At the end of August, our current MDSCA President and Vice-President traveled with their husbands to Scotland. If you love details, or if you’re thinking of visiting Forres at some point, you’ll want to read on for Eve’s summary of their time in our Sister City!
“Our visit to Forres was a wonderful whirlwind of meetings: interesting people at beautiful places, over delicious things… and we left not satiated, but craving more!
Our warm welcome at Mosset Tavern set the tone for the next few days, as we unwound from the drive over locally produced drinks: a Speyside pint, and a Red Door gin & tonic. Supper was delicious, the service was impeccable, and we were shown to our 5-star accommodation upstairs as if we were beloved family returning from a trip.
After a sound sleep, we were ready to jump into our weekend of connection with no traces of jetlag!
Our crew split up so we could try coffee from several of the High Street cafes (just a block from our beds), and found both Maclean’s Bakery (push button espresso, but tasty!), and The Olive Tree Kitchen (hand-crafted espresso drinks) to have fantastic offerings! The homemade pastries and cakes at Olive Tree were every bit as tasty as their Instagram pictures have been indicating, and the service from Weller (the owner) was impeccable.
Once caffeinated, Taryn & I gathered up the 85 books she had autographed & stickered the night before and headed over to Pilmuir Primary School for her presentation to 3-schools-worth of P7s (5th graders). I’ll let her share the details of that gathering, but from where I sat in the back, I can say that I was incredibly proud of my friend. She had those kids (and the teachers) absolutely hanging off of every word for a solid hour. This woman knows how to tell a story!
In addition to the books (generously paid for by the Kiwanis Club of Mount Dora), we delivered a packet of hand-written letters from Round Lake Charter here in Mount Dora, and are hopeful that this will jumpstart penpal relationships for a whole new generation of Sister City students!
Our fellas picked us up from the school and we all headed off for our behind-the-scenes tours of 3 local, well-established, family-owned businesses:
*Maclean’s Highland Bakery: currently being run by Lewis Maclean, 3rd generation baker/proprietor. He welcomed us like old friends, shared all sorts of interesting history as we walked through the bakery, snagged some fresh treats off the packing line, and sent us on our way loaded down with some of Scotland’s finest shortbreads. (Watch this space for news of Mount Dora’s first shipment of Maclean’s biscuits—hopefully coming soon!)
*Benromach Distillery: We were met by Katalin (of Tortas by Katalin), wife of one of the owners, and baker of some of the most beautiful wedding cakes we’ve ever seen! Her husband Stuart joined us soon, and we were once again spoiled by getting 3rd generation-owner insights and stories as we toured this historic spot, which has been putting out world-renowned whisky for over 100 years. He treated us to a guided tasting at the end, and we all agreed the 15-year was our favorite. (We may or may not have brought home a bottle or 2.)
*Speyside Brewery: While Ben had originally been scheduled to help out with a brew-day during our visit, plans changed when their brewer was called out of town for a family funeral, so our visit was just a quick tour of the brew cellar (guided by the owner), and a stop in their merchandise shop. We left with some hoodies, and an armful of beers to sip on through the rest of our visit… as well as a couple of cases of the Out of the Woods—their version of our Sister City collab beer from earlier this year to take back for our meeting!
Now completely loaded down with goodies, we booked it back to Mosset Tavern, where owner Gordon and his team were all set up for our “Cross-Pond Connections” meeting. They graciously gifted us the use of their event room, and had put together a lovely spread of sandwiches, pastries and tea for us and our invited guests.
Our dear friend (and former president of the Forres Twinning Association), Andy Hall was waiting there with a roomful of Forres business owners, community leaders, and various others interested in learning more about the Sister City link! Andy & I spent a few minutes making introductions, sharing about the history between our 2 towns, and what we are hoping to see going forward… and then the next hour & a half flew by as we met dozens of lovely people, each with their own unique interest in connecting with Mount Dora. Katalin baked us all a batch of decadent salted caramel, coffee, chocolate cookies to pair with the Out of the Woods beer, and everyone got to taste some of the sweetness that comes out of creative collaboration. We left them all with some treats/gifts (sent by a couple of Mount Dora businesses), and the promise of more information and connection opportunity coming soon!
Dinner that evening was leftover tea sandwiches, and we crashed into our comfy beds exhausted, and so happy with all of the new friendships that were formed that day.
Saturday morning dawned sunny and warm yet again, which was perfect for David’s and my run with the Forres Harriers! Laurence (a former Mount Dora exchange student, whom we had met in Mount Dora prior to his move back to Scotland) and his lovely mum Nadine met us at the Mosset and walked with us back up to Grant Park to meet the others. I’ll let David share more about the group run and our experience with that, but suffice to say that even though most of the crew were a good few years older than us, I was lapped by the majority of them. These Highlanders are serious about their sport!
