Out and about in East Lothian

This morning, two of my Birmingham neighbors' lovely extended family took me out for a drive down the coast road to Dunbar, a seaside town south of Edinburgh. The day even decided to cooperate, weather-wise, and all seemed to bode well while we took morning tea at the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick, an adorably posh little town with a dress shop that I would be quite happy to revisit with an AMEX and a more favorable exchange rate. (The dress was great, but I couldn't justify a $400 bill to Mom and Dad. You're welcome, Dad.) As we began our walk, however, the rain returned, and promptly soaked us as we wandered through town.

This is why it's not wise to invest in silk and suede in Scotland. Fortunately for me, my North Face jacket, dress pants, sandals, and purse are by now impervious to the elements, and by the time we reached the Dunbar Golf Club, I was mostly dry, even if the rain continued.

I have no idea how the golf is - my experience is a bit limited on that front - but the DGC is exquisite for its views, if nothing else. After the first three holes, the course passes through a wall and meanders along the Firth, which was showing quite an impressive surf this afternoon. Over lunch, we watched the soaked golfers come in to warm up and dry off, then leave just as quickly as the sun began to peek out. By the time our meal was finished, the dining room had emptied and the first green was full.

The outing was a real treat, but easily the funniest moment of the day was the brief conversation I had with an elderly lady at the next table who knew my hostesses, and who had quite possibly had a bit too much to drink today. After explaining where I was from, she smiled and asked, all seriousness, "Are you engaged to be married?"

Huh?

I told her no, that I'm just a university student, and she nodded understandingly. "Don't worry, you'll be snapped up soon enough," she reassured me, and we parted amicably soon thereafter.