Grounds for Adventure: Scotland’s NC 500 One Coffee Blend at a Time
Earlier this year, while touring the North Coast 500, I photographed castles, lighthouses, and seascapes—just like everyone else who makes the drive around Scotland’s northern coast. The North Coast 500 is essentially Scotland’s version of our Route 66 tour, heavily promoted and beautifully packaged. Add to that the endless YouTube photography channels showcasing Scotland’s most dramatic scenery—some of which is, admittedly, true- and then you can see why people from all over the world come to make the trek. The reality of the drive is a lot tougher than the glossy videos from Scottish tourism groups make it seem.
This was our third trip to Scotland. I’d been dreaming of driving the northern coast ever since my first visit to the country in the spring of 2019. That first trip, we traveled by train and occasionally hired drivers. On our second trip, I rented a car—an experience I wrote about in 2022. This time, I felt ready. Hundreds of miles of single-track roads with very few services, what could go wrong?
Something did. I now have firsthand experience changing a damaged tire on a particularly narrow, remote stretch of one of those single-track roads—the kind where a shoulder is more of a concept than a reality. Trying to buy a replacement for the damaged tire turned into another challenge.
Plaid Coffee Roasters
Friends of ours own Plaid Coffee Roasters and 222 Artisan Bakery in Edwardsville, IL. In a nod to their Scottish heritage, every coffee blend they roast is named after a Scottish landmark. For example, the Pitlochry blend takes its name from a postcard-worthy Highland town, and the Big Ed blend comes straight from Edinburgh—at least in spirit.
I decided it would be fun to photograph each blend’s bag in interesting spots along the coastal route. Turns out, we got really into it. The Princess took charge of location scouting and product placement, while I fulfilled my natural role as supervisor. More than once during our carefully choreographed “coffee glamour shots,” a passerby asked Sherrie if she was a social media influencer. We never said yes—but we didn’t exactly clear things up either. The bag of St Andrews blend was photographed at Calda House in the Scottish Highlands.
We ended up having far more fun than we expected. I haven’t heard whether Plaid Coffee has seen a spike in orders from the UK since our visit, but I’ll check and report back.
Observations and musings
During the drive, I made a few observations and learned a few things that will help if I ever drive in Scotland again.
- I noticed a cultural difference between friendly Montana drivers and friendly Scottish drivers. If you have spent much time on rural roads in the western U.S., you have seen the two-finger steering wheel wave. You know the one where the pick-up driver is holding his beer in his left hand and the steering wheel with his right hand at the 12 o’clock position. As the opposing vehicles approach, the drivers will raise two fingers off the wheel in greeting. In Scotland, drivers raise four fingers in greeting. I liked to think they were being extra friendly.
- I noticed that the road signs did not have bullet holes. Why? This was puzzling.
- We all know that in the UK everyone drives on the wrong side of the road, but forgetting it, even for a moment, is very attention-getting.
- On the single-track paths referred to as roads, there are wide spots every so often designed to allow one vehicle to pull over and stop while the approaching driver hurdles past at 60 MPH. The car closest to the pull-out on their left should stop. I learned that if I swerve into a right-hand pull-out, it makes drivers very excited and unfriendly. In this case, the upset driver has a uniquely different wave. One that is internationally recognized.
- In the States, we will see school crossings or pedestrian crossing signs. In Scotland, they have those signs, but more interesting were the caution signs for red squirrels, frogs, and the elderly.
- It was also very strange to have a conversation with Sherrie about whether or not we were still on a road. Sometimes it was hard to tell, and it turned out at least once, I wasn’t. I was on a wide sidewalk rather than a narrow lane. I could not figure out how I was supposed to know that, except that the sidewalk was better maintained and wider than the road itself.
- My rental car had interesting caution lights on the dashboard. There was a green smiley face if we were traveling under the posted speed limit, and a red frowning face if we were traveling over it. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
- One more thing I learned is that if Google Maps shows 30 minutes between locations, you should plan for at least an hour because you’ll always be behind someone who drives as slowly as I do.
In the end, the NC500 gave us beautiful views, a flat tire, a questionable moment on a sidewalk, and a surprising amount of fun photographing coffee bags in castle ruins. Throw in a few distilleries, and if that’s not the full Scotland experience, I’m not sure what is—and honestly, it will be a while before I’d do it again.
Dennis
Such fun! …and all of the mishaps are just another story to tell!!
As always, great photography and excellent job on the narrative. Didn’t know they had furry Longhorns in Scotland.
Thoroughly enjoyed this read, the narrow roads and wave narrative was insightful and entertaining. Great job on the coffee locations Sherrie and I’ve always thought of you as an influencer. I was looking for a selfie of you guys driving on the sidewalk, not your fault, that sounds very confusing, but also entertaining. I was flashing back to National Lampoon’s European vacation.
There were a couple of times Sherrie and I thought we could be on “Candid Camera”.