Oban

Oban is considered the Seafood Capital of Scotland. This resort town and seaport is one of the largest towns between Helensburgh and Fort Williams. We got an Airbnb close to downtown, (walking distance) so we could explore the city.

Airbnb - Argyle and Bute Council

This one bedroom apartment made for a great stay while we were in Oban.

After getting settled into our apartment, we walked to downtown Oban. It is a tourist town and there were lots of shops, bars and restaurants. The harbor was beautiful. Lots of activity on the water and some tall ships anchored nearby.

We had a reservation at the Waterfront Fishouse Restaurant. Seemed appropriate since we were in the Seafood Capitol of Scotland. The restaurant is on the second floor of a building right on the harbor. We got a table by the window, so we could wee everything happening on the harbor. It was fun watching the ferry pull in and unload people and cars.

The restaurant was unique in that they served the food tapas style. This was great. Now we could order a bunch of small plates to try many things. We got some steamed mussels in garlic white wine sauce, Scrabster Cod (cod loin, clams, leeks with lemon emulsion), Dynamite Shrimp (crispy tempura shrimp with sambal omelet aioli), Buffalo Mozzarella ( Scottish buffalo mozzarella with heritage tomatoes, smoked salt and compressed watermelon ) and a Cod Branded Scotch Egg (a soft boiled egg wrapped in cod and crispy fried with golden beetroot piccalilli). All of it was delicious!

The harbor in Oban

Mmm

After dinner we explored more of the town. The sun was going down and the town was starting to light up.

The Oban Inn

We were looking for a place to listen to live music. The Oban Inn advertised live music for tonight. Established in 1791, it is one of Oban’s oldest pubs. The music did not start until 9;00pm, so we found a table, ordered some Tennent beers (Scottish beer) and waited. The music was not bad, but not traditional Scottish as we had hoped. (American rock) Oh well!

The walk home was beautiful. The town looks so nice at night!

The next day was Sunday, so we decided to start the day with a Sunday Drive into the countryside. We found some single-track roads (and bridges). The first single track road we found went through some beautiful farm country. Unfortunately the road ended at a gate. I had to back up (up hill) to turn around. When I got to the top there was a police car. Not sure if they were there for us, but they waved as we turned and headed back. Eventually we came across a large group a horseback riders that we pulled over to let pass (maybe the police were there for them?)

The Isle of Seil was close by and there is a bridge to drove over. (most require a ferry ride). To get there we had to cross the Clachan Bridge (The Bridge Over the Atlantic). It is named such because it technically crossed part of the Atlantic Ocean. This bridge was very steep and you needed to look before you started to cross to make sure there was not another car crossing from the other way. This bridge was only one lane wide!

After the Jacobite rebellion, England passed the 1796 dress Act. This act forbid kilts, bagpipes, and many other “Scottish things. Many traditional Scott’s lived this island. Before they crossed the bridge to the mainland, they changed out of their kilts and put on trousers. There is a 250 year old Inn by the bridge where they did this. This Inn is called Tigh An Truish, (Gaelic for The House of the Trousers. ) We stopped at this pub and had a nice lunch of mushroom soup and a burger.

There were some cool artifact nearby as well. Like this horse drawn potato spinner that lifted potatoes out of the ground.

Our drive took us back to Oban where we checked out the Oban Distillery.

Did a little shopping and got myself a Harris Tweed vest. There was an Old Car show in town that was fun to see. Then we took in the sunshine with a cold pint on the patio of the Oban Inn!

We had time to get bak to the apartment and watch the Bears first game of the season. A perfect end to a lazy Sunday.