Treasure Hunt

There were a couple of destinations in Scotland that we decided to hit because we were in the area, although we weren't sure how enthusiastic the children would be about it. The first of such locations was County Angus - the city of Dundee, in particular - which is home to ancestors on my dad's side of the family (their name was Fawns). There wasn't a lot of detail as to where in the city/county these ancestors lived, so we weren't able to pinpoint an exact house or church or anything, but thought it would be meaningful, nonetheless.

In order to make this family-history trip more enjoyable, we purchased a treasure hunt guide for Dundee. It contained a packet of questions/clues that took us on a 2-hour walking tour of the city. Two hours may seem long, but we took it at a leisurely pace and had lunch during that time as well. Nothing in particular stood out about Dundee, it is very similar to any other seaside town in the U.K., and along with that had some beautiful architecture and a lot of history.

Dundee City HallDeciphering clues...
Hmm... impressive!
More clues...

Downtown Dundee, Scotland

Dundee cemetary - gifted to the city by Mary, Queen of Scots

St. Paul's Cathedral in Dundee

Dundee High School

St. Andrews coastline

In the afternoon we headed for our second destination: St. Andrews, home to the world's oldest (and original) golf course. This, of course, was a destination requested by Matt and was of little importance to the female members of our family, however, we all agreed that the city itself was very pretty and the beach looked very inviting... if it had been a bit warmer!

Matt at the St. Andrews hotel

City of St. Andrews

The old course at St. Andrews.

St. Andrews clubhouse.

Our final stop for the day was Lochleven Castle. Securely located on Castle Island in Loch Leven (hence its name), it had an important role in Scotland's history for being Mary, Queen of Scots' prison from June 1567 to May 1568, and the place where she was forced to abdicate in favour of her infant son James VI on 24 July 1567. The ferry wasn't operating on this day, so we just viewed it from an old Bruce Family cemetary (as in "Robert the Bruce") on the shores of the Loch.