THURSDAY the 21ST CASTLE MAE AND THURSO

A quick note:   I was trying to keep up a journal so when I returned I could piece it together with the photos to make a daily blog.  Some of the journal got erased after I returned and was so confusing that I didn't have it in the right order...so most is pretty accurate. Also the evening before we left, I was having a drink with David and Jimmy. Jimmy went to the bar to get a drink and he told the barmaid that he could tell where she was from....Singapore.  She was amazed. He returned with the story, explaining he traveled a lot in the oil business and was good at guessing where people were from.  We invited her to the table and she asked if Wei Ling Lee was the sister of the Prime Minister because he looked so familiar.  David admitted she was and the woman said she was a big fan of Wei's and followed her life in Singapore and couldn't believe she was staying at this Hotel in Inverness Scotland where she was bartender.  Later she told us she called her Mother and excitedly told her about her experience.

We departed Inverness for Thurso and make a few stops along the way. 

We check in to different hotels in Thurso and I had just enough time to get the key to my room before we continued to Castle Mae...the summer home of the late Queen Elizabeth II the Queen Mother.

MUSEUM WAS FARM IMPLEMENTS BUT THE COFFEE AND OVERPRICED HOMEMADE COOKIES WERE GOOD 

There  is a BRISK WIND when we arrived at Castle Mey.  Cameras were not allowed in the Castle so we missed out on remembering the interesting things...like a little covered dish the Queen Mother kept in front of her every time she ate there.  I asked what was that doing on the dining room table? Toothpick container.  I liked the kitchen and where the help ate and brought the food up the dumbwaiter to the serving area.

THE QUEEN MOTHER'S BENCH

QUEEN MOTHER'S GARDENS

MY ATTEMPT AT A SELFIE WITH THE CASTLE

ANOTHER ATTEMPT AT A SELFIE BUT SOMEONE WANTED IN.

WE HEADED HOME FOR DINNER AT THE Y-NOT HOTEL WHERE SOME US WERE STAYING

LOOKS GOOD BUT IT'S NOT...NEVER ORDER MASHED PEAS.

We had breakfast the following morning.

Off for Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands but first our destination John O'Groats, the Northern most part of the Isle of the United Kingdom.