Sunday, July 6th for those who have lost track of days. I know I have, but again, I am writing this from my kitchen table. Today we ride/rode the Jacobite Steam Train from Fort William to Mallaig, but did we really?
Have you checked out 40 Faces of Eastport? I think Scotland has at least 40 faces with its weather. Breakfast at the hotel was standard cafeteria line Scottish Breakfast. Jim was eggcited when new sunny side up eggs were added to the pan. Apparently the eggs had been sitting awhile.
The steam train runs twice a day. The morning service departs Fort William at 1015, while the afternoon service leaves at 1250. The group decided we needed a few hours in Fort William, to look around, to shop, etc. Ryan, our dutiful, diligent, ever vigilant driver acquiesced and dropped us off within walking distance of shopping and a little walk under the highway (another tunnel!) to get to the train station. We were early enough to town, we heard the first steam train, with its shrill whistle, depart the station.
Jim was actually a good sport and let me shop for about 30 minutes, going down the street, store to store, in the rain! Bless Jim. Of course, we did find a little surprise for him! I don’t know how many of you know, but Jim has been gifted the name, Grumpy. 🤣 It’s not too late to change his name!
After shopping, and the rain had let up, we walked around the town. scoping out where to find dinner (Jim already made plans and would not be deterred).
Jim and I decided to head over to the other side of the road, via the tunnel to find the old fort. We left a mark for those who traveled behind! Caitlin said later she found the marker! There were murals and street art lining the entrance to the tunnel and then there was the door. After I took a picture of Jim at the door, another visitor to the area asked Jim to turn around so he could get a picture of the door.
Now on to the fort. Most of the fort is gone, in fact the entrance to the fort was dismantled and remantled to be the entrance to a cemetery in the area.
Now to find a cuppa. No not looking for carrot and raisin salad at Morrison’s but the line was too long for just a cup of coffee.
We ended up getting coffee at McDonald’s. I was sad I couldn’t use my app, but the line moved quickly and we were in and out. Back around Morrison’s. I got my daily kilt picture and we finally found a laundromat. Too bad it was being used and I didn’t have my clothes with me!
The Jacobite Train.. why should we want to spend all afternoon riding it? It is the train used in Harry Potter, going over the viaduct, which faces the Glenfinnan Monument. Oh, and it is a steam train… with white steam…. or is it? No, no it is not, well at least our train is not. There was a malfunction with our steam engine and so we had to be pulled by a diesel engine. It did not stop millions and millions of people waving us off or waving us on, nor did it stop us from having much fun on the train itself.
We have a small stop at Glenfinnan, it is supposed to be a water stop, but since we have #nosteamengine, we are not filling up with water. Was afraid Jim would be stuck because he decided to “run” up to the view point. He figured he had plenty of time until I kept texting him to come back. Whew! he made it with minutes to spare!
We made it to Mallaig with no incident. Jim and I took off walking. He had researched and found a trail around the island, go figure 🤣, but the trailhead was a little disguised and we missed it the first time. We walked and we climbed up, and we walked and now the sun was out and on a clear day you could see forever!
Walking around gave us a horrible thirst and made us quite hungry even though we have sandwiches for lunch. Jim had found a quaint little restaurant, that has now changed hands, serving the local fare. Cullen Skink-a smoked fish potato chowder and langostinos. As we were leaving the chef was planning on trying some dishes. Her table was filled with food. She said her little ate a lot and would help her!
Back to the train, back to Fort William, and off to dinner. The Black Isle Brewery may be a chain, but some things are different between the two. For instance, no meat snacks. Jim bought a little olive appetizer as the pizza was going to take 30 or so minutes. We ordered the Venison Salami and the Hebridean. We were just a bit hungry. (On a side note, my watch said my best day last week was Sunday, 863 Move calories, 90 exercise minutes, 14,354 steps, 6.28 miles, 22 flights.)
Back to the hotel… Oh it’s Sunday and we are 5 hours ahead of the states… thought we would miss our weekly chat, but we managed to squeeze it in! How great is technology?
#HowFortunateWeAre #RetiredAndLovingIt #MakingOurOwnSunshine