Howard and Carolyn's Excellent Scotland Adventure
Here it is, folks, just as written by Howard and Carolyn Topp. What a great trip!
Our Home-Exchange Adventure in Scotland
Well, this was going to be an interesting adventure … a three week “Home Exchange” with a couple in Scotland and our first OCONUS (Outside Continental US) “Space-Available” flight on an Air Mobility Command-controlled aircraft. Now, we are experienced in Home Exchanges, having enjoyed about a dozen exchanges, mostly in the US but also including two in England. Likewise, we have flown Space-A in the CONUS, but this would be the first overseas flight.
We were able to give our Scottish exchangers a Williamsburg welcome, since they arrived in town several days before our departure. This was desirable in that it afforded us the time to orient them to the area, our house, appliances, car, and other things they would be using while we were gone. Delightful people, who had actually lived in the states for more than twenty years, so were more acclimated to this side of the pond than we were on the other.
We had initially planned on flying to Ramstein AB on a flight from Andrews AFB. However, we were foiled in that strategy. That flight, originating in Jackson, Mississippi did not stop at Andrews, but just “Overflew” and flew directly on to Ramstein. Oh well, not to worry, we would go with “Plan B,” a flight out of Baltimore-Washington airport the following day. After spending the night at our niece’s home, we went to BWI in the morning. There was a large group of active duty military which had to be accommodated before the other categories of passengers. Then the Space-A travelers (nicknamed “SPATs”) were called in order by category. The lowest category is Category VI which is for “Retired Military.” There were about 20 or so of us Cat VI passengers, but everyone was accommodated.
After an uneventful flight in our AMC-chartered World Airways DC-10, we landed at Ramstein, caught a bus to the Frankfurt – Hahn airport …that’s the old USAF Hahn air base, and spent the night in the B&B hotel across the street from the terminal. The following morning we flew on Ryan Air economy airline for the short flight to the Prestwick airport. But the start of our adventure was not over just yet. Our exchange home was in Lesmahagow, about 25 miles south of Glasgow. Consequently, we caught the bus from Prestwick to Glasgow and changed to another one for the trip to Lesmahagow, arriving there by mid-afternoon.
The house was perfect for us! Newly constructed, it was on the northern outskirts of Lesmahagow, about a mile and a half from the interchange for the A74 Dual Carriageway between Glasgow and Carlisle.
20 Muirsland Place, Lesmahag
Our home exchange neighborhood
The neatest part about the house was that the kitchen and sunroom in the back overlooked a sheep pasture! Within days the ewe’s started to deliver dozens of wee lambs! We were also delighted with the car the exchangers left for us: a late model Ford with automatic transmission and GPS! This made driving around on the wrong side of the road, entering roundabouts, and looking for obscure addresses in strange communities a real breeze!
Basically our philosophy for this trip to Scotland was that we were to devote the bulk of the visit to those parts of the country that we either breezed through or missed altogether during our previous trips. Consequently we were going to take numerous day-trips to the areas south of Glasgow, particularly Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Dumfries & Galloway, and the Borders. The only extended trips were the obligatory trip for us north to “Sutherland” Country and a three day visit with Jerry and Joanne Russell in the Borders.
An example of our “Day-Trip” excursions was our foray to Culzean Castle. Formerly the seat of the Clan Kennedy, the castle is situated on the South Ayrshire coast, south of Ayr. Culzean Castle today is a careful restoration by the National Trust for Scotland that portrays the different stages of the castle’s history. The castle’s “Eisenhower Apartment” was particularly interesting. The apartment at the top of the castle was given to Ike after WW II in recognition of his role as Supreme Commander in Europe. Now a museum, the area of the apartment devoted to the Normandy invasion is particularly well done. All in all, the gardens and grounds were beautiful and the weather was spectacular! We needed to enjoy it, since we were soon to be treated to authentic Scottish weather at absolutely no additional cost!
Culzcan Castle, formerly the seat of Clan Kennedy, is situated on the Ayrshire Coast
We did have an opportunity to meet an old friend, Lord Strathnaver. Alistair is the son and heir to the Countess of Sutherland, Chief of the Sutherlands. We drove to Edinburgh and joined him and his wife, Gillian for lunch and an opportunity to reminisce about old times. Strathnaver recalled the first time we met in 1979 when his mother was the Honored Guest at Grandfather Mountain. She needed a “Banner Bearer” to carry her flag at the event and asked our then 11 year old son, Eric, to serve in that role. Not surprisingly, he was wide-eyed at the honor! We didn’t have the opportunity to visit the countess later in the trip, but Alistair said that, although she is limited by age, she is still quite healthy.
Lunch with Alastair and Gillian Strathnayer. Alastair is the son and heir of our chief, the Countess of Sutherland.
To be sure, we had to make the obligatory trip tp Dunrobin Castle, the seat of Clan Sutherland. We are biased, but we think it is the most attractive of all Scottish castles!
