Wednesday September 1

Today was to be a day of relaxation. We did not have an itinirary. All we knew that we were going to do was have dinner with Uncle Harry and Aunt Isabol. Audra and I decided to take a scenic drive south from Ayr towards the golf course that hosts the British and Senior Open championships, Turnburry. Cameron and Alex stayed behind and went for a drive to Kilmarnock so Sandy could show then all her old stomping grounds.

Looking to the northwest, it was looking like it was to be a rainy day. Audra and I started south and enjoyed a great coastal drive. It rained on us just a little then the sky cleared up and it was a beautiful sunny day.

The shoreline is mostly rocky.

We stopped at this working farm that had a coffee house. Audra had to have pictures of the pigs.

Here are some thistles on the beach.

This thistle is so big. Look carefully at the size of the bee in the right photo.

Photos from Turnburry.

This is the sign you see when entering Girvan.

Since it was such a beautiful day and we had driven past so many golf courses AND I had a few hours to kill before dinner, I convinced Cameron to go and shoot 9 holes with me at the Seafield course http://www.golfsouthayrshire.com/ a couple of blocks away from the house.

It was great fun. Cameron and I got the cobwebs out of our game since we are playing 18 holes tomorrow with Uncle Joe.

Alex decided he wanted to swim in the ocean.

Local flowers around the neighborbood.

Bud and Alex playing soccer after dinner.

Alex and Cameron found this monster jellyfish on the beach at low tide while we were enjoying the sunset. The jellyfish was really creepy and looked like an alien.

Another beautiful sunset as the sun goes down behin the island of Arran in the Firth of Clyde.

Dinner reflection.

Audra, Sandy , Uncle Harry and Aunt Isabol.

Tuesday August 31

Today we were to golf 9 holes at Seafield course right next to the house at 9:30 AM. However, all my golf partners did not sleep well and had to cancel on me, what a bummer. I will have to wait until Thursday to golf.

We did have a great day anyway without golf (imagine that!). We set out around noon and went to the Ayr city centre and did some shopping.

We got some snacks and a local bakery.

Alex got a yummy steak pastry. It was really great.

Haggis anyone?

This shop was selling everything from beef to zebra, yes zebra. Look at the side of the building and zoom in closely and you will see the days specials.

School kids out for lunch. They were everywhere.



Here is the bargain store "Poundland". To us, it was really the $1.635 dollar store.



Cam and Alex went into this store to buy some new games for the trip home. They were really bummed to find out that UK Sony PSP games and movies are not compatible with US versions of PSP.

After that, we went to Kilmarnock and picked up Uncle Harry and Aunt Isabol. We went to the Killie shop for some souvenirs.

Al playing in front of the Kilmarnock Football Club.

The is the church in Kilmarnock which we visited the last time we were here 5 years ago.

Then we drove down to Troon for dinner at the harbor restaurant. Here are some photos of the Royal Troon Golf Course.

I thought it would be more impressive too.

Sunset at the Ayr house.

Monday August 30

Bud and Sandy arrived around 9:30AM. We had great fun re-visiting our vacation adventure with them and filling in the blanks of some of our experiences that were not posted on this blog. After breakfast we went for a walk down the ocean front path to the heart of the town of Ayr.

We then enjoyed a wonderful Scottish soft serve ice cream cone with a flake!

It was a perfect Scottish day. 

Audra on the bike.

Alex took this series of photos....the little bugger.

We picked up Uncle Harry and Aunt Isabol and had them over for a great fish super. We laughed so much and had a great time catching up.

Grandpa teaching Alex bad habits.

Alex tried some of Bud's haggis. He was told by his Great Uncle Harry that is is now "officially Scottish". We then looked at Cameron...it was his turn to try it. He was not excited about it.

He did take a bite and he to is now considered officially "Scottish".

If you were wondering, for the record, I tried haggis several years ago when I was here in the 80's.


Alex winding down at the end of the day with Grandpa.

Tomorrow we are shopping and exploring Ayr and Troon. We may go to Glasgow and take a tour bus. We will see.