Why Would You Visit Scotland in March?!

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Geo: 38.9821, -77.5386

Yes, we heard that line more than a few times before we formally set off on our Spring Break 2012 sojourn. Ever since our trip to Ireland back in 2007, Scotland has been near the top of travel list. Both Katherine and I have Scottish heritage, and as I'm reminded daily of how "cheap" I am, I thought it was about time I visited the land responsible for my Scotch "frugality."

Some have already heard the saga of how we finally arranged our travel for this trip -- an endless aggravating series of fits-and-starts with British Airways as we tried to use Frequent Flier miles -- so I won't repeat. That said, we had arranged the flights nearly a full year out, which also allowed us to fully pre-plan our inter-Scotland itinerary and book our bed-and-breakfasts of choice. The saga of the miles and an "about-to-expire" voucher from Air France meant that we were again traveling as a split family. Anna and I flew to Edinburgh via London, while Katherine was traveling over Amsterdam on KLM. While booking the travel, we realized that she could effect a layover in Amsterdam, so Katherine decided she wanted to spend a couple of days touring that city, on her way home from Scotland. Well, as soon as that plan was hatched, a certain Jane Lucal very quickly signed up to join us on the trip. She'd been to Scotland many years ago, on a tour with a friend of hers, but wanted to see the Highlands -- which were on our itinerary -- as well as have some quality mother-daughter time with Katherine in Amsterdam.

We were lucky in that our planes (one to London and one to Amsterdam) left within an hour of each other, and we were to rendezvous in Edinburgh also within an hour on the other end. With both of us working the day of our departure, and Anna having school, we did cut it close at Dulles when we finally checked in. By the time we navigated check-in and security, we made it to the KLM gate just in the nick of time for Jane and K to board.

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