Scotland 2014: St. Andrews and Kenmore

Today we left Edinburgh and headed to St. Andrews for a quick visit on our way to an awesome village in the Scottish Highlands called Kenmore.

St. Andrews is a charming town and the golf course is, not surprisingly, impressive. We were told that the standard wait for a tee time is 18 months! Not sure if there are 'special deals' to get around that or not - sounds like there are.

We arrived in Kenmore a bit later that afternoon. Kenmore is right on the shores of Loch Tay, which is the source of the largest river in Scotland, the River Tay. Since the weather has been so warm and we had been driving for a bit, Bryce and I opted to go for a swim in Loch Tay. This lake was formed by glaciers and we thought the water would be cold, but it wasn't bad. Very refreshing! I'm guessing the temperature was 72 degrees.

The Kenmore Inn is (supposedly) the oldest continually operating hotel in Scotland . . .

After our swim, we had dinner at the hotel dining room. I brought my guitar along on this trip and, as luck would have it, there was kind of an 'open jam session' happening in the hotel bar after dinner. Being the shy guy that I am, I jumped at the chance to play some Scottish folk music. I joined in with the two guitar players and fiddle player. One of the guitar players was exceptionally good and also played the banjo -- so it wasn't long before he suggested Dueling Banjos! They were very welcoming. We also played a song that I used to play with Tom Brigham and The Mobile Homeboys years ago -- and old Sea Shanty called 'Leaving Liverpool.' They loved when I suggested that one as they knew it cold. They knew tons of American country songs as well, so the whole thing was a blast!

I will try to link a short video that Susan shot here:

Exploring Ancient Crannogs
While in Kenmore on Loch Tay, we also got to explore some recreations of ancient 'Crannogs,' which are wooden hut structures that are built out over the water -- the first of these were apparently built 2,500 years ago! These recreations are built right on Loch Tay. We had a fabulous tour guide who even showed us how the ancient residents created fire. It was fascinating to learn about the technical sophistication that these folks had so very long ago. It would take them a year to build the structure, but it might last (with a few repairs here and there) for well over 150 years.