You gotta love a good B&B hostess. Especially one that looks exactly like your mother.  It was a little eerie and a little comforting at the same time.

A few of the things she got right…

The Launderette.
She wasn’t kidding when she said it was right around the corner. Unlike a few others, all the machines were new and efficient, and laundry took a fraction of the time it took in Chester.

This time we thought we were prepared, but Scott logged 6000 steps trying to find an ATM that would take his card and finally gave up and went to a currency exchange office — returning just in time to toss a couple pounds into the dryer like some sort of laundromat super-action hero.

The Riverwalk.
We didn’t walk as far as she suggested, but the two miles we wandered along the beautiful river/park/island path was the best way to spend a morning.  In fact,  the weather was perfect – the first day without a coat.  The path followed some pretty fancy houses that backed the  river, revealing riotous little cottage  gardens.
We meandered over a bridge onto a wooded island. We enjoyed the familiar sound of a gentle river and birds. There was a couple who were walking about our pace a little ahead, and I saw the gentleman pause,  listen,  and then look at his phone.
“You’re using the bird app aren’t you?” I asked. We all had a big laugh because of course he was. We compared notes of the common birds we had been hearing such as the Eurasian Robin, The Common Chiffchaff, and the Coal Tit. 

Nairn.
When she described it as an “Old Victorian spa town,” I almost rolled my eyes. But she said it apologetically, adding, “I know that sounds better than it is… but the beach is beautiful.”

And man, was it ever.

Wide sand, super shallow- we could see people easily wading out 50 yards. And the water was an amazing color of blue because the sand was white.  And it seemed to go on forever. There was a windswept walking  path along the top of the dune with seagrass and smaller footpaths that took off down to the water. 

There was that carnival feeling you get at some beach towns.  Couples with ice cream on benches, kids squealing and playing on a splash pad.  And even though I would never eat it, there is something so familiar and cozy about the seaside smell of frying food from a little  beach shack – it was iconic. Add  Nairn to your Scottish itinerary. You will not be sorry.

And one of the best bits of advice she gave us was by simply asking, “Do you like music?”

We said yes, so she circled three or four places on a city map, wrote down the band times, and gave us a little rundown of what to expect at each one. Because of that, we spent two of our three nights here listening to fabulous live music.

Tonight we finally got into the hardest one to get a table — Hootananny — which had the best foot-stomping live musicians yet. It was just two guys one on a guitar and one on… Accordion. I know that sounds hokey, but it was really really good. I’m not sure I could’ve imagined a Highland version of teenage dirtbag done on accordion before, but it wasn’t bad.

The music scene in this town is incredible. They were probably five or six pubs that had music spilling out  into the streets and crowds pouring onto the sidewalks.It was high energy and great fun… People singing along like this happens every Tuesday night.

Which, apparently, it does.