Second in a series of guest posts by Paige Cromar Davis

Off to Scotland!

The first leg of our journey to Scotland was a Delta flight from Cincinnati to New York’s dreaded JFK airport. We had decided ahead of time to pack light to avoid baggage claim or lost luggage issues on the outbound flights. With TSA PreCheck, security was a breeze (I highly recommend it for domestic US flights). The layover was fairly short which had me concerned since we had to take a lengthy bus ride to the international terminal and pass through another security checkpoint. In spite of that, we made it our gate and boarded on time with neck pillows, eye masks, and noise-cancelling headphones at hand.

The flight was to depart at 10:00 pm, arriving in Edinburgh at 10:00 am – seven hours in the air—so we had plenty of time to sleep. It seemed as if we were going to taxi all the way to Scotland after we pulled away from the gate, and after a long wait on the tarmac we were finally wheels up at 11:00. I slept pretty well using the Calm app with white noise; however, Greg was unable to get comfortable and did not sleep well.

A Short Night

I awoke to the smell of breakfast service as we were nearing the UK. My watch said 4 am still being in airplane mode, and we had another 1 1/2 hours before expected landing at 10:30. Tailwinds had helped make up half of the departure delay, but that aroma had cut my night’s sleep short. Not knowing when we might eat again, I had the ham, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich and a scalding beverage that slightly resembled coffee. For a premium, one could have ordered Starbucks.

Welcome to the UK Border

I could barely contain my excitement as we debarked and entered Passport Control at the UK Border. I snuck a photo of Greg to commemorate the moment in spite of signage forbidding cell phones or camera use in the queues. (photo above) Some may think this is silly, but I delighted in hearing the Scottish accents.

Without the need to claim bags, we found our way to the rental car queues having reserved a compact SUV (is that an oxymoron?) at Budget. Greg spent several weeks ahead of the trip watching YouTube videos on driving in the UK and was rather anxious at the prospect. The agent provided him a rubber bracelet: “DRIVE ON THE LEFT!” I remarked, “Nothing screams tourist like a rubber bracelet that says drive on the left.” The windshield had large stickers on the lower corners with the same caution.

Adventures in Driving

Greg had two main sources of anxiety: roundabouts and narrow roadways. He hoped to avoid those until he was better oriented with steering from the right seat while driving on the left. Straight out of the airport, we encountered the first of many roundabouts as we made our way to Dunfermline about 20 minutes away. Adding to the mix, Greg is blind on his right side, so depth perception and position on the road proved additionally challenging. As we made our way around, the left wheels went up onto the curb! I took to using the left side mirror to check our position and call out, “curb,” “edge,” “grass.”

We made it to Dunfermline without hitting anything or killing ourselves. We called it a win. For those unfamiliar with Dunfermline, it is the birthplace of Andrew Carnegie, burial site of Robert the Bruce (all but his heart!), and Scotland’s ancient capital.

A Warm Welcome and A Delightful Pub

We were met by our host’s brother, Andy Watson, a friendly chap who gave us a tour of the house and directions to the nearest grocer where we could pick up breakfast items and snacks. Another white-knuckle ride got us to the Asda Superstore. Back at the house, we had a short nap then mapped out the walking route to the ScotRail station and spotted a potential dinner spot, The Elizabethan, both about a 15-minute walk from our accommodations. The Elizabethan turned out to be a perfect choice. I selected the “Lizzie” burger, a haggis patty, beef patty, and bacon on a brioche bun and a dram of whisky. Greg had a craft beer and barbeque-style chicken. Slàinte Mhath! Seeing our posts on Facebook, Ulrika Watson messaged, “Great choice, The Elizabethan. You can walk there then stagger home!” We hit the bed early, eagerly anticipating our morning meet-up with Kathy Ader of Wild History and Whisky Tours at The Boat Inn in Aboyne.