August 5, 2008 Dumfries to Carlisle

I slept like a baby for 10 hours!! Breakfast was lovely—REAL yogurt! Toast, porridge without whiskey in it. The breakfast room is a beautiful sun-room type room. Our minibus driver arrived and we found we could put all our luggage in, and have plenty of room for the 4 of us, so we didn’t have to leave our bags at the guest house. The driver, Ted Gordon, was a real sweetheart.

Our first stop was Caerlaverock Castle. I have read SO many books that mentioned this castle, that I just had to see it. It’s just ruins now, and they are awesome! Daddy and I walked through, climbed the twisting staircases, stooped low under the door frames, and explored. I could just imagine what it was like when people actually lived there back in the 13th and 14th centuries. After the castle, we drove through the country. We saw lots of cows (almost always laying down! Guess they must be contented cows!) and sheep.

We arrived in Annan (the Royal Burgh of Annan, that is) which is the town my ancestors were from. We were disappointed to find that the museum was closed for 2 days. Major bummer! We drove through town—not much to see. We got out and walked down the main street a bit, but there really wasn’t much there. We drove out to Stapleton Tower, which is an old border tower built by the Johnstons (my family!!) We took pictures of the sheep (the ones we missed!—my family was apparently kicked out of Scotland for stealing sheep) We drove around the area, and got to see the ruins of Lochwood Castle, which was Clan Johnston’s stronghold. I learned that what I thought all this time was heather growing along the roads, railroad tracks, and everywhere you look, was actually a weed! Prettiest weed I ever saw!

We drove through Johnstonebridge and Lockerbie, and got to see the Johnstonebridge cemetery. Ooh, fun, visiting dead ancestors!! We then went to Moffat to the woolen mill, where we had a very nice lunch (yummy steak pie that was just perfect), and GREAT shopping! I was able to get all the souveniers I still needed, including shortbread for everyone! After lunch we headed out to see Raehills, the Johnston family estate. It is a beautiful stately home. We got to see the Johnston sheep, and even some Johnston rhubarb! (I suggested we knock on the door and tell them that we’d love to make them a nice rhubarb pie, and while it bakes they could give us a tour of the house!) Apparently, you can actually stay there. (Hmmm, an idea for my next trip there!) Our driver had met a Senator Johnston from Canada, who made up a booklet all about Lord Johnston, Earl of Annandale. So he took us to his house to show us the book, and we were able to get the address of the Senator so we can write to him and get some information.

We dropped Daddy off at the Dumfries train station, since he needed some of the mileage between there and Carlisle. The rest of us went by minibus with Ted. MUCH easier than lugging our bags! We checked in to the Lakes Court Hotel, which was right next to the train station—can’t beat that for convenience! I repacked a bit to lighten up my carryon bag. Deb was able to get WiFi, so I checked us all in for our flight the next morning. We had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant, and then went next door to a Mexican restaurant to get bottled water, since the shops at the train station were closed. We gathered up in Mom and Dad’s room and wrote the review of the Travelodge in London. What a hoot! We laughed ourselves silly!