Castle Fraser

Saturday, June 14th, 2008 - Today, we decided to take the boys to Castle Fraser. It is about 15 miles west of Aberdeen, right outside the small town of Dunecht. This site has a bunch of great photos of the interior,which they don't allow visitors to photograph. http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/kenmay/castlefraser/index.html

It was great to make our second castle visit one that was not ruins. It let the boys see the difference. And at Castle Fraser, they could really visualize what it was like inside a castle. It was beautiful! And once again, the history of it all is amazing! The family lines that lived in them, the changes that the different periods of time brought to the castle and the fact that so many original things have been preserved and are there for all to see!

This castle belongs to the National Trust of Scotland. We joined the Trust and as members, we are allowed to visit ALL of their properties for FREE!!!! Free admittance and parking! Now, don't get me wrong, you pay an annual membership fee, but with a family of five it pays for itself after the 3rd castle or so. SO, it was a total "no brainer" for us. It also lets me/us free to pack a picnic and our books and enjoy "school" on a castle lawn!!! :) Couldn't quite do that in Houston, heh? :) There are over 300 properties all over the UK. http://www.nts.org.uk/Home/

I chose this castle this weekend, because it seemed to have some "kid things". There is a "secret garden"...walled on all four sides, with a combination of flowers, shrubs, and veggies. Thought the kids would think that was real neat. And then, they had built a Woodlands Adventure area for kids. Example, there was a tree that had big carved knotches out of it and it was laying at an angle resting on another tree stump. It was designed to be a "rocket ship" for the kiddos to climb on and pretend! The kids had a blast...we saved the outside play for the end.

The castle is available to use for events and the day we happen to be there there was a wedding. They do not "close"! We asked if we needed to be gone before a certain time and the lady said no. That we are just all respectful of each other...wow! Needless to say, we didn't want our boys to "crash" the wedding or anything :), plus we had been there for several hours, so we headed to the Adventure area and the Secret garden. But, we did see them setting up, as one room was set up for the ceremony and another for the reception. The workers kept apologizing for the inconvenience of the "wedding stuff" being up. The wedding party walked by us on one of the stone spiral staircases. The boys saw men in kilts for the first time! They thought it was really wild! All of the men we in kilts and they looked so great. I love the formality and honor that the tradition carries with it. One they was out the boys met a Bagpiper and had a photo op and we also got to see the bride arrive in a formal Rolls Royce (burgundy). It was a really neat sight to see. We all had a really great time! Can't wait for our next adventure!