This year we went to Scotland for spring break. I will give everyone ONE guess who had this brilliant idea! Nonetheless, the boys and I decided to make the best of our time and had a pretty good time in a really beautiful country. Day 1: Drive to Scotland and get settled in our ENORMOUS beach house in Elie Scotland. We rented this house with 10 other adults. We took turns cooking and so every night was a new culinary treat! What was even better was this view of the beach every evening from our room.
We finally met up with Jeff later in the afternoon for lunch and hanging out on the old course. I was incredibly surprised to learn the old course is a public course, is closed on Sunday, and is open to the public on Sunday. There were folks having picnics right on the course, dogs and all. So we spent a bit of time putting around and letting the kids have the experience of playing golf on the old course for free! We even took pictures on the famous bridge which has a name which completely escapes me as I write this. I'll have to have Jeff remind me.
Day 2: St. Andrews: After a bit of geo caching, we basically hiked through the old town of St. Andrews. It is a really gorgeous town right on the water and there is even a beach. For some reason I didn't picture this as a costal town. We hiked out all the way on the pier and ran into a young man who bore a striking resemblence to Harry Potter in his robes doing the same. He was a student at St. Andrews University and this is apparently a tradition to walk the pier on Sunday after their lunch. The boys had a fun time running all about.
We finally met up with Jeff later in the afternoon for lunch and hanging out on the old course. I was incredibly surprised to learn the old course is a public course, is closed on Sunday, and is open to the public on Sunday. There were folks having picnics right on the course, dogs and all. So we spent a bit of time putting around and letting the kids have the experience of playing golf on the old course for free! We even took pictures on the famous bridge which has a name which completely escapes me as I write this. I'll have to have Jeff remind me.
Day 3: The ONLY day Jeff didn't play golf we decided to head into Edinburgh. I love this city, it has truly become one of my favorites. As we've been here before we decided to just shop on the high street and on the royal mile. I wanted to have the cheesy Scottish dress photo taken as well. Just too much fun to pass up the opportunity this time. We had a good day and headed back to hang out with the folks back at the house.
Day 4: Stirling Castle: We went with all the ladies to visit Sterling Castle. It is involved with the Braveheart legend. There was an amazing statue of William the Bruce. The castle itself was pretty cool. The old town was really lovely as well. Jackson and Colton werent' really keen on the tour so mommy took them out for some ice cream. As you can tell it was the best part of the day! After the castle tour we looked around the old town and went as far as the prison. Fun day with the ladies.
Day 5: St. Andrews again and rest!
Day 6: Balmoral and the Highlands:
On the way home we decided to pass by Menwith Hill which is near the lovely old town of Harrogate. It was a fun visit actually. Jeff called a buddy who hooked us up with a room and met us with his family for dinner. Turns out he used to work at Double Daves and so he sent us home the next day with pepperoni rolls
