Isle of Harris of Harris Tweed Fame

Car Ferry to Isle of Harris
We caught the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry at Uig.   It was a very orderly and civilized process of lining our cars up in specific lanes and driving onto the ship.  The seating on the ship was very comfortable and they had a full restaurant.  By the time we made it up to the main cabin, people were tucking into their Scottish breakfasts.  Dogs and their owners had their own areas.  Again, so civilized.

The ferry, charging it's way to  port.

good bye Skye
port of Uig in the distance

 If you are into hill walking, then you will need to include the Cuillin Mountains on your list.  Especially if  you are trying to "bag" all the Munros.

The amazing Cuillin Mountains of Skye 

Again, I must of been suffering from brain fog because I missed taking images of this wonderful, magical place we stopped at right after getting off the ferry in Tarbert:  The Isle of Harris Distillers.  I love the story about this distillery - they are committed to making the first single malt but because that process takes so long, they are making a gin while the whisky matures.
The distillery was beautiful not just because they made gin but because it was clean, new, and modern.  We wanted to take the distillery tour but they were booked for the next 10 days.  We instead, bought a bottle of their gin and had a snack at their lovely little cafe.  Interestingly enough, less than 100 feet away was a Harris Tweed shop.  I tried not to bolt over but once we were finished with our snack, a brisk walk was in order.
The shop was overwhelmingly crowded with bolts of Harris tweed.

One of my hobbies is sewing so buying Harris Tweed was going to happen.  Frankly, I was overwhelmed by the selection and decided to wait to see other stores before purchasing any fabric. The price was 60 pounds per meter of a 60 inch width.  The fabric also came in 30 inch width.
About Harris Tweed:
*Made from Scottish wool
*The yarn is spun and dyed in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland and woven by hand by local crofters
Crofters are people who work and live on rented farms (crofts).  Some have purchased the land and have become owner-occupiers.
*The Isle of Harris is part of a long chain of islands called the Outer Hebrides
*The Harris Tweed Authority is a legal body with powers under law to protect and defend the reputation and historic production methods of Harris Tweed.  Look for the Harris Tweed Orb insignia stamped on a approved bolt of tweed.

Before leaving Tarbert, we stopped at the local store to pick up essentials since we were on our way to  Taigh Geal, a cottage we were renting for a week.  Having a kitchen meant more control of what we ate (not too much) and drank (as much as we like).

Even though we had only been away from home a week, I was hankering for Asian food, specifically rice.  We drove into Stornoway to walk around town and found a Chinese restaurant.  It has been my goal on my travels to visit at least one Chinese restaurant.  Like Irish pubs, there always seems to be a Chinese restaurant every where.

I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at the Golden Ocean Chinese Restaurant!  It was absolutely delicious and I don't think it's just because I missed rice.  The food was really good.

We continued our stroll and came across The Crown Inn  that boasted a good collection of gin.  That was an understatement - there were pages of the different gins they offered.

just one page of gins offered by Crown Inn
there were several more pages of gin from different parts of the world

Chinese food and a couple of gins -a good way to end the day.