Today was our day to do a little exploration since we knew that we wouldn’t be seeing Helen until teatime. So we got ourselves sorted and headed east out the A720 to see lies east of Edinburgh.
We stopped in Haddington first – advertised as a “historic market town” – and had a wee wander about the shops. I stopped into the chemist to see about getting something for my cough as my cold has now moved into my chest (hence there was no run for me this morning). I got some Robitussin and possible the oddest suggestion ever: Vicks vaporub on your feet with socks on to prevent your cough keeping you up at night. Weird but I’ll try anything once. We also picked up a few books for Frank and for friends back home. Then the trek east continued.
To Dunbar. We picked it off the map somewhat arbitrarily but it is a nice seaside town. Not with nice seaside weather today as the rain moved in and got steadier as we wandered about. We found a tea shop for lunch (baked potato with coronation chicken – yum!) and a cup of tea and then off to explore the harbor. The remains of the castle aren’t particularly impressive until you understand the history of the place. There’s been a fortress of somekind there since the reign of Malcom Canmore in the 11th century. The defeated Edward fled there after losing the Battle of Bannock burn and Mary Queen of Scots took refuge there twice.
The coastline is pretty dramatic – especially for those of us that don’t regularly see a coastline. We climbed up and down things and then headed back into town for a visit to some galleries. I now have a lovely wee tree made by an artist in Aberdeen to add to the “forest” in my kitchen.
But alas, the clock was ticking for our family dinner date so we started heading back home. We considered making a quick stop in Musselburgh because it’s there but the traffic trying to get into the town center was crazy so we abandoned that idea and hit the road again.
We were meant to collect Helen at 5 o’clock to go out for a special meal with my niece who recently turned 21 but she was very out of sorts so we decided to leave her be and have a lovely meal with the youngest Cannon brother and family at the Torbrex Inn. Since we didn’t have to worry about hauling the wheelchair around, we parked the car and walked the half a mile or so to the restaurant so Frank could have a pint and not worry about driving. He also had his share of a bottle of Bordeaux. 🙂
After dinner we thought we’d wander into Stirling to see what was up and stopped at No. 2 Baker Street for a pint. The night was mild and dry so we could sit outside and watch people go by. And the people we saw were all either tourists or very drunk people who’s accents were indistinguishable. How times have changed! I don’t know what the more sober locals do on a Wednesday night but I know it isn’t having a pint downtown anymore. So we toddled home for a cup of tea before an early bed – which managed to bring our step count for the day to 16,077.
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