If it's not Scottish it's crap!!

In February, we headed down to Long Beach to go to the Scottish Festival. It was held in the harbor where the Queen Mary is docked. Admission included access to the ship as well, so it was well worth it!

We got there just in time to grab a spot inside the beer garden to watch the parade. This picture sort of cracks me up. A piper in full attire chatting with the police in a hummer... you know those Scots, they can get out of hand if you let them.

The parade got underway. They had a set of pipes and drums for a bunch of different clans.


Don't worry - didn't take a picture of each clan!


That's Nick's head at the bottom of the picture - he has his jacket hood up. It was very sunny, but still a bit chilly. You can see he had a prime viewing spot.


We called this one the McRagTag Clan.


Nick *loved* all the pipes and drums.


Yummmm, meat pies... And yes, there was haggis. I did not try it. Our friend Scott (McMillin, of course) was going to try it, but by the time we got back over there they were out. Um, darn?


The hull of the ship. Sadly, the only one I got of the whole darn thing!


I wish I had taken a few more pictures. They had Scottish games (really big men throwing really big things as far as they could) and a sheep dog demonstration. One of the funniest things was when the sheep went on their "break". They went into a horse trailer and the kids were allowed to go pet them if they wanted to. So, of course, Nick wanted to check them out. He at first insisted that I hold him, but in a matter of minutes (seconds, really), he was practically climbing into the trailer with them.

We also got to do some whiskey tasting - yum! Kevin & I, not Nick. Although that might have gotten him down for his nap... hmm... maybe next year!