-mile stretch of white sand beach with about thirty people on it. The waters are turquoise and emerald green and if you didn’t know you might think you were in the Caribbean.
It was getting close to sail away so I retuned the car and was told that if I came back and the weather was as it is today and, it was a weekend, my rental would be free.
I didn’t really expect to enjoy the Scottish Highlands as much as I did. It was a great day and I even got a bit of tan.
Dinner tonight was Thai Chicken and …… cinnamon ice cream. I’m hoping for that for desert for the remainder of the cruise.

---