Slept in until the grand late hour of 8 am before heading north for the day’s touring. Unfortunately we miscalculated just a bit and arrive at the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore about half an hour before they actually opened. We took the opportunity to catch a couple of more winks in the car.
Refreshed, we made our donation at the entry gate and made our way through the woods to the 18th century reconstructed village used in Outlander episode 105 – Rent. We were so quick getting to it that the costumed interpreter hadn’t even had time to get all the peat fires going. We spent our time investigating all the different houses, barns and sheds. Unlike my last trip though, there were no redcoats to be seen.
After concluding our visit, we headed further north on the A9 towards Culloden. I had made my first visit there last October but Drumossie Moor was just as powerful the second time, although at least it was a bit warmer this go round. I also still cried in the Battlefield Experience.
After our reverent time at Culloden, we made our way over the short distance to Clava Cairns to ramble among the stones and cairns. We took the requisite reenactment photos, but now we can create two versions. One with the cleft stone that matches the description in the Outlander novel and one of the flat stones to reenact the show version of Craig Na Dun.
All attempts to use the stones to find Jamie Fraser unsuccessful, we headed to Inverness City Centre, stopping at Tesco’s along the way to top off the petrol. So happy that fuel is much cheaper this time than it was when I was here last October. Even at 700+ miles to a tank, the cost adds up. We arrived in at city centre to discover that flood works had streets all messed up, so I chose to park in the one lot I knew about near the Cathedral and then we walked back down the riverfront to The Waterside Restaurant to dine with a selection of the Inverness Outlanders. It was awesome to see Sinead, Julie, Angie and Lisa and much fun and conversation was had.
The final stop of the evening was to stop in at Tesco’s for some essentials and I took the opportunity to buy a lottery ticket. It’s all part of my retire to Scotland plan, and I had these numbers given to me by a lad. On the way back to the car, we spied a rainbow! Surely that’s a good sign.
At the end of a long day, we drove back to Pitlochry to rest up for the next day’s adventure. Stay tuned!
Slàn leat an-dràsta!
Great Scot! 