United Kingdom - Scotland - Arbroath

Arbroath is located on the eastern coast of Scotland. It has a stunning 5-mile coastline trail and delectable seafood. It is famous for the Arbroath Abbey and known for "Arbroath Smokies" -- smoked haddock. We enjoyed it here so much that we returned for two weeks after visiting Falkirk. It had everything we like: fresh seafood, beautiful trails to walk, wine and cheese shop, grocery stores nearby and super nice friendly people. AND a Weatherspoon! 

What did we do?

Arbroath Abbey: Built in the 12th century, this historic abbey is famous for being the place where the Declaration of Arbroath was signed in 1320, asserting Scotland's independence from England. The abbey's ruins and visitor center provided a glimpse into Scotland's past.

Grave of William I

Grave Yard

Declaration of Arbroath
(a copy) 

It has been said that the Declaration of Arbroath was an influence on the American Declaration of independence except their is no known evidence to support the claim. John Witheroon and James Wilson were both Scotsman who signed the Declaration.

Inkpot

Regality register of Arbroath Abbey
Earliest known record of the abbey's
legal affairs. Written in latin.

Noble woman

Old coin

Signal Tower Museum: This museum, housed in a historic signaling tower, explores the town's fishing heritage, lighthouse history, and the life of local hero, Admiral Adam Duncan. And it was free! The Lighthouse was operational until 26th October 1988. 

Bell Rock Lighthouse Model

Fisher Costume was worn until 
the 1950's when women stopped
selling fish from creels.
Their clothing included a `blue
coat` (long heavy woolen skirt),
`stripet brot` (striped pleated apron),
`sprigger blouse` (flowery blouse)
& a 'pooch` (purse).

Herring Barrell

Uniform of a Principal 
Lightkeeper of the Northern
Lighthouse Board

Tyfon Fog Horn

Traditional Gansey worn by 
Sail makers

Look... a non-fisherman 

Arbroath Harbor: Located right in front of our AirBnB (week 1) was a picturesque Harbor. We enjoyed watching boats come and go and the fresh sea breeze. It's always fun walking around a marina.

Victoria Park: Coastal park just a few blocks from our apartment with a beautiful little rose garden at the top and an awesome promenade. Lovely 

Look at the difference in 

the tide change

Seaton Cliffs: Breathtaking coastal views of the North Sea! We walked this trail every day that it didn't rain. The trail runs about 5 miles to the town of Auchmithie. Lots of pictures as we had several photo shoots. Some days we just walked the coastal path, other times we climbed down for a new perspective.

She found a seat

King of the rock

Nap Time

What is she up to now!

I'm looking GOOD

It was hard walking on the rocks

Which way do we go

Flowers! Lots of flowers

What do you do when you come across a danger and path closed sign 🤔?  Of course you take that path. I can't believe 😪 Sharon didn't get the really cool pictures. She said she was terrified. Something about bridge failing or falling off the cliff...

Our favorite bench

Sharon's artistic view

Wild life

Yes a woman was walking her cat on a
leash.  Sharon asked if she could take a picture and the cat posed for her.

Sharon found the Hercules Den Forest Walk River Path that lead us to St. Vigeans Church. A nice little find.

The Keptie Water Tower located on Keptie Hill was built in 1885 to provide drinking water to the town and provided work for the unemployed. The water tower was only operational for 20 years.

Keptie Pond known locally as the Lochy.

The Old Man needed a seat

Puzzles

Okay Ladies which do you like better?

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

What did we eat?

Marco's Ice Cream Shop 

Salted caramel popcorn & latte 😋 

Mint chocolate chip & salted
caramel popcorn 🍿 😋 

I had 2 yes 2 scoops of 
Salted caramel popcorn 

Caramel ripple & salted
caramel popcorn

We were unable to celebrate David's birthday on Monday as Sharon was not felling well. On Friday evening we went to Grill 21, a Turkish restaurant, to celebrate.

Hummus

With pita 

Lamb Mousaka 

With Turkish rice

Mixed Shish
Adana, Lamb, & Chicken Shish served with
Grilled tomato, grilled pepper, salad &
Turkish rice

We had to check out the local Wetherspoon's "The Corn Exchange" for our American Labor Day burger and wings of course. The two bartenders working this night kept breaking glasses. Hope it doesn't come out of their paychecks.

Wings

American Cheeseburger 🍔 

Lunch from the Goodfillaz Sandwich Bar. The roll made the sandwich and had a good amount of filling. 

