Moran Family Fun

The second thing Jared really wanted to add to see in Scotland was the William Wallace Monument. Sir William Wallace is known as the Guardian of Scotland and as Scotland's first national hero because he led Scotland to victory against the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge 700 years ago.  I'm not sure where Jared developed an interest in William Wallace but he's always had a love for patriots who fight for their countries. I think they have a future in historical reenacting It was a bit of a walk up the hill to the monument from the visitor's center and by the time we finally made it to the base of the monument I wished we'd taken the shuttle bus instead. We still had to climb 246 steps to make it to the top of the monument. Climbing up a stone, spiral set of stairs isn't so bad until you meet someone on the stairs going the opposite way. They're just so narrow! The top of the monument, called The Crown, had some pretty amazing views of th...

Jared had two things he wanted to do while we were in Scotland - go to a pub to listen to folk music and visit the William Wallace Monument. The William Wallace one was easy because it's a tourist attraction. Just find it on a map, pay the admission fee, and go. Finding a pub where we could go listen to traditional Scottish music was another thing.  A couple of months before our trip he started looking around online for places near where we were staying that might work. I think he searched using the words "traditional music Scottish pubs". That put him on the right track and he started an email correspondence with a nice lady from Lomond Folk Club. She was so helpful letting us know not only when her club met to play, but also other places we could go to listen to traditional music.  We were grateful that there was a gathering of the Folk Club during our time in Scotland. Monday night we abandoned the girls and Jared and I headed to Corries Restuarant in Balloch to lis...

When we're on vacation we take things easy and don't plan more than one or two things for each day.  That way we have time to sleep in if we want to or to just relax at the hotel pool or even to explore and see something we weren't planning on at all. Monday the plan was to go to Edinburgh to visit the castle and walk along the Royal Mile. While I'm positive there's much more to see than those two things, we were sticking with our vacation philosophy of not trying to pack too much into one day. Jared outside the Scottish National War Memorial Okay, in no particular order, things we liked about the castle: English Heritage members receive half price admission. The regular admission of £17 per person adds up quickly when you're traveling with a family.  The views of the city were amazing. The castle sits on top of a steep slope and there were breathtaking views from every side. The Crown Jewels of Scotland and the Stone of Destiny are kept in ...

Our first full day in Scotland was a General Conference Sunday so there weren't any regular church meetings. There was a church building in a nearby town but they weren't broadcasting conference and we didn't have wifi at our hotel which meant there was no way for us to watch Conference. I have to admit, that was a bummer. We didn't have anything on the agenda besides sleeping in and looking for something low-key to keep us occupied so we headed out to see what we could see. The closest town to our hotel was Aberfoyle, which is a small little town with one main street, a gas station, a small grocery store, and a couple of restaurants. The only other things in town are a woolen mill shop and a park. Sunday afternoon was spent just kind of seeing what there was to do in Aberfoyle. The park was fun because it had a double zip line. We took turns racing each other back and forth on the zip line and just generally being silly at the park. Then we headed over to the Scot...