Waking up to snow flurries…yes snow flurries – slight but enough to give us a quick scare…we had another Marriott family breakfast and headed north once again. Today would be the hardest day on the trip mileage wise, so it was important to get started early. Waking up on time this morning, we jumped in the car and found crazy traffic on the M6 heading north. The UK Storm “Katie” had terrorized all of the UK and Scotland for the last 24 hours. Luckily we had avoided most of it in London and Stonehenge, though we battled some it on the way north to Birmingham. Katie had flooded out the M6, our only way north from Birmingham and we were forced to merge from 4 lanes to 1. Making our way through the canal flooded aftermath, we made our way north towards Carlisle, an English border town to Scotland. Why Carlisle? It holds one of the most famous castles in English history (stormed on multiple occasions, prison home of Queen Mary – far from London, etc., etc.) and proximity to Hadrian’s Wall – a must see for Weatherly Travels. For years, we have read about, seen shows about and learned about Hadrian’s Wall. We were not missing it on the trip North and will probably hit it once again on the way south.

Luckily, we found a kid’s wonder play land in Carlisle (Brewer’s Fare) for a late lunch. This place was awesome – like pub, meets restaurant, meets Denny’s, meets Chuck-e-Cheese. The kids got a lot of energy our and the adults decompressed from the long drive north. Re-energized, we conquered Carlisle Castle drove parallel East to the Wall before finally exploring and crossing near Hexham – Bardon Mill and headed north once again, crossing into Scotland a short time later. The wall was magnificient and a must see for anyone traveling from England to Scotland or vice versa!

Making our way up through the heart of Scotland and towards Edinburgh, we eventually found our hotel and crashed for the night, another amazing Marriott property – Dalmahoy Castle Golf and Country Club. If only we had a few more days, this place totally reminded us of Dromoland Castle in Ireland. If time permits, we might visit once again on the way back south! Our room was amazing – turret suite, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms with a gigantic tub (kiddos approved), huge living area and more pomp and circumstance then you could imagine. After tucking in the kiddos and checking in on things back home, we crashed once again for the evening. Tomorrow – we head north once again…to the Inverness and the Highlands of Scotland!