Extra... Extra... Mike & Jim are Being Held Hostage in Scotland Until Friday!!!!! Special Addition #13 from Scotland (Clark & Eichelberger's Big Adventure!)

Mike's Notes & Pictures

Well we should be home!!!!

It was a rise and shine morning for us, 7am Scottish breakfast and moving like a well oiled machine, bags and clubs in the Volvo and off to the airport for a fond fair well to Scotland. All going smooth, Jimmy got an upgrade so he was extra pleased and I had just got myself situated in my oversized business class seat… check…built my nest of pillows and blankets for long haul comfort…. check…… headphones plugged in….. check….. movie selected….. check…. In flight meal ordered…… check…. Slippers on….. check…… take off…… not happening…..

Pilot comes on the intercom repeatedly with up dates on a mechanical issue.

End result after about 2 hours on the tarmac….. deplane and after another lengthy wait, collect our bags, hoof it off to the United rep to see what the plan will look like for getting home.

Turns out they already booked us on flights, just not together, and now I’m in the back of the plane in a middle coach seat. I’m not having any of that and so United has agreed to put us up for two nights plus expenses if I we can return on Friday. Thumbs up to that. In our defense, we were extra nice to the United gate gals that were getting a hard time from 260 extra fussy passengers. Just goes to show you what kindness and a 20 pound note can do for you.

In lieu of staring at each other all afternoon in the hotel lobby bar, we caught the tram into downtown Edinburg for some sights. I’m glad we did as it’s a remarkable place and that castle is quite the achievement. One can only imagine the amount of shear man power it took to build the thing on top of the near mountain it sits on. Certainly a tribute to human ingenuity. We managed to explore a couple local drinking establishments while we were downtown and we might find our way back there tomorrow. As we were sitting outside of one pub a Scott who had already had a few saunters up and wants to discuss US politics and more definitively what an outstanding president Barak Obama is. He must have sensed that perhaps neither Jimmy or I were not in the mood and he slinked off inside not to be heard from again.

Upon returning back to the hotel, Jimmy realized we have not used any of our 30 pounds daily allotment for food. We’ve already eaten, but since United Airlines wants us to be happy I’m now staring at a bag of 25 Cadbury chocolate bars.

What the hell…

Jimmy has about the same as me.

After we gave some to the hotel staff, we still have a bunch left to share.

We are not yet sure what tomorrow brings but it will probably start out with 1/2 a chocolate bar.

Chocolate bar anyone?

Somewhere at the end of this hall is my room. Girl at the counter must have recognized something about me as I’ve got the handicap accessible one.

Jim's Pictures and notes

Jim was excited that he received a free upgrade to Economy Plus and even an exit row.  Things were going great to start the trip home. 

During the maintenance delay, Jim calculated the steps and miles walked during our 24 rounds in 13 days.  Mike and Jim walked at least 160 miles in less than 2 weeks in Scotland and yes most of those steps were on the courses.

The mess of passengers waiting for luggage from cancelled flight.  Took at least 45 minutes to get our damn luggage back. 

The guys patiently waiting for our luggage.  Jim just wants to be back home. 

The guys lugging their shit to the hotel that is a short walk from the airport.  Not that freaking short.   

The guys took the opportunity to ride the tram to city center and check out the Edinburgh Castle.  Simply amazing. 

Jimmy heading into a real local Scottish pub that again was only a short walk.  Not!

Look at this old time pub bar.  Very cool. 

Mike excited upon exiting the old time pub after a double scotch. 

Zoom in and just check out how massive the castle is and how steep the slopes are.  How the heck did they build this thing?

Jim sending pictures and captions to Tom on the tram back to our hotel.