Scotland: Fort William

When we first started talking about a trip to Scotland with the children and brainstorming what we wanted to do, there was one thing that emerged that Rachel and Andrew really wanted to do. They wanted to re-visit the bed and breakfast we had stayed at nine years ago on a family vacation in Fort William. Fortunately, it worked out for their dream to come true!

One Monday we headed northwest to Fort William, passing through Glen Coe with its sad history and awesome landscape.

For natives, the journey would have taken about three hours. For us, it seemed to take all day. With a larger vehicle (mini van) and poor weather, narrow roads and lots of winding turns, we just couldn't keep up with the locals.

It was fascinating to watch the weather change its mind nearly every 30 minutes.

 Look at the sky on arrival in Fort William! This lovely town is the second largest in the highlands and is the destination of many tourists!

 The main interests for us in the town were charity shops and the most adorable little bookshop (which I will post about separately).

We stopped for dinner in the town before heading to the bed and breakfast.


It was run of the mill pub food but still a treat to be eating out and getting to choose what you wanted!

How does this pile of egg and gammon look? Yum!

The kids found a treasure in the charity shop -- someone's collection of miniature swords. This was just up their "Lord of the Rings" alley.

 We managed to find our way nearly by memory to Braemar Bed and Breakfast.


There were tea trays in each room.

And cozy beds for everyone.

I had along my reading and journal materials. :)

Between us all we took up three bedrooms.

Here are the happy campers.

The next morning we sat down for our cooked breakfasts: juice, tea, eggs, bacon, Lorne sausage, fried bread, potato scones, toast, cereal, and fruit,

Out in the garden there were many beautiful birds.

 And at the appointed time the Jacobite Steam Train (aka Harry Potter train) chugged on by the house just like it did nine years ago.

The last morning we asked if the kids could see "their old bedroom" and we went up to take some photos.

And compare them to our first visit. :)

Here are the children with Mrs. MacSween who made them feel very welcome.

 We took some time to head up the street to the neighborhood playground where we had taken photos before.

This photo of James currently hangs in our schoolroom and so we had to get an update!

It looks as if Andrew has grown a lot too!

He was just nearly three on our last visit:

It's amazing what time does.....

Guess we don't look like this anymore:

Just look at the sky and the landscape! Such beauty!

It made me smile to see cars around us proudly wearing sprigs of heather! Surely a sign we were in the highlands!

  We did take a day trip to Loch Ness from our base in Fort William which will be the subject of the next Scotland post.