Forty-fourth Lighthouse Expedition

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Revision as of 15:04, 29 May 2009

Contents 1 July 15-30, 2004 -- Scotland with the U.S. Lighthouse Society 1.1 July 15, 2004, Thursday 1.2 July 16, 2004, Friday 1.3 July 17, 2004, Saturday

July 15-30, 2004 -- Scotland with the U.S. Lighthouse Society

July 15, 2004, Thursday

1:45 pm (EDT)

Our daughter, Andrea, and grandson, Hayden, picked us up at home and drove us to the airport.

2:50 pm

We arrived at Metro airport in Detroit and said our farewells to Andrea and Hayden. We checked in and dropped off our luggage. While going through security, they went through both our carry on bags. Don had forgotten about a little tool bag he carries and they took a small pocket knife and a cork screw. Glad to know they are on the ball! He just wished he'd packed them in his checked luggage. By 3:15 pm we were at our gate. We had a long wait but we ate some dinner while waiting for our flight to be called.

6:30 pm

Our little commuter plane, Air Canada Jazz, left the airport with about 20 passengers on board.

7:40 pm

We arrived in Toronto.

7:55 pm

After 3 shuttles, we arrived at our gate for our flight to Scotland. The FIRST gate. There were to be 3 more gate changes before we reached our final gate. While we were waiting, we met up with some other members of the tour group - Mary and Phil Borkowski (who had 6 gate changes while they waited) from Ann Arbor, Nancy Johnsen and Donna Basso (who just made the flight) from Minneapolis, and Lynne and Jim Millies (who drove to Toronto) from Grosse Pointe Woods, MI. We finally boarded our Air Canada flight at 11:05 pm.

11:35 pm

Our plane left the ground - one hour late! During the flight a man became quite ill. There was quite a bit of commotion in front of us as he was attended to. There was also a very fussy baby on board who finally fell asleep just as we were leaving the plane. So under the circumstances, we did not sleep during the flight.

July 16, 2004, Friday

10:40 am (BST, Scotland Time)

Funny thing, the airport in Glasgow didn't have a gate for us either, so they parked us out on the tarmac away from the terminal. We were an hour late and the man who was ill needed to be taken off the plane first. In the mean time, we sat on the plane - for another hour. The Scotland Public Health Department came on board and said while they didn't think the gentleman had an airborne illness, they were going to take some precautions. Each passenger had to fill out a brief itinerary where they could be reached while in Scotland and we were each given a card with the Public Health Department phone numbers in case we were to become ill while in the country. Thus a physician could call and get details about the kind of illness the passengers had been exposed to. (Fortunately none of this information was needed.) We were shuttled to the terminal, had a long wait for our luggage, went through customs and were delighted to find Iain MacDonald, our Scottish guide for the tour, waiting for us. We went to the bus and there were other tour members who had been waiting for our plane to land and be "released" for about 4 hours. They were happy to finally see us. We felt bad that they had been waiting so long, but it really wasn't our fault.

12:45 pm

We were finally on the bus and on our way to Edinburgh.

2:15 pm

We arrived at the Royal Terrace Hotel in Edinburgh. We got to our room (very small) and organized our belongings as best we could. Our room was on the third floor and it overlooked a beautiful garden and a very large chess board - the kind people walk on to move their pieces. We got a map of Edinburgh and took off walking to see some of the sites near the hotel.

