The plan was to meet early for breakfast at the hotel and head on out. Dave and Shelly slept through their alarm and did not wake up until Dick knocked at their door. That day we got a late start.
Dave wanted to see the Inverness Castle so that is where we headed. Whoever was driving just kinda, parked in the middle of the street, and several got out to just take a picture of it and back on our way. At this point we were almost reared ended and honked at.
We were constantly lost that morning and stopped on a round-about to ask a police officer which direction we needed to head. He got us headed in the right direction on the correct freeway. Our next stop was The Battle Ground and visitor center of Culloden. The Battle of Culloden
was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising in 1745 and part of a religious civil war in Britain. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite forces were decisively defeated by loyalist troops commanded near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. The battle of Culloden marked the steep decline of the Scottish clans and the start of years of repression of Scottish culture by the English. Bonnie Prince Charles lead an army of 2000 tartan wearing highlanders across Scotland. They picked up supporters from the lowlands and from England. They marched south toward London and King George II made plans to flee the country. Anticipated support of the Jacobites failed to materialize. The Jacobites had been victorious in their battles but now the odds turned against them. Charles retreated to the highlands were his men knew the terrain and could gain an advantage when out numbered. Against the advice of his military strategist, Charles lead his forces at Culloden on flat barren terrain that was unsuited to the highlanders' tactics. the Jacobites were mowed down by cannons and horsemen. In less than hour the English forces routed the Jacobite army. The Jacobite ring leaders, and many others, were hunted down and ruthlessly killed, imprisoned, or banished.
The battle of Culloden was the end of 60 years of Jacobite rebellions and the final stand of the highlanders. Clan chiefs were deposed; kilts, tartans, and bagpipes were outlawed. Scottish culture would never recover the events of the campaign called "The '45."
The visitor center told the history leading up to the battle. It followed the movements and strategies of both the English and Scottish armies. We learned all about Prince Charles and his attempts to bring Scottish Kings back to power. The center included a small theater that depicted the battle on all four walls. You felt like you were right in the middle of the battle. Signs posted on the outside the theater warned it may be inappropriate for young children or the feint of heart. It was intense without being bloody or gory.
Once we were finished in the visitor center we picked up the provided audio guides and went on to the actual battlefield. There were several markers and monuments on the field and the audio guides explained what took place or the significance of each. The Scottish lines were marked with big red flags and the English with blue. It was intriguing to walk the lines listening to the guides and imagine what took place 350 years ago. It was reminiscent of being at Gettysburg. We spent 2 1/2 hours and could have stayed several hours more.
Memorial to the clans
Cottage that existed at the time
We stopped in Aberdeen at a KFC for lunch/ dinner after a two hour drive thru eight million round a bouts.
Next on our agenda was Letham Village. As we were driving we saw the North Sea. Dave asked if anyone wanted to stop to see it. Dave and Shelly voted yes, Wade and I voted no, and Dick abstained. Next thing we knew we were driving into town and trying to find a parking spot to walk down and see the North Sea. This little town and the roads were as bad as Stirling. We finally found a mortuary parking lot and pulled in even though it was clearly marked no parking. We presumed since it was Sunday and no one else was around it would be okay. Wade opted to stay with the car, in case it had to be moved, while the rest of us walked down to see the North Sea. Not sure what Wade would have done if someone had told him to move the car. The walk was not bad but longer than we expected. At the beach there was a parking lot that had plenty of empty spaces. Once there we took a few pictures and walked back to the car. The North Sea is something we may never see again. Glad to have pictures of it.
Now on to Letham Village. We drove right to it. Must be destiny. It was a small township and very quiet possibly due to it being Sunday. We had barely entered the city when we saw the Letham Hotel. We pulled over to explore. From this intersection you could not only see the Letham Hotel, but also Letham Bookstore, and sign pointing to Letham church. There was a pub that Dave entered to get any information about the village. He met a woman named Mary Stott who gave him a web site with information about the the village. She and her husband owned the pub and knew a great deal of the village history.
The most anticipated stop of the day was next (at least for the guys). After all our misadventures we were hours behind schedule and did not know if we would even make it before dark. We were making good time but one wrong turn in the same place repeated multiple times ended that. We were trying to cross a bridge that would take us into St. Andrews and kept missing the bridge entrance taking us under instead. The road was not marked well and there were several exits from the main street we were on. If you were not in the exact lane needed you were forced off in the wrong direction. You would of thought we could have figured it out after missing once. But no, we did it again and almost did it a third time. Every time we missed we ended up on at least a 10 minute detour through town with it's accompanying narrow roads, and heavy traffic, and busy round a bouts. Several life threatening near misses later we crossed the bridge and arrived in the "Hole Land" St. Andrews golf course the home of golf.
It was almost 8:00 pm when we drove into the city of St. Andrews and did not have time to drive around town searching for the golf course. We pulled into the parking lot of a rather nice, large hotel to ask directions. We soon realized we did not need directions. The hotel happened the be the "Old Course Hotel" which sits on the 17th fairway of the course and is often used by guests and TV commentators when the British Open is played here (every 4 years). The players actually hit their drives over the corner of the hotel when playing the 17th hole.
We were allowed to walk through the hotel right onto the 17th fairway. On Sundays the course allows people to stroll the fairways. The brothers were awestruck with being on the course and witnessing the views so often seen on television. They went back and forth looking for familiar scenes and imagining what it would be like to play. When we all met up at the famous bridge on the 18th fairway, Dick said it was like being on holy ground and it felt like we should whisper. We were all able to pose for pictures and enjoy the moment. Unfortunately we were too late to visit the gift shop and were not able to get any souvenirs. The brothers would have liked to walk all 18 holes. We had traveled thousands of miles to visit the course and it was fun to see.
17th Fairway
Road Hole Bunker
Swilken Burn Bridge
Royal and Ancient Club House
Swilken Burn Bridge
Wade's presumed playing activity
18th Green
The sun was fast setting and we still had almost two hours to Edinburgh. We left St. Andrews at about 9:00 pm and made Edinburgh at around 10:30 pm just as it was getting dark. We hoped for better luck finding the hotel, but we had a repeat performance. We got close but not quite close enough. We drove in circles for 30 minutes and still could not locate the hotel. Finally we pulled over and walked toward another hotel to get directions. Just as we got to the door a taxi pulled up and we were able to get specific instructions on getting to the hotel. As we were walking back to the car the cab driver noticed we were driving and not walking. He fortunately was able to inform us that only buses and taxis were allowed on the hotel street. We turned the corner of where we had parked and parked again and walked the remaining 2 blocks to the hotel. We were always within shouting distance of where we needed to be and did not even know it. Long, fun day ended about midnight.
