Getting as sleepy as this town was, we called it an early night, waking up early the next morning to get a better look at the town in the daylight and light rain. Fort Augustus has several locks that connect the Caledonian Canal to the Loch Ness. We strolled down the locks and out to the edge of Loch Ness, before checking out of our hotel and hitting the road to Urquarht Castle, a ruinous castle on the western side of Loch Ness.
We drove up the coast of Loch Ness, arriving easily at Urquarht Castle, which was once one of Scotland's largest castles. Now in ruins, it is still quite impressive. We walked across a temporary entrance, as they were restoring the existing one, and explored the castle grounds, being careful not to trip and fall on the various stones scattered throughout the place as we took in the spectacular views of Loch Ness and the hills on the opposite side of the lake, even luckily catching a glimpse of a rainbow.
From there, we hopped back in the car and headed further north, passing through Inverness, to an oceanside town called Nairn. We headed right to the beach which was empty except for some birds, but the views were wonderful. We headed into town and had a delicious lunch at The Classroom Bistro, then continued our drive to Dallas Dhu Distillery, an historic distillery built in 1898.
Once at the distillery, we took a self guided tour through the distillery, learning what it takes to make whiskey, the difference between single malt and a blend, and what the angel's share is. We ended our tour with a couple samples of whiskey, making sure not to drink too much as we still had some driving to do.
From there, we headed to Fort George, a British fort that was built in 1745 just after the Jacobite rising. Unfortunately for us, it closed just before we got there, so we strolled around the outside a bit before it got too dark.
Hopping back in the car, we drove back towards Inverness to our destination for the night, the magnificent, Culloden House.
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