7:30 pm

We had a great dinner in the hotel dining room where the entire group was assembled. Our traveling companions for the next two weeks would be: Helene Agnew from Norwood, PA; Ron and Pat Bandock from Collingswood, NJ; Donna Basso from Mt. Iron, MN; Phil and Mary Borkowski from Ann Arbor, MI; John and Donna Bowie from Milton, MA; Don Broadbent from Petaluma, CA; Ken and Margie Conard from Louisville, KY; Holly Dahms from Menomonee Falls, WI; Bev Dobosz and daughter Debbie Dobosz from San Jose, CA; Henry Harding and Pam Perry from Pheonix, AZ; Dave and Phyllis Idell from Milton, MA; Dorothy Jarczynski from Clinton Twp., MI; Nancy Johnsen from Minneapolis, MN; Al and Jean Krueger from Sonora, CA; Wally and Sue Miiller (yep, two i's and 2 l's) from Wilmette, IL; Jim and Lynne Millies from Grosse Pointe Woods, MI; Carol Nettleton from Maplewood, MN; Shirley Reeve from Rochester Hills, MI; Kathie Renard from Thurmont, MD; Shirley Roberts from Greenville, SC; John and Nancy Sampson from Ft. Meyers, FL; Dan and Donna Serven from Ozark, MO; Dave Snyder, our tour leader from the USLHS from San Francisco, CA; Len and Jan Stahlgren from Louisville, KY; Ron and Nancy Stewart from Whittier, CA; Howard and Joyce Sykes from Durham, NC; Johanna Trowbridge from Haddon Heights, NJ; and Mary Wheeler from Irvine, CA. Most everyone was pretty tired after traveling from various parts of the U.S. (although some had arrived the day before) and we went to bed early.

July 17, 2004, Saturday

7:30 am

Breakfast in the hotel dining room.

9:00 am

We had a bus tour of Edinburgh with Iain and a bus driver named Robert. We went to the Port of Leith first and then headed toward Old Town Edinburgh. The Edinburgh Castle is high on a hill and can be seen from most anywhere in Old Town. The town grew up around the castle first and then kept expanding. What they call New Town was mostly built from 1760 to 1840. The wealthy people moved out of Old Town to New Town. New Town is mostly Georgian architecture as the town was being built during the time of King George IV. We passed the statue of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (better known as Sherlock Holmes) and the Conan Doyle Pub where it is said he frequented. We also passed the building for the Northern Lighthouse Board which is the group responsible for all the lighthouses in Scotland. They have a cute lighthouse model on the front of the building. When they were contacted about our visit, the group (as well as the tour in 2003) were denied access to most of the lights. We could photograph them but not enter the towers or climb them. They are not quite as "friendly" as other counties we have visited. They sighted "safety and insurance" problems as their reason. Other sites on the bus tour included: residence of the First Prime Minister on Charlotte Square, beautiful churches (most of them The Church of Scotland which is Presbyterian) statue of Kathryn Sinclair who started a school for servant girls - the only monument to a woman in Scotland, the home of the author Robert Lewis Stephenson, a monument to Sir Walter Scott and a statue of Abraham Lincoln in a cemetery to honor those Scots who died during the American Civil War. Other sights we saw: a statue of Robert Burns the Scottish poet, The Palace of Holyroodhouse which is the Queens official residence when she is visiting Scotland (Balmoral Castle is her private property), and the statue of Greyfriars Bobby, the little dog who sat on his masters grave for fourteen years.

10:25 am

We arrived at Edinburgh Castle for our tour. The weather so far seemed to be typical of Scotland: Rain, then sunshine and then light showers again. We enjoyed walking around the castle. There were lots of people as this is one of the major visitors attractions in the city.

12:00 pm

We were back on the bus and arrived at the Museum of Scotland at 12:10. After a brief visit there, we started walking back into Old Town and shopped on the Royal Mile. Our son-in-law, Duffy Baxter, asked that we bring him some "Baxter" tartan. After stopping in several shops and having no luck we arrived at the Scottish Woolen Mill and discovered that the Baxter tartan is no longer being made. We found some "Baxter" items with the family crest and picked those up for him along with a poster showing the old Baxter tartan. We ran into Dave Snyder along the way and he walked along with us. We took his picture with a fellow dressed as one of the Scottish warriors from "Braveheart" era. We also found the Greyfriars Bobby statue and took a picture there. The three of us stopped at The Royal McGregor for lunch. We found with the current exchange rate that things are very expensive in Scotland. When we exchanged our money, it was just about $2 to the pound. Thus a £4.99 hamburger became a $10.00 hamburger for us! It kind of took the fun out of shopping and eating!!! After lunch Dave went on his way and we did some more shopping and sight seeing. We found the Hard Rock Café and bought our son David a T-Shirt. He is getting quite a collection from our travels.

