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MY TRIP TO IRELAND, NORTHERN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND

Day 12: Somebody Has a Lot of Weeding to Do

We headed out on Day 12 to visit the Crarae Gardens. It was threatening rain, but we were determined not to be put off by it. While we knew the gardens would be past their prime season, they also sported waterfalls.

Along the way, we grabbed some shots at Loch Lomond and a park sporting animals carved from logs at the base of a mountain. Loch Lomond also sported a Celtic Cross along one part of its shoreline.

Crarae Gardens began development in 1912 under the direction of Lady Grace Campbell, aunt of Himalayan plant hunter, Reginald Farrer. Her son inherited the land in 1925 and lived there until 1967. In that time, he greatly expanded the gardens. His son, Sir Ilay Campbell, took over the project until he donated the gardens to the Crarae Garden Charitable Trust in 1978. In 2001, the gardens were forced to close due to lack of funding. The National Trust of Scotland took ownership in 2002 after a 1.5 million pound fundraising effort took place.

Here are some photos of the trip:
We stopped off to eat at a pub where we parked next to an old MG. Emery is currently restoring one of his own, so he enjoyed seeing another one out and about. It was driven by a pair of older gentlemen who were also eating there. It was actually interesting to see two vintage cars not only in one day, but within hours of each other. For that matter, seeing a vehicle more than 5-7 years old at all seemed to be very uncommon in Ireland, Northern Ireland or Scotland.

Following our meal, we worked our way back to the city. At one point, we found ourselves stuck at a malfunctioning automated signal at a road works site. A women from a car further behind us took the initiative and walked to the crew office to let them know about the problem. Soon after, we were back on our way.

At right is some video of our drive that day. The roads were curvey and narrow and it was raining, as well. In the first part, we encountered a single lane bridge where we had to yeild to another car. In the second portion, we came upon a lorry coming around a curve using part of our lane.