CURATED IN RESIDENCE 2025: Looking Back (Part One): SCOTLAND!

My first ever Curated in Residence (which is different than a Curated Staycation) occurred in the summer of 2025. I knew my destinations and I had some activities planned, but I didn't know exactly what a "Curated in Residence" would look like.

Passport in hand, ready to travel!

When I returned to the U.S., I didn't have much time to process my summer abroad. As soon as I landed on the East Coast, I slept a few hours and then jumped in the car for Louisiana, with the sole goal of seeing my mother before she died. I was blessed to share one more month on this planet with my mom. 

Add in a busy Chapeaux schedule (including an opening reception for our first piece on exhibition and becoming part of a museum's permanent collection!), two long weekends in Asheville, visiting with family and friends in Charlotte, a week exploring Christmas Markets along the Austrian-German border, the holidays with family, Mardi Gras season, the beginning of Derby season ... and now we're here again!

Clockwise from top left:
LSU Textile and Costume Museum; Mardi Gras in NC;
Birthday trip to Asheville; Top of Innsbruck.
Middle: Mom & me.

Whew! Just writing that makes me tired!! No wonder I didn't have time to process Curated in Residence 2025 ... and certainly not to write much about it!

So where did I go during my European Curated in Residence 2025?

SCOTLAND

I departed the U.S. on May 30 and landed in Inverness, Scotland, on May 31, 2025. On June 1, my first ever Curated Staycation began. Guests arrived, and we hit the ground running. Within a few days, after a walking tour Inverness, taxi tours, day trips, and shared meals, our little group became the best of friends, creating memories that will last a lifetime.

Visiting Hairy Coos on the first ever Curated Staycation

Where did we do and what did we experience during the first ever Curated Staycation: Scotland? So very much! We explored on our own, we joined organized tours, and we basically just had a good time every day.

Curated Staycation: Scotland (2025) was AMAZING!
An efficient schedule provided a wide variety of activities with ample free time.

Making memories on a day trip with Curated Staycation: Scotland guests.

Sampling the nectar of Macallan.

Visiting Cawdor Castle on Curated Staycation: Scotland (2025).

After a week, Curated Staycation: Scotland came to an end, and two of my guests headed back to the U.S. One of the other guests and I headed north, to the village of John O'Groats, the northernmost point on Mainland Scotland.

How did we travel to John O'Groats? We did not have a car, no trains stop there, and bus service would take many hours and require at least one change of bus along the way. In addition, if we arrived too early, we couldn't check into our hotel, and there was no place to store our luggage.

NOTE: When you book a tour as a transfer and will not be completing the tour,
you must notify the guide and driver that you will be leaving the tour along the way. 

So we booked a day tour that was headed to John O'Groats! Because it was a tour, we got to see some pretty awesome things along the way: Loch Fleet, Dunrobin Castle and Gardens, and the Whaligoe Steps (definitely the highlight of the day!). And when we arrived in John O'Groats, we left the tour and checked into our hotel.

Our historic lodge in John O'Groats.
The tower with windows all the way around was my room!

A few months before this trip, I was warned by a Scottish auntie that I would be bored to death in John O'Groats. She couldn't have been more wrong! 

Hiking with sheep is great fun!

From a shoreline room with a 180* view of the water both stories of the suite, I spent a lot of time enjoying the views. Walking along the coast and the cliffs, walking through the fields of sheep, watching the Atlantic Ocean meet the North Sea, observing the puffins (PUFFINS!) nesting in the cliffs, watching the sun (sort of) set -- a byproduct of visiting near the Summer Solstice! -- taking day trips to nearby places, like Castle Mey with the amazing walled garden or the town of Wick, and making new friends.

Puffins! Truly a dream come true.

Oh Wick! Sure, you could definitely stay here a few days. It's a little easier to get to than John O'Groats, and it actually has grocery stores and museums and boating opportunities. We visited Wick twice, once to book a boating trip and then again for the boating trip itself. We stocked up on groceries. And we walked along the coast to an abandoned castle.

Sea cave seen from the boating tour from Wick.

But boating along the coast from Wick ... just WOW! I knew we would enjoy viewing the cliffs from the water, but seeing the tens of thousands of birds nesting along the cliffs was amazing. Truly amazing! We passed the Whaligoe Steps from the water, and we couldn't believe we'd actually climbed all the way down and all the way up just a couple of days before. 

And then, when we thought the trip was over, the captain excitedly advised that the orcas were on their way and to please get back in the boat! We paid an additional fee and headed back out. We stopped, floating, waiting for the orcas to arrive. And suddenly, the captain saw them on one side of the boat ... and my friend saw more on the other side! We watched them pass and then moved out past where they were, steering out of their path, and they caught up with us again!

Boating experience from Wick, Scotland

We thought this must be a common occurrence, but no. People were lined up along the shore, waiting for the orcas. We met people who've lived in the area for 50 years and never seen the orcas. That convinced us what a special experience it truly was!

After five nights, it was time to depart John O'Groats. We took a ferry to from nearby Thurso to the Orkney Islands. There, we were met by a private guide who gave us an amazing tour of beautiful scenery, ancient villages and stone rings, and finally delivered us to our AirBnB. Over the next two days, we explored Kirkwall, the capital of Orkney, and -- like we had in Inverness -- hired a driver for the day to show us the parts of the islands we had not yet seen.

Working with a private guide is the best way to see Orkney.

Orkney offers unbelievable scenery.

And finally, it was time to head even further north. We traveled by overnight ferry from Kirkwall to Lerwick, Shetland. We had a date with a Shetland pony, and we again hired a driver for the day who not only brought us to the pony farm, but also showed up some amazing and beautiful sights. We watched puffins from the cliffside (PUFFINS!). We hiked. We dreamed of boating, but the tour was canceled due to rough seas. We took a self-guided tour of a prehistoric village. We ate amazing food and sampled amazing whisky (and whisky ice cream!). We visited the Up Helly Aa Museum and learned about the most famous fire festival in the world.

Pure joy is visiting a Shetland pony in Shetland!

And we did laundry -- a very necessary task for carry-on only travelers venturing about for weeks at a time.

Yet again, it was time to move, this time heading back to the mainland. Our pre-booked driver retrieved us bright and early for a beautiful drive to the airport, located on the southern tip of Shetland. A quick 90-minute flight, and we landed in Edinburgh.

Loganair has the cutest Scottish tartan planes!

Beautiful Edinburgh. Wonderful, beautiful Edinburgh. 

We dropped our luggage at our hotel and quickly headed out to explore the city. I'd been before, so there was nowhere I needed to visit, but I enjoyed seeing the architecture and enjoying the city's vibe once again. I ended my trip with a local whisky and a Scotch egg -- both delish! -- before jumping the train to London.

Last stop in Scotland: Beautiful Edinburgh.

NEXT UP: Curated in Residence: Looking Back (Part Two): the Chapeaux Tea Tour of London!

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