A quick shower, a quick cappuccino, and we were off to meet George for our guided tour of the Tolbooth. This historic clocktower at the centre of town currently serves as a museum, as well as a gathering space. George was an absolute wealth of information, and we were delighted to learn a whole bunch of tidbits about Forres’s history, as well as have our picture snapped in front of the Mount Dora tapestry!
While admiring the panoramic view from the top of the tower, I looked down and saw Ewen Watson, our next appointment, waiting patiently on the bench down below, so Taryn and I hurried down to say “hello”. The talented, friendly author of Fantastic Forres had graciously agreed to meet us and bring us the books we wanted to bring back! He & his talented partner have also come out with Forres coloring books, tote bags, post cards, notebooks, and most recently, a map for walking tours of Forres! (We brought back a couple of each item, so make sure you watch for them in our Highland Hootenanny raffle baskets in November!)
From there, we had about 20 minutes to quickly stop in at a handful of the High Street shops. A number of Mount Dora businesses had given me small gifts/cards to take to a twin business in Forres on their behalf, so I had the fun job of walking in on shop owners and letting them know they had a business secret admirer in Florida!
(Big “Thank You” to Walk in the Woods, Ivy Boutique, Papilio, Under the Cherry Blossoms, Noni at the Olive Branch, Barrel of Books & Games, Around Mount Dora, Moonflower Mount Dora, KKO Chocolates, Irenic Journey teas, Eden Abbey Brewing, the Mount Dora Area Chamber of Commerce, and the City of Mount Dora for their generosity in that!)
Following our shop visits, we were off to the Logie Steading for lunch (award-winning Cullen Skink), a little wander-around, and a driving tour of some of the stunning nature areas surrounding Forres. Andy was once again an excellent tour guide, with all sorts of interesting factoids and commentary! It was hard to come up with a question he couldn’t answer about Forres!
That evening, we enjoyed a relaxing, cozy dinner at the Crown & Anchor in Findhorn (I ate every bite of my generous portion of fish & chips) with Andy & his wife Pippa, and we all decided we have to come back and spend at least a month here, just to continue checking out all of the restaurants we didn’t get a chance to try on this trip!
Following another sound sleep, we sent David & Taryn off on their adventure to Skye & Stirling, while Ben and I headed off to visit some friends who have recently taken on a pastoral role at a church one town over from Forres.
The service at Hopeman Baptist was sweet and full of laughter and light, and we ended up making another new friend there. Amy just happens to run a tourist business specifically serving Forres and the area: check it out here!
Allan & Naomi suggested Bootleggers for lunch, so the 4 of us made our way over to the beach (Andy & Pippa joined us there again), and the 6 of us thoroughly enjoyed a leisurely lunch with stunning views of the Moray Firth.
Hugs and “see you soons” completed, we made our way back to the Logie Steading where the Sedgwick family (local business owners, and the pen pals of our daughters) were waiting to take us on a lovely hike alongside the river. The weather was still fabulous, and as we walked, we made plans to bring our girls with us on our next trip so that the pen pals can finally meet in person!
From there, we paused just long enough to drop our luggage in our new hotel room. We booked one night at the Carlton at the center of town: an older property, with a full breakfast included in the very reasonable price. (Take note: they offer a considerable discount for coming IN to book, rather than doing it online! As in, our room would’ve been about 30 pounds cheaper if we had just walked up to the desk and reserved it, rather than booking ahead online!)
Our dinner that evening was in the home of Ritchie (head brewer for Speyside Brewery), and his new bride, Lyndsey, just-returned from their quick trip out of town. They spoiled us (as well as Stuart & Katalin) with a delicious home-cooked meal, and after that, the two brewers spent hours “brew-mancing” over yeast strains, grain varieties, temperature variations, keg technology and more beer nerding than I could’ve imagined possible. Watch this space for announcements of more collaborations between Speyside and Eden Abbey!
After a full Scottish breakfast the following morning, we passed by the brewery and the distillery one last time to make our final souvenir purchases, and pulled out of town with a carful of treats, and a hearts full of sweet memories.
While we don’t know exactly WHEN we will return to Forres, we know that we will. Until then, we will continue to mindfully cultivate the beautiful connections we have been gifted on this trip… and joyfully share them with you any chance we get!
Thanks for journeying with us!
Until next time, Slàinte Mhath!”
