Trip Report
Saturday, March 26, 2005
The day began early with breakfast at 7:00 am. The food was similar to yesterday, but more of
the students were willing to try the blood pudding. If you don’t know what this is, let me
assure you the first word is more literal than the last. This is traditional Scottish fare,
and we are encouraging as many students as possible to experiment a little. Haggis was also
available and the responses to the sampling of these foods are quite entertaining.
After breakfast, we headed off on “coaches” for an hour and a half bus ride through Glasgow to
Loch Lomond. We boarded a double-decker boat with an open top and traveled around the lake seeing
the scenery. There were several large “homes” which looked like castles, hills or mountains
(depending on who you ask) and beautiful views which were the subject of many pictures. For the
third day the rain has held up. Although it was foggy and cloudy most of the day, the sun did pop
out on occasion. It was much colder today and those of us with winter coats were glad that we
brought them. Check out the pictures to see Captain Kaylene McClanahan.
From Loch Lomond we traveled about half an hour to visit the town of Aberfoyle (which means
muddy water or puddle) to have lunch. This little one street town may have been overwhelmed
by our large group visiting their three or four restaurants. A word to the wise: If you sit
at a table with 2-4 you will get served. If you combine tables and wait for service it doesn’t
happen. A milkshake is just that...milk shaken with some flavoring. Chips are fries and any
food leftover will be eaten by Ryan Hoehner.
We boarded the coaches and traveled over the hills and through the woods to get to Stirling Castle.
Many of the students (and chaperones) nodded off due to a combination of exhaustion, good food and
very windy narrow roads which had a tendency to encourage motion sickness. The views of mountains,
lakes and architecture were stunning.
When we arrived at Stirling Castle we had driven through the quaint town of Stirling with narrow
steep roads and being in buses maneuvering those roads was quite entertaining itself. We were
informed that the best option when encountering another car on the road is to just stop and allow
the other car to get past you because the moving car is the one at fault in the case of an accident.
Our drivers were excellent, however, and we had no mishaps.
The castle was set up very high on the hill with a panoramic view in all directions. We were able
to have a "wee wander" at the castle. There were walking paths and stairs up and down, beautiful
gardens, including a bowling green and various buildings to enter, including the dining room with
the King’s table. (Check out the pictures to see our own Bowling Green Cominghome King James
McKinney, with his companion Lady Brittany Wulff at his side.)
When we arrived back at our hotel we had about an hour before dinner to socialize or just relax.
After a dinner of lamb (that’s a baby sheep, Ben!), curry chicken and pasta we headed off to hear
some of the sit-down bands who are here for the Festival. They were impressive and entertaining.
Our short two block walk back to the hotel was the first we’ve had any rain and it was only a
light mist. We are hoping for no rain for the parade tomorrow.
It’s been another long and eventful day and once again everyone is ready to go to bed. We are
wearing them out to the point they may sleep the rest of their spring break when they return home!
The students and chaperones seem to be getting along well and are positive for the most part, in
spite of their busy schedule.
Question of the day: What is a doodle sack? (No, it’s not a flip-flop type shoe worn by Scottish
maidens performing traditional dances, as Jay Deutschman has suggested.) Stay tuned and we’ll
fill you in tomorrow.
Editor’s Note: The best news of the day (at least in my opinion) was the arrival of the 2nd
missing McClanahan luggage. Actually I’m quite sure that the rest of group will be happy to
see (and smell!) us in different clothes tomorrow.
- Peg McClanahan
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