A Magical Time retracing steps and discovering new places Day 1

Greenan Castle

After years of hoping that my friend, Carmen, would be able to get herself over here, she did!  And she seemed to have brought Florida weather with her, making the week she and her daughter were here even more magical!

Dunure Castle - Tracy and Todd were able to spend some
time here, but Carmen and Savannah were just
driven by.  Time constraints.  If you look closely, this was
a scene from Outlander, but the castle was made to
look like it was on an island!

It has been visitor season in our household this year. Between Dana's visit and Carmen's arrival, another friend of mine from Minneapolis arrived from Edinburgh for just one day.  She and her husband also experienced excellent weather, people are not going to believe this part of Scotland is not always gloriously sunny! The special thing about this friendship is we were just two lost American women in Paris one year. And have stayed in touch! I was delighted she and her husband came all that way to see us!

Carmen was visiting her daughter who is in London for a while and they arrived by train. At the same "station" which still has no station attached thanks to the ruinous condition of what should be the Station Hotel!  This was on a Thursday, so the camera club I belong to was having their first summer outing at Greenan Shore and this is where I took our visitors.

We only had 2 full days to experience Ayrshire, so the next day we went on  a mystery tour.  This is because I had not been to the places I wanted to take Carmen and Savannah that I forgot exactly how to get there.  This turned out to be the best approach to seeing Ayrshire at its finest and I need to try this again soon.

Dumfries House

Our first stop was Dumfries House where the largest private collection of Chippendale furniture is located.  I had not been in  a while and was looking forward to the tour along with them. However, as we turned in, I noticed the sign for the Boswell Book Festival and knew our plans were not going to happen!  This is a great festival with many famous authors giving talks and workshops in all locations, including inside the house.  But not so great for us.....

All was not lost though, Savannah noticed the garden area and suggested we have lunch there!  This was perfect and allowed us to sit outside, in the sunshine, in Scotland!  Does it get any better than that?

Yes, it did get better, suddenly there was music in the air.  I asked and was told there are local men who just randomly get together to play together.  How wonderful!

How to follow this?  Well, the plan was to visit Bargany Gardens. For years, I would drive past the gates going from one work area to another, and every May there would be a sign stating the garden were open to the public, May only!

View from our table

What I did not factor in was that it had been years and my Ayrshire geography was not working well, so we ended up driving past Turnberry Hotel and decided to pop in for a drink. They got Bellinis, I got tea since I was the driver and the drink/drive laws in Scotland are very strict.  But the tea service is an event in itself, just handling the tea strainer and pouring milk from silver jugs.  We were all delighted with this accident of taking the wrong turn!

The scene most taken when visiting Bargany Gardens!

After this enjoyable break, I did finally manage to find Bargany Gardens.  It was beautiful, as it always is.  Just a nice walk amongst many differing kinds of flowers, but lots of rhododendrons!

We were even invited by the Lady of the Manor to stay and discover the walled garden, she understood we arrived late and that Carmen and Savannah would never be able to return.  This gesture made the visit even more special.

Huge Rhododendrons!

What a great way to start a week in Scotland!  The rest of the week was just as pleasant, but I will have to get to that when there is more time. Can't rush such a fabulous trip!