11 July – Drover’s Inn, Loch Lomond, and Newark Castle

Today was a travel day, as we drove from Inveraray to Greenock where we are settled now in the Holiday Inn Express for two nights.  The weather was cloudy with bits of rain in the morning, and then around noon cleared up to beautiful sunshine and nice temperature.  We’re lucky folks.

We had a lovely breakfast at our B&B and got a beautiful photo of Loch Fyne with the low clouds – entirely different from the six or eight we took last night… J    

As we headed to Drover’s Inn, we made several unplanned stops, as we found coffee with a great view; a nice gift shop with a souvenir for us and some gifts; lots of photos of low hanging clouds, and as I was able to drive slow because of lack of traffic, pushed back the stress of driving on the A85 and A82 (curvy, hilly, narrow two-lane roads which can have lots of traffic and brutal trucks and sightseeing buses).

At the Drover’s Dan had his usual meal of Haggis, Neeps, & Tatties and Kathy had Drover’s Hunter Chicken with mustard mashed potatoes.  Both were delicious!  

 One of the interesting things about Drovers is that it has been around for 200 + years… and looks it!  Although it seemed “cleaned up” a bit this time.  They have quite a collection of old stuff there, and some stuffed animals, including this two-headed lamb. 

Our next stop was unplanned… we thought it was the site along Loch Lomond where we’ve stopped before but it wasn’t.  It was, however, a beautiful spot on the north end of the loch.   

                                                         

Then it was on to the rest area along Loch Lomond where we have stopped each of the times we have been in Scotland. Back in 2005 it was the first place we stopped after flying all night and then driving on our way to Aberfeldy.  What a hard day that was… we’ve learned to rest near the airport before driving on the wrong side here in UK.  The tree in front of which we've been photoed over the past 12 years has grown... and I guess we've changed too.

What a happy, fortunate couple!

The roads along Loch Lomond are especially difficult, some areas still very narrow two-lane and lots of busses and trucks that have trouble staying in their lane around the corners.  I kept telling Kathy to get a photo of one coming at us, but when it was really exciting (i.e. close to hitting us) she was so paralyzed she could never lift the camera.  She did try, though.

Then it was on to Glasgow area.  I got yelled at once by a car horn, but rest of trip went smoothly.  We had time, so we decided to stop at a castle exhibit by Historical Scotland not too far from our hotel.  Called Newark Castle, it was built in the late 1400’s and enlarged in the late 1500’s. 

Kathy shows how small many of the doors are.

The Great Hall is where the “laird” of the estate would entertain.  There were small circular stairs on each end going down into the kitchen and cellar area.  One could just imagine the maids trying to carry food and drink up those steps without falling or spilling!  

One of the bedchambers... with fireplace, closet (the circular turret far left) and a toilet area.

One of the original corner towers, would have been connected to the wall surrounding the castle.

The view in front of the castle is very nice; quite similar to the view near our hotel.  Dan took a walk tonight… there’s a very nice walking/running/cycling path along the shore front.  The sun was shining on the hills across the Firth of Clyde and was just beautiful.