St. Andrews, Scotland - His & Hers

St Andrews was such an amazing experience all around! I (Clint) knew from the day we started planning this trip that we simply could not make this epic family trip to the U.K. without a stop off at the Home of Golf. Since Nathan and I have been playing golf together for over 2 years consistently and trying our best to master the game, getting a round in where the game was invented in the 1400s was a must, and it did not disappoint! Of the 6 or 7 links courses that the St. Andrews Links club now hosts, we chose the Castle Course for it's picturesque seaside beauty and breathtaking views of the ancient city of St. Andrews. The Castle Course is the very definition of a links course, as would be expected from the place that invented links courses...and golf! The terrain is amazingly undulating sand dunes covered in grass that is as hard and compact as pavement. None of us had ever seen a golf ball roll as far and wildly as it did on this course. A 250 yard drive could easily give you 310 yards of total distance after the roll stopped. And the greens, Oh WOW! The greens were the toughest any of us had ever played! These were massive, perfectly maintained, fast greens with no fewer hills and slopes on them then the fairways had. It was like being on a green, frozen piece of rolling open ocean during a storm! Reading the break of your ball while putting was an art form and a challenge in mathematics to say the least. On some greens, you could have a putt of nearly 40 yards (by our estimates), if you were unlucky enough to have landed on the fringe away from the pin. And holy cow did the roll punish you if you didn't give the ball enough speed or didn't read the break correctly.

OK, enough geeking out on golf stats. The boys had a blast! It was 3 generations of family bonding like nothing else we'd ever experienced. Everybody on the course, including the golf marshals that were waiting at every 2nd or 3rd hole to give us advice about our tee shots, was amazingly friendly and kind. The weather was absolutely perfect! Overcast and in the 60s with a pretty good breeze, but nothing like the cold and miserable rain of the day before which we had feared would ruin our day. We lost of ton of balls in the rabbit-infested rough, but we found a ton also, and had a great adventure we'll never forget. My only regret is that we didn't stay a few days in this amazing town, play a few more rounds and also see the crazy cool things Rebecca, Viktoria, and Dat got to explore in town. Next time!

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While the guys played golf, we (Dat, Viktoria and myself), walked a beautiful trail that led us into town. This was a great little trail that led us on ups and downs, close to a private little beach full of barnacle shells and overgrown with amazing purple flowers, and to the beach of St. Andrews. If I had only known how special this little town was going to be, I would have skipped Edinburgh completely and spent more time in this little hidden gem. We could feel the ocean breezes and could tell the water was cold. Too cold for us to swim in, but we found a park bench and sat and watched as surfers in full body wetsuits challenged the white capped waves looking for the perfect ride. After a short time, we decided to walk into town. We were delighted with just how pretty the short walk was. On one side, we had the ocean that was blowing a cool sea breeze into our faces, while on the other, we followed a path along a canal lined with red poppies and other flowers to a lookout of the St. Andrew's Castle and Abbey.

The Abbey was beautiful with its towering spire and old cemetery surrounding it. The kids had started a game at the beginning of our trip to find the oldest tombstone. Viktoria found a tombstone from 1725. We traced our fingers slowly on the date to make sure we were reading it correctly. It was at St. Andrews Cathedral that we began to notice the skull and crossbones on the tombstones. The primary reason skulls appeared on memorial and headstones was as a reminder of our own mortality, should it be needed, that you too will die one day - death is inescapable !

After the Cathedral, we walked next door to the St. Andrews Castle. It was probably one of the coolest castles we had toured. Yes, there were ancient ruins and fallen walls, but what made this castle so great was the sinister background and the hidden tunnels underground. Protestant preacher George Wishart may have been imprisoned in the castle’s bottle dungeon. Cardinal Beaton’s murdered body was certainly kept in the dank and airless hole. The assassination sparked the brutal siege of 1546–47, when opposing sides dug the remarkable mine and countermine into the rock close to the castle battlements. We were able to climb in the tunnels and explore the underground mysteries of why they were dug, and just who had dug them. It was really, really neat!