Jenni isn’t much for getting up early, but I usually do. As soon as I looked out of the window I realized I could see the beach and it was only a block away!

Just in time to watch the sun rise over the beach, right?

I dressed quickly and then packed up my stuff to drop off at the car on my way. There was nothing between the hotel and the boardwalk but a large field and a fairly busy intersection. The temperature was frigid and there were what seemed like gale force winds blowing but I was determined to be on the beach at sunrise.

The grass was frozen and crunched under my feet and when I got to the boardwalk, there were frozen puddles that made the walk treacherous.

Sunrise in Aberdeen isn’t until 8:18 and I really, really wanted to see it, but I began to worry about frostbite and after about 15 minutes I headed back to the hotel.

By the time I made it back to the hotel property, the sky was beginning to put on a real show!

I went in and got a table for breakfast while I waited for Jenni.

The tea really helped to warm me up.

In addition to the usual Scottish fare, I added a mound of haggis to my plate (#deliciousandidontcarewhatisinit). Jenni joined me a little later and had her usual (fruit, bread, peanut butter, and diet coke). We loaded up her bags and headed out.

Our first stop was Dunnotter Castle, a magnificent ruin on the edge of the North Sea. It’s about a two-hour walk to get to the castle so we knew we didn’t have time to go inside, but we’d heard it was imposing and worth a visit just to view it so we decided to stop and snap some photos.

The walk to the castle was chilling. Literally, it was really, really cold!

The wind was whipping along with gusts up to 45 mph.

I embrace the windswept look and it’s a good thing since there was no avoiding it on the walk to Dunnotter Castle.

Some guy walked past us holding up a device to measure the wind speed. It was windy.

#worthit

By the time we made it back to the car, we were nearly frozen solid and decided to skip Castle Campbell and head straight to Edinburgh to buy some warmer hats!