Since May was “Speyside Malt Whisky Month,” we felt obligated to participate in the festivities. Before we left the states we had booked the “Whisky Muse Supper” in Tomintoul. The festivities were to be held at the Clock House Restaurant the evening that we arrived, so after we registered at the Argyle House B&B down the street, we decided to stroll around the village. We visited the Whisky Castle Shop and were delighted to meet the owner who was also going to serve as the emcee for the evening event. Even though it was near closing, he insisted on giving us an impromptu malt whisky tasting.
Mike Drury provided the commentary on the whiskies
... while Robin Laing sang songs with a whiskey theme.
He explained that “non-chill filtered” malts were clearly the best and allowed us to comparatively taste several. The most interesting was an incredibly delicious 34 year old Islay … a special distillation with only 350 bottles in the whole country. I normally don’t like Islays, but this was luscious. That night we joined a large group at the restaurant. The event featured entertainment by a balladeer, as well as appetizers, three courses, dessert and coffee ….each preceded by a substantial dram of malt whisky. In keeping with the theme for the festival, the theme of the balladeer’s songs revolved around women and whisky.
A special part of the stay in Scotland was a trip to the Borders Country and time with an old Army friend, Jerry Russell, and his wife Joanne. St. Andrew’s Society “old timers” will remember Jerry from his time in the society and his service as society president. When he retired a second time, this time from working as a civilian at SHAPE headquarters, he and Joanne decided to settle in Scotland. After much searching they bought and remodeled a home near Selkirk in Scotland’s “Border Country.” Once again the GPS was invaluable, even though it only got us to within about a half mile of their home. I guess the pleasant lady in the GPS couldn’t be expected to get to an address as obscure as “Merlin’s Keep, Whitmuir, Selkirk” … imagine that. Anyway, their house is quite private, with beautiful views of the rolling Borders countryside. Although the rain subsided while we were there, the winds were constant and strong.
Just a couple of old Army buddies reminiscing. Notice Jerry’s metal Texas Longhorn insignia.
We had a particularly nice treat when Joanne took us for a guided tour of Sir Walter Scott’s home, Abbotsford. Sir Walter built the impressive house at great expense and trouble, but it contains excellent displays and beautiful grounds overlooking the River Tweed near Galashiels. The tour was particularly insightful, since Joanne works part time as an Abbotsford guide!
Jerry took the reins for the next two sightseeing visits. He followed up our visit to Abbotsford by taking us to “Scott’s View,” the beautiful site that Walter Scott visited often as an inspiration for his writing.
Carolyn and HST at Scott’s View --- a very windy day in the Borders!
Jerry also explained that they had three dukes who lived within 20 miles of their home and first took us to Floors Castle. This is the home of the Duke of Roxburgh, and is grand in the extreme! Really a “country house” more than a castle, the house and grounds are absolutely beautiful and very well presented.
Next on our itinerary was a trip to Traquair House, described as “the oldest inhabited house in Scotland. In Jerry’s opinion, it is the best example of the grand manor houses in the Borders and certainly has a very interesting history. Originally a hunting lodge for the kings and queens of Scotland, it has been the home of the Stuarts for more than 500 years. We even had a connection to Williamsburg! When reading one of the displays we were astounded to see an extensive reference to a Cyrus Griffin, who emigrated to Virginia and was buried with his wife in the churchyard at Bruton Parish.
On the epicurean scene, Joanne fixed us a particularly wonderful Scots’ meal one night. It featured venison burgers, a generous slice of haggis, tatties, and neeps followed by a delicious mango dessert. Of course, the meal was followed by a few drams of the luscious Cock o’ the North Scottish liquor!
The highpoint for the third week was going to attend the Highland Games in Gourock, west of Glasgow. These are recognized as the first of the highland games scheduled in Scotland each year and we were anxious to visit “real” Scottish games. Consequently, we were up early and on the road to Gourock. We arrived in town to brilliant sunlight and clear blue skies, only to discover the games had been cancelled the night before because of wet grounds! What a disappointment, since we had so looked forward to this event. We did some shopping on the way back and then spent the afternoon strolling around Lesmahagow, enjoying the gardens, flowers, and early heather.
Our return trip was pretty much the reversal of the arrival sequence. We took the bus to Prestwick, flew to Frankfurt Hahn, spent the night at the B&B Hotel, and caught the morning bus to Ramstein. We went to the passenger counter and announced that we were there an were informed that the “roll call” for the return flight was to start in 20 minutes. There weren’t all that many SPATs waiting, but then we saw the reason why the flight was to be full: a large group of USAF passengers returning from deployment in the Middle East. We chatted with our seat-mate, a young lady airman returning from her four-month deployment. The exciting conclusion to the flight occurred after we cleared customs and immigration and entered the lobby. Dozens of people were there giving the young arrivals a loud and noisy “Welcome Home,” waving flags, holding signs, shaking hands, and other forms of appreciation. I talked to a man later and he said that the group tried to meet every AMC return flight. Not surprisingly, many of the men were veterans in their sixties …. Men who had been denied their own welcome home ceremonies in the 60s and early 70s.
