Kildrummy, Scotland - Sept 8, 7, 9, Elgin Sept 10

What a pleasant drive from Edinburgh to Kildrummy. On the way we stopped at St. Andrews and spent a few hours and played 9 holes.  That is 9 holes on a putting course which is beside the first hole of the old course.  From there we passed thru Dundee and Aberdeen.  Starting in Aberdeen you can see that fall is arriving as some of the maple trees are turning a lovely red.

We had a brilliant time.  We stayed at the Kildrummy Inn, that is just down the road from Kildrummy Castle. A marvelous place, with excellent meals, they come from all over for dinner on a Saturday night.   We visited many farms, cemeteries and met a number of native Scots.  A Doric dictionary might have been handy at times.  We attend a meeting of the Genealogy Society in Alford, know where all the area libraries are located. Visited the castle of Drum and one of our most unusual places we stumbled across was at lunch in Invernuie.  Lunch was in a working church.  The church had upstairs pews so what they did was install a second level floor that left the pews intacted. That is now where they hold there services.  The main level is a cafe and the servers are all volunteers. The only staff paid are in the kitchen.  The meal was great.  We also meet a fellow that took us to a church that he and 10 other people have bought.  The old church was going to be torn down, now it is used for weddings, funerals, baptisms and three services a year.  The light is still the original gas lights.  He told us that they are actually making money.

Countryside around Rhynie

Kildrummy Inn

On the journey to Elgin we stopped at a few more farms and then on to the Gordon Castle in Fochabers.  We had met a couple outside our home in Calgary who live at the Castle and invited us to visit.  What a great opportunity as the Castle is not open to the public.  The grounds around the castle are beautiful. 
On our travels in this area there is alot more trees and especially the number of spruce trees  than expected.  Also there is a great deal of logging that is taking place.  Yes the roads have been narrow and crooked.  We have had a hectic four days and will take a day off to absorb all and hunker down as the tail end of hurricane Katia might be heading this way.

Gordon Castle