5:30 pm

We returned to the Royal Terrace Hotel.

7:10 pm

Dinner was on our own this evening. We walked to the bottom of the hill and ate dinner at the Bronx Diner. A little bit of New York in Edinburgh! Don had the fish and chips and Diana had the lasagna and neither were very good. We returned to the hotel and crashed. We were still trying to adjust to the time change and we had had a very busy day with lots of walking.

July 18, 2004, Sunday

It's very sunny today and they are predicting 70 F.

7:50 am

   Breakfast at the hotel.

9:00 am

   The bus left the hotel and headed towards Leith.

9:10 am

   We arrived at a spot where we could see the Inchkeith Lighthouse off shore. This is a photo opportunity only, and not a very good one at that. The light is located in the Firth of Forth and was built in 1804. We left 5 minutes later.

10:00 am

   We arrived in North Berwick. Along the way we viewed the Tantallon Castle from the bus. We could see the Isle of May Lighthouse way off in the distance. We could also see the Fidra Lighthouse, but it too was a long ways off in the distance. Fidra Light sits on an island in the Firth of Forth and was built in 1855.

10:30 am

   The boat left the dock and we headed toward Bass Rock. The wooden boat is forty years old and along with our group there were some others so the boat was quite full. The captain, Chris Marr, is also the attendant of the lighthouse.

11:00 am

   Arrived on Bass Rock where the Bass Rock Light is located. Because the tide was out, it was not an easy climb from the boat to the dock area. Some people chose not to make the climb. However, they were able to get good photos from the boat. Bass Rock has the largest colony of gannet birds in the world! Believe me, they were everywhere. The top of the rock is white due to lots of birds and bird droppings! We were able to get into the tower and the view of the shore line was beautiful. The lighthouse sits on the side of this large rock island located in the Firth of Forth. The lighthouse was built in 1902.

12:00 pm

   The boat left Bass Rock and returned to North Berwick at about 12:30.

1:00 pm

   The group walked from the boat dock to the Grange Restaurant for an excellent lunch. Diana had the salmon and Don had the gammon (ham). The food was great, but the wait for service was way too long. Lunch took two hours!!!

3:10 pm

   The bus left North Berwick. The weather was beautiful.

3:15 pm

   We got closer to the Fidra Lighthouse, but there was not time to stop for photos, much to Don's dismay.

4:00 pm

   We arrived at the Roslyn Chapel. This beautifully ornate chapel is known world wide for it's unique carvings. It was built in 1446 and is full of symbolism of Biblical stories, Knights Templar and Free Masonry as well as some pagan images. The chapel is used for weekly services for the Scottish Episcopal Church. The chapel is in the process of renovation, so it was surrounded by scaffolding. As we left the chapel we passed the Roslyn Bio Center where "Dolly" the sheep was cloned.

5:20 pm

   We arrived back at the Royal Terrace Hotel. The temperature was 72 F! Nice day!

7:30 pm

   We had dinner in the hotel dining room. We had chicken and wonderful lemon tarts.

8:55 pm

   Don and Diana walked to the Palace of Holyroodhouse which was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. Tours are available, but we were there after hours. When the bus drove by yesterday, there wasn't even a place for the bus to park so we could take pictures. This evening there were no cars around and we were able to get pictures from several angles. The Palace is best known as the home of Mary Queen of Scots. These days the Royal Apartments are used by The Queen for state ceremonies and official entertaining. We arrived back at the hotel about 9:25 pm.

July 19, 2004, Monday

7:30 am

   We had breakfast at the hotel. Iain announced we would not be following the printed itinerary for the day. (As it turned out, that happened several days!)

8:45 am

   We left the Royal Terrace Hotel and Edinburgh. We now had two buses and our two drivers were George and Gary.

9:10 am

   We stopped to view the suspension bridge (and to take a break) that we would be crossing over the Firth of Forth. The bridge was built in 1965. The 1895 rail bridge also crosses the Firth right near by. The buses were parked near Hawes Inn, the scene of Robert Lewis Stephenson's book Kidnapped.

9:35 am

   We crossed the Forth Bridge over the Firth of Forth. We had a very good view of the rail bridge while crossing.

