Throughout my life, my 1st Cousin John McCarty has been like a brother to me through frequents calls and visits over the years. In the 80’s I introduced him to a friend I worked with at USM named Melissa. They have now been married about 27 years and have two grown children. They moved to Daphne from Texas a few years ago and we often do many fun things together and they have been a blessing in my life. They are taking care of my things while I am away, so I was very pleased they could visit me while here.
They visited Edinburgh and drove up to meet me in the Highlands. The highlight of their trip had to be our “pop-up barbeque party” hosted by Calum Ross and meeting several of his friends from Nethy Bridge. Calum is Lesley’s (my landlord) significant other. He was in the area and met us at the pub for drinks one night. We met and talked to a number of friendly locals in both the bar and restaurant area. Johnny enjoyed a conversation with a guy who was a star in the Highland games of skill.
Calum offered to cook a barbecue in the “Buffalo Bar-be-que house” in our yard and planned the whole next evening. We bought some wine, beer, and salad fixings and looked forward to the evening to come! Johnny even went on a long hike and to the pub with the “boys” one afternoon.
Calum’s Nethy Bridge friends, Brett and Fiona Wells, their children, and their grandfather came over and we had a great time. Calum's menu included steaks, lamb chops, potatoes, asparagus, and salad. He bought our steaks from the local Nether Bridge butcher (Mr. Mustard).
The barbecue was such a special treat for us all and very generous of Calum to want to do it for us all! It is this type of event and the generosity and friendliness of the people that make my time here even more special.
Johnny loves photography, so the vistas, sights, and scenery in Scotland were of great interest to him. He brought a fantastic camera and tripod. We took a walk around Loch Eilein and saw the castle in the water near the shore, tried to go up the funicular (too windy) and drove to the haunting ruin of Ruthven Barracks near Kinggussie. We had coffee and a scone at a shop there that was soon filled with young teens on their lunch break from the nearby school. All were so well behaved and amazing quiet for such a large group.
Another day we traveled to Ballindalloch Castle and Gardens. I had visited it, so Melissa and Johnny enjoyed seeing the amazing home to 24 generations of Macpherson-Grants. 
We next traveled to the Aberlour Distillery where no tours were given that day. It turned out to be a lucky thing as we
Another amazing site near here is the Elgin Cathedral ruins in north-east Scotland. It was established in 1224. It suffered extensive fire damage in 1390 by the “Wolf of Badenoch”. The cathedral was abandoned around 1560 and fell into decay.
The next two days were spent in Nethy Bridge having lunch at the local coffee shop and taking walks. I really enjoyed spending time with Melissa and Johnny. We cooked several meals at home and took it easy most of the week.