It’s Not Goodbye…

Since Today is our last full day in Scotland, and I’ve had a rant bubbling up, I figure today is as good as any for it.

<Rant Begins>

In the US, there are regional names for soft drinks. Some say “soda” and some say “pop”, some even say “soda pop” (or “sodee-pop” if you think Mountain Dew is high-class). In Texas, we say “coke”. You might frequently hear “you want a coke? What kind of coke do you want? We have Dr. Pepper, Big Red…”. I am learning more and more that there is a great reason for this. Coke is Coke.

In order to fight obesity in the UK, Jamie Oliver helped spearhead a tax on sugary beverages. While I’ll step around the general topic of taxation as control, I understand the impetus. The way soft drink companies have dealt with this is to take a regular soda, reduce the amount of real sugar, and add in some artificial sweetener, thus making their beverage not subject to the tax.

Not to mention the limitation of choice and personal responsibility, but there are people who cannot tolerate artificial sweeteners. Not only do I hate their taste, but they are a migraine trigger for me, and lots of others.

The first time we tried the official soft drink of Scotland, Irn Bru, I thought it tasted horrible. We found out the reason is, they had adulterated it with some artificial sweetener. Not the diet version, but the regular stuff. If you get a regular Pepsi here, its fake. If you even get a regular Dr. Pepper (the beloved elixir of my homeland), it is FAKE. But, if you get a regular Coke - IT.IS.Coke! They know that the real thing must be the real thing.

We should put Coca-Cola up there with Baseball, Hot Dogs, and Apple Pie as true Americana!

(Editors note: the reaction to IRN BRU was so negative, that the company released a limited edition 1901 original formula. The tagline was “Old and Unimproved”. The reaction to it was so positive, they have made it a permanent addition to their product line)

<Rant ends>

We woke up to another beautiful day. It was almost as if the day of endless rain was a bad memory. This was our last full day here, and we had another nice breakfast together. We cleaned up after ourselves and loaded the car to head to the ferry.

On the road, Walt said “This was Jared’s last meal”………”that he needs to cook for us”. The pregnant pause left me wondering if he had really forgiven me for the the whole “nearly hitting him with the car” thing. He was just adding a pinch of drama to our morning drive.

We made it to Craignure to wait for the ferry. We had some time, so we visited a few of the shops, and I was able to get a nice cappuccino. As the ferry approached, we were all in the car waiting to board.

The weather was nice, but Carrie, Pat, and I found comfy seats inside, and Walt and Rosanna shot some more photos. We disembarked and drove up to McCaig’s Tower - a landmark of Oban that we hadn’t seemed to visit in our previous trips there. We got amazing views of Oban, as the tower literally towered over the town.

We started making our way towards Loch Lomond, our stay for tonight. We stopped and toured Dunstaffnage Castle. This part of Scotland was actually governed by Norway back when it was built in the 12th century. It changed hands a few times, and became part of the Campbell Clan, mostly because they were loyal to Robert the Bruce.

We saw some old weaving techniques, and toured the castle. There were dramatic views of the countryside. We also walked down to a chapel ruin. The weather was great, but we started to head back out on the road to Loch Lomond. We ate up some of our various and sundry snacks on the road, and eventually made it to the Lodge at Loch Lomond.

Carrie, Pat and I are staying in the Jimmy Carter suite. When he came to Scotland, he would always stay in this room. I told Walt and Rosanna, they had the Billy Carter shack - full of all the Billy Beer they could drink. Though, since it was 45 years old, I wouldn’t recommend it.

They were actually in a nice room next to ours. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant, and sat with stellar views of the loch. Then, it was time to retire to our rooms, and get our suitcases ready for flight travel tomorrow. We head to Iceland for a few days before flying home. Man, time flies.

This is not goodbye, it’s see you later, Scotland!