When I look into the festival a little more I found out that there was going to be lots of pipes, highland games including tossing the caber which is always fun to watch, a mini tattoo and a concert. It was a Friday night and all day Saturday even and I was excited. As soon as Ben finished work we heading up to Thanksgiving Point. Look at what the temperature was at 5.45pm at night!! I don't think Scotland has ever had this temperature and it's not even officially the first day of Summer yet.
We arrived and made our way straight to the food area because I was looking for either a scotch pie or a sausage roll and Ben was so excited to try and find irn-bru since he lived on the stuff when he was over in Scotland at Christmas. Then came complete DISAPPOINTMENT and MOANING from me.... no irn-bru and $6 for a sausage roll and $7.50 for a scotch pie. Now I've not lived in the USA long enough to forget my Scottish heritage and tight with money roots! haha. There was no way I was paying that. I kept saying to Ben, "I can get a scotch pie from Tesco for 52p so I'm not paying $6". Then I got on my soap box while walking about the food area because everything else was not Scottish or even British - from grilled corn to tacos to kettle corn and chocolate frozen bananas..... I was disappointed! I still am and I really want a scotch pie or a sausage roll from the butcher shop...mmmmmmmmm. ***I thought I would just miss chocolate when I came over here and I find myself missing pies, oxo and bisto more - weird!!***Once I got off of my soap box and decided to enjoy the rest we went on a walk around stopping at one of the many shop stalls (a lot of them not Scottish to me - did you know that Wales was in Scotland?!?! - haha). It was kind of fun to walk around in that heat looking at semi-scottish things and thinking if this was a highland games in Scotland it would be raining, windy and freeeeezzzzing cold. I was grateful for where I was and for the weather. We made our way to the tattoo field where they were having a tattoo that night . I had visions of the military tattoo they have at Edinburgh Castle every year but it was nothing like that. About 150 or so pipers piped in along the field which was very cool and loud and then they sang the American National Anthem. I was hoping they would sing the Scottish National Anthem because after all it's a Scottish Festival and as soon as I had the thought they started singing it and so did I. I loved it and felt very proud and patriotic. After all the formalities a celtic style band started playing - this was not the kind of tattoo I remember but they were pretty good. After listening a while we decided to head home because we had another day of fun planned.
Saturday was a whole different weather day - colder by Utah standards and crazy gusty winds. I was hoping it would change because we had planned a picnic but it didn't let up the whole day. We still had a good time though. Rather than write a play by play I'll give you the highlights and then put some pictures of the day down.
Highlights:
1. Watching the highland games - tossing the caber, throwing and lifting the stones, hay bale toss. Ben had never seen this before and I think was pretty impressed.
2. Watching the pipe competitions - some of them can play pretty well.
3. Listening to the Wicked Tinkers - they are really good and full of energy too.
4. Visiting some of the "clan tents" and finding the Forsyth tent and realising I'm probably more Forsyth than they are!
5. Seeing a member of the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band looking sooooo much better in his pipe majors uniform that the US counterparts. ;-)
Now I need to find a recipe to make pastry for sausage rolls! Mmmmmmm
I'll post my non alcoholic Mojito and Blueberry Cobler recipe tomorrow. Another two easy, simple and yummy recipes!!
$6 for a SINGLE sausage roll? I wonder if they had to import them or something?
ReplyDeleteI must say though, there are quite a few things I miss about Scotland, but sausage rolls aren't one of them. I do like a good haggis an assortment of breakfasty things like lorne sausage and tattie scones, neither of which can be had here. Although you must be able to make tattie scones easy enough?
Come to Canada to get your bisto and oxo, they're both readily available here at the supermarket. Also the major supermarket chain here does a good store brand black pudding!