9:50 am

   We passed by Loch Leven and could see the ruins of the Loch Leven Castle built in the late 14th century on an island in the Loch. This was where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned in the 1560's.

10:05 am

   We arrived and had a tour of Falkland Palace which was the residence and hunting lodge of eight Stuart monarchs, including Mary Queen of Scots. The palace was built between 1501 and 1541, and is a fine example of Renaissance architecture. It includes a beautiful Catholic Royal Chapel which currently holds services and is surrounded by beautiful gardens which were added in the 1950's. We also saw The Royal Tennis Courts, which are considered to be the world's oldest. We left at 11:20.

11:55 am

   We arrived in the town of St. Andrews. This town is probably best known for the St. Andrews Old Course, the golf course where it is believed the game of golf was played for the first time in the 1400's. However, St. Andrew's University, where Prince William now attends, is also well known. It is the oldest university in Scotland. Both of Iain's daughters attended there. Iain took us on a quick tour of the University area and to the ruins of the St. Andrew's Cathedral and Priory. We were on our own for lunch. We met back at the buses and left at 1:20 pm.

1:55 pm

   We arrived at the Elie Ness Lighthouse which was built in 1908. The buses parked so we could see the light across a small bay. This was only a photo opportunity. We left at 2:10.

2:25 pm

   We arrived in the town of Anstruther and boarded the boat the "May Princess." We could see the Anstruther Pier Lighthouse as we left the harbor. We had an hour long boat ride to the Isle of May, five miles out into the Firth of Forth. During the trip we met a young Scotsman, Iain Hamilton, who was going to the island to see the wildlife. He thought it was interesting that we were going there just to see the lighthouses. We could see the lighthouses as we approached the island. The island is situated at the "mouth" of the Firth. It has been a National Nature Reserve since 1956. There are 68,000 pairs of puffins, 7,000 pairs of kittiwakes, 18,000 pairs of guillemots, 2,000 razorbills along with shags and terns. When the boat landed we had a brief talk from one of the naturalists, Therese Alampo, who stays on the island for 7 months of the year. Besides seeing all the birds, we also enjoyed many beautiful flowers and we could see seals out in the water. The first lighthouse there was built in 1636 and is now only ruins of the bottom part of a square tower. It was first lit by coal. The Isle of May Main Light was built in 1816. It looks like a castle. The Isle of May Low Light is down the hill and nearer to the water. It was built in 1844.

5:30 pm

   The boat left the Isle of May and we went along the backside of the island where we could see caves and at the tip of the island were many seals.

6:35 pm

   The boat docked back in Anstruther.

6:50 pm

   The buses left. We did not have time to visit the Fife Ness Lighthouse! Another bummer!

7:05 pm

   We passed the St. Andrew's Old Course again.

7:25 pm

   We made a very quick stop to photograph the Tayport High Light and the Tayport Low Light. The buses parked along the highway and those who wanted to photograph them had to run down a steep hill and then climb back up again. These lights were on the south side of the river leading to the Firth of Tay. The buses left at 7:35 pm We passed through the town of Dundee and had a brief glimpse of the North Carr Lightship.

8:35 pm

   We arrived at the Montrose Park Hotel in the town of Montrose. We had a much larger room in the "attic." It was a nice comfortable room. We had been expected earlier and the hotel was nice to keep the staff on duty so we could have dinner. We ate with Jim and Lynne Millies and discovered that we had been on a GLLKA trip of the Detroit River and Western Lake Erie together in 1993. Small world! After dinner we walked with Dave Snyder and Jim Millies hoping to see the Skurdie Ness Lighthouse. We realized it was much further than we thought. We returned to the hotel at 11:20 and a few minutes later the manager, Allan James, agreed to take a van load of us to a beach area where we could view the light. Dave, Jim, Jan Stahlgren, Margie Conard, Don Broadbent, Carol Nettleton and Holly Dahms joined us for the ride with Allan. It was beautiful on the beach at night and the Scurdie Ness Lighthouse was shining out to sea. We returned to the hotel at 11:40 pm.