MAY 23 - MAY 29
We flew into Heathrow and rented a car off-site.
Because there was nothing else close by, we felt constrained to pay their outrageous charge of $25/day insurance!
Thought for the future - when traveling overseas where your domestic car insurance is not valid, determine the car rental insurance ahead of time.
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We spent the first night at Brian and Elaine's house in Maidenhead which is quite close to London.
2) We had lunch at The George 3) A house on the town green
4) Maidenhead 5,6) The Thames canal.
We next stayed at Alan and Barbara's in West Kirby, south of Liverpool
While there we went on a nice walk to a duck pond, continued to the ocean, and saw some of the houses in the town.
We crossed into Scotland. Our first stop was at Gretna Green - a historic Blacksmith shop where weddings have been held for 100's of years.
We continued on to Ayr where we stayed with Tezma and John.
In addition to visiting with them, we used this as home base as we toured the area.
Robert Burn's birthplace is Alloway, within walking distance of John and Tezma's house.
He was born January 25, 1759 and the family stayed at this house until he was 7.
In 1786 he published his first collection of poems - the "Kilmarnock Edition".
He married Jean Armour a couple of years later and they eventually had a total of 9 children.
He died from rheumatic fever on July 21, 1796.
He was buried ceremoniously in Dumfries.
1, 2) The Cottage 3) The bed where Burns was born 4) The bridge "Birg O'Doon".
5) Burn's monument 6) The old Alloway Kirk 7, 8) His father's grave.
On a rainy day we took the train to Glasgow which was an hour away.
The Burrell Museum is in Glasgow.
In 1944 Sir William Burrell donated his magnificient private collection to Glasgow, his native city.
It contains tapestries, stained glass, paintings and artworks collected by William during the previous 20 years.
The museum was formally openned by the queen on October 23, 1983.
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Culzean Castle
The Scots were so grateful for Eisenhower's contributions to the war they gave him a suite it the castle to use for the rest of his life.
As we traveled from the castle to Saltcoats, we passed through lovely countryside.
Salt was produced in Saltcoats and other places along the Ayrshire coast.
It was made by evaporating seawater and boiling it away in large pans.
Salt helped make Saltcoats prosperous and encouraged investment in the harbor.
The Saltcoats pans were the last in Scotland to make marine salt.
3) Alexander Millar's house 4) The Warren's house
