Having spent more time learning about crofting than we had anticipated, it was now time for lunch. And so we cruised on down to the Sumburgh Hotel. This felt like a particularly fancy option but they in fact had very low-priced lunches (later on as we were watching Shetland we were delighted to recognize the hotel featured as a retirement home). Plus the views off Sumburgh are gorgeous, though that is true of everywhere on Shetland.

The hotel was however also extremely convenient for being right next to Jarlshof, an archeological site and our next destination. It is a very well-developed site, much to my surprise. It has an admission fee and an audio guide and everything. And it is very impressive and cool (also, it’s another Sir Walter Scott site; he coined the name “Jarlshof” in The Pirate). Some 4000 years of history is laid out, from a bronze-age settlement right up to a medieval farmhouse. All these different ruins are stacked atop each other and I always find it fantastic when people decide to just keep on living on the exact same spot for thousands and thousands of years. Though it is Shetland which I suppose means there is a bit of a dearth of options.

The audio tour and paths have you wind up through history in approximately chronological order. I am always entranced by old-fashioned blacksmithing and they have the remains of a bronze-age smithy. Then you wind up past a very well-preserved broch, and it would have been even better preserved if it weren’t for erosion cutting away at the site and dumping about half the broch into the sea. A highlight of Jarlshof is one of the best-preserved wheelhouses anywhere. It had a very tiny entrance that I could barely squeeze through without crawling, but I very much wanted to see the wheelhouse. Though when I got in there I discovered a much larger entrance and I could have just used that. I could see how it would have been a really very cozy place to live but man it must have taken a while to build one of those.

From there you stroll through the remains of several Viking longhouses before finally ascending up to the highest and latest part of the settlement, the laird’s house. This might actually be the least well-preserved part of the site, though you could tell it would have been quite the house in its heyday. Per usual it’s good to be rich. The best thing the remains of the house offers though is a spiral staircase up to a platform where you can get a beautiful view of the ocean and coastline and most importantly for our narrative the Sumburgh Head Lighthouse, our next destination.

Although by this time we had ticked over past tourist season which meant the visitor center for the lighthouse was closed, you could still go up and walk around the grounds. And man it is gorgeous. Public parking is near the bottom of the hill (there are higher drop-off points for those not so good at hill-climbing), but even this provided some fascination because there were sheep grazing all around and we of course like sheep. As you ascend the hill you just get more and more stunning views. My super amazing wife was hoping to see a whale, but without tourists to look at them the whales had since departed for other waters.

Since the lighthouse is surrounded by cliffs this is also an excellent spot to watch the birds. We didn’t know much about birds but we are 30-somethings so of course this has an appeal. They certainly seem to have some cozy spots there on the oceanside cliffs. Up at the top we got to admire the lighthouse itself which is of course very nice, but also of course this is certainly one of the most expansive seascapes you’re going to be able to see in all of Shetland. On a clear day, which this very much was, you’re supposed to be able to see all the way to Fair Isle. I did not spot it but eventually I concluded it was likely directly up-sun and therefore invisible to us.

Although we were taking a break from Wool Week activities on this day it had been too many hours since we had last seen wool so it was time to check out some knitwear places. Specifically Nielanell and the Shetland Woollen Co. Both had very cool stuff and cute little shops and are worth the trip to Hoswick to check out. Though the only thing I actually bought was a lapel pin from the Woollen Co because it features a cone of yarn that looks like a broch and that is a very witty. Since we were in Hoswick we went to their Visitor Center, even if we only had 15 minutes until closing. It is well worth a stop-in (and around the corner from the other two shops) and from their very cute little gift shop we picked up a knit blanket in a Fair Isle-pattern but with natural Shetland sheep wool colors along with a miniature basket of peat, both capable of keeping us warm back home. Although it never stopped us, by this time we were worried about hitting the rather low weight limit on the Loganair flight, but how can you pass up a knit blanket?

Just a couple final adventures and misadventures to round out the day. I had sorta kinda wanted to see the broch of Mousa while I was in Shetland. I knew we were too late in the year for the ferry but was hoping to catch a glimpse from afar. From Google Maps I tried to identify a likely lookout spot and then had us try to drive there, though gave up before we were like, barreling through some poor farmer’s field. So we departed but then as we were driving up some random hill BAM gorgeous viewpoint. I had been a very conscientious driver up until now on the one-lane roads but suddenly I was pulling weird u-turns to the consternation of the very patient woman behind me (in the other car to be clear, not my super amazing wife, who was also very patient with me). Then there was ANOTHER great view point and I pulled over again and got more views but luckily for the sanity of everyone involved that was the end of it. By this time we had experienced a very full day but cakes are irresistible so we did make one final stop at the world-famous original Shetland Cake Fridge to pick up some dessert for that evening. A wonderful end to what was a very fun-filled day with just too many beautiful views to count.