Tuna with Salad (lettuce, tomato &
onion)

Chicken Tikka with Salad
(lettuce, tomato, & onion)
This one had too much mayo

Roasty Toasty

Ham & Cheese toasty 
OMG nacho cheese

Keptie Bakery 

One of each please

Smithies Delicatessen & Gin Emporium our favorite cheese shop.

Cheddar

Apricot & ginger chutney
Sticky Fig relish

Keeping it pretty simple for this dinner.  We supported the local butcher Falconer and a Chinese takeaway The Star.  We were disappointed with both.

We supported one of the local fishmongers, C Lyons Fresh Fish consistently. We purchased monkfish, Smoked salmon, Cullen skink (soup), haddock, crab, Prawns, lemon sole and of course smokies. 

What is an Arbroath Smokie? Arbroath smokies are small haddock which have been hot-smoked using a process that has remained almost unaltered in more than two centuries. The haddock are typically caught in the North Sea and north-east Atlantic Ocean and landed in Scottish harbours.

Coppery brown and tough on the outside but pale and moist on the inside, Arbroath smokies possess a flavour that is succulent with a light smokiness and saltiness.

The fish are protected by law through their status of Protected Geographical Indication, which means that certain criteria must be met before the fish can receive the cherished title of Arbroath smokies.

Arbroath Smokie

E & O Fish we stopped in for crab for seafood pasta and the young lady asked if we wanted it dressed. Sure... we had no clue what she meant. They pick the meat and clean the shell and place the meat back in the shell. Who knew? Lesson learned... we should have baked/heated the crab in the shell and eaten directly out of the shell.

It was pretty heavy, under the
white meat is brown meat

Home lots of fish!

Salad

Chicken, rice, tomatoes carrots &
green beans

Sharon's Salads are never the same!
Dressing is simple Evoo, lemon juice 🍋 
salt & pepper

Monkfish, fish cake, and veggies

Breaded Haddock, Mashed potatoes and
Green beans

Arbroath smokie, fish cake, Roasted 
Potatoes and a salad

Seafood Pasta
Crab, Mussels, prawns

Haddock with roasted veggies and 
Cullen Skink soup

Chicken thighs 3 ways (Pesto, paprika and
herb seasons)

Monkfish with Bruschetta 

Haddock with veggies

Wee appetizer before dinner

Monkfish

Lemon Sole over sauteed spinach
with pasta salad and steamed
Carrots 🥕 

I think Sharon heated our lunch a little too long.

Smoked fish pie
(C Lyons)

Macaroni & Cheese pie
(Keptie Bakery)

Smoked fish pie
Was really good had it more
than once

Cullen Skink soup for lunch

Breakfast is normally yogurt but once in a while she makes something different.

We really enjoy our Grazing boards.  We scored Pickled cockles and a soft pretzel at the grocery store.

Cheese, olives, tomatoes, grapes
& pretzel with mustard

Smoked salmon, capers, onions, cream
cheese and pickled cockles

Steamed Prawns, olives,
onions, cheese & crackers

We had a Lidl, Morrison's and a Tesco all within walking distance so here are a few of our grocery store finds:

We really like the mustard has a nice kick

Rhubarb & Gin Liqueur 

Our go to red

Where did we stay? Two AirBnBs: "Harbour Haven 3" (week 1) with a 'sort of' view of the harbor. We really enjoyed it! And "The Townhouse" (week 2 and 3) which was the former Keptie Hotel. Kitchen and bathroom were on the ground floor and bedroom and living room upstairs. It was newly renovated and very nice except for that middle-of-the-night bathroom trip.

Harbour Haven

Townhouse 1st Floor

Nice big kitchen

Bathroom
The only mirror in the
bathroom was over the 
toilet,, strange

Too bad was not warm enough
to sit out. Need a heat lamp.

2nd Floor

How did we get here? First time we traveled Scotrail from Edinburgh with a stop at Hank's sandwich shop to pick up lunch.  Our second time around we traveled Scotrail from Falkirk.

Falkirk Train Station

We had to share the seats the 
young lady made no attempt to
give us any room

When did we go?  29 August to 6 September and 13 September to 27 Septemer 2023

According to little Ms. Google, for the month of August we traveled 1,316 miles. Over 1,100 by transit (train & bus).

Arbroath, Scotland, may not be as well-known as some of its larger counterparts, but that's one thing we liked about it. There were very few tourists and everyone we met was so kind and friendly. We enjoyed eating fresh seafood almost every night and eating at home. Sharon has been so happy to be cooking again and I'm even happier to eat it!

"Life is simple. Just add water."