After dropping our luggage off at the Auchterawe Country House, we drove down to the town center of Fort Augustus. The Caledonian Canal with its several locks, runs right through the middle of the town and into Loch Ness. It's this canal that provides boat access from Fort William to Inverness, through Loch Ness.

The canal adds a lot of character and beauty to the town. It also seems to be a big point of tourism, as the canal is lined with quiz questions to peak your interest.

We went for an early dinner at a pub called The Lock Inn.

The Lock Inn was huge with two levels of dining room space. As with most of the pubs that we visited, we ordered directly at the bar and the food was brought to our table. We found a quiet spot on the completely empty second floor at a table with views of the canal.

Dan was healthy and ordered a salad. I went for a cheeseburger and beer!

I love animals, especially farm animals. Fort Augustus has a really cool place called the Highlands & Rare Breeds Croft.

Before going here, I didn't realize that a croft was an animal enclosure. Yippee for new vocabulary words!

It was dusk and the croft was completely void of both staff and other visitors. It looked closed, but we noticed that they had an honor system box for donations and that the gave was unlatched. We dropped our four pounds into the box and went inside.

I don't know enough about these animals to appreciate their rarity, but I can appreciate their cuteness! One thing that stood out is most of the animals were not interested in us. With the exception of a goat when we first entered, none of them wanted to be petted and they often skittered away when we approached the fences. I think that the Highland & Rare Breed Croft might not get very many visitors.

As we walked the grounds, we encountered a sheep that had escaped and was bleating desperately, as it was trying to find its friends. There was no one around to help the sheep and it ran away from us, totally freaked out. Poor sheep.

The Highland & Rare Breed Croft is a great place for animal lovers. Fort Augustus is a worthy town to spend a day on your Scotland vacation.

Posting soon...our hunt for the elusive Nessy begins in Fort Augustus!

Sometimes relying on your GPS, will take you on an scenic detour. When we reach Fort Augustus, the town of our Loch Ness night-stop, we had a difficult time finding the Auchterawe Country House. Listening to our GPS, we drove right by it and into the woods!

When we finally found the Auchterawe Country House, located in the hills above the main town, it was after 3pm.

The view from the drive-way of the Auchterawe Country House.

The entrance to the B&B is through a door that opens into a sunny sitting room. During our stay, this is where we were able to access the internet, which was free. Upon entering, were greeted by Trudy, the proprietor of the Auchterawe Country House.

Trudy was very friendly and she gave us advice regarding local restaurants as she walked us to our room on the second floor.

The hallway leading to the neighboring room.

Our room was charming and spacious.

One of my favorite comedies is Flirting with Disaster starring Ben Stiller. There is a scene where Stiller's character and his wife are forced to spend a night in a B&B and they question whether or not they are "B&B People". In the film, one of the points that they make against B&B's are all of the rules and little notes.

We stayed at three B&B's during our trip and the Auchterawe Country House is the only one that made me think of Flirting with Disaster. The notes were hilarious. Unfortunately, they also made us feel a little uncomfortable and unable to relax. Trudy was nothing but nice, but her notes were over-kill. My favorite is the snarky bathroom note.

Besides the entrance lounge, there was a second lounge area at the B&B. It had a pool table and deer heads. As far as could tell, we were the only guests during our stay, so we felt like we had the run of the common areas.

Although we didn't eat dinner at the B&B, I liked that it was a possibility.

In the morning, we headed to the dining room for our included breakfast. There was a cold selection set up on a side-board and Trudy made cooked-to-order hot breakfasts. It was a good meal and the decor of the breakfast room really made us feel like we were in Scotland!

Laminated notes aside, we had a nice night-stop at Auchterawe Country House and it was a good home-base for exploring Fort Augustus and Loch Ness.

UK August-October 2013- Fort Augustus

UK August-October 2013- Auchterawe Country House