Gatlinburg Scottish Festival & Highland Games

[JolyStNicholas]

What a gathering of Rabble! All look absolutely grand! I just couldn't get my ducks in a row to get there this year. Family matters and the 4 new puppies were just to much to arrange for. We got a setter for our grandson but someone to care for the 9 dogs fell thru at the last moment and that sort of ended the travel plans. maybe NEXT YEAR.

Every one looks like they had a fun time, even in the mud waddle!
Thank you for sharing all your wonderful pictures.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Great photos, I really like the McMurdo, OK so I'm a wee bit biased. Matt you look great as always, wish we could have been down for that one even with the rain. Thanks all for the photos. Matt, Catherine was saying she thinks she knows where you took the scenery pics on your way home.

:-) I'm sure she probably does. I couldn't name the spot, but it's a pretty popular place for pulling over and snapping a few shots. It's south of Newfound Gap.

[budd4766]

I was there on Saturday morning...sadly, I'm still kilt-less for now. 11lb.s to go, and I'll be visiting you in Franklin, Matt. It was really nice to finally meet you there in person after reading all your posts here on the forum. Thoroughly enjoyed the short time we spent at the games on Saturday.

Now, I'm just dealing with a major case of kilt envy. *sigh*...someday soon..

I've got a few pics I snapped of the competitors I'll post on here when I get home and get them downloaded.

[piperdbh]

What a gathering of Rabble! All look absolutely grand! I just couldn't get my ducks in a row to get there this year.

We all thought you were there. It must have been your twin brother, becasue there was a gentleman there who looked just like you.
Hopefully more of us can attend next year.

[ScottEPooh]

Glad to see the pics Matt! Good to chat with you some on Saturday, and it sounds like my wife and yours had a nice long knitting talk. Perhaps there will be hand knit kilt hose in my future... I didn't have my camera there, but my friend Mo got some shots, I'll see if I can get them up. We actually got "flooded" out of our campsite on Saturday night. Due to all of the rain and the fact we were camping near the Little Pigeon River, we were "advised" by the local Rescue Squad to pack up at about 1:30am. Oh well, we still had a great time at the Games, and got to talk to Matt and Peter. Sorry I missed out on the group meets and shots! We'll try again next year!!!

[Tartan Hiker]

Everyone looking good! Sorry I wasn't able to be there this year...too many irons in the fire.

[Santa Kona]

Great photos. We had a Santa convention in Gatlinburg back in March it rained almost everyday except for the day of the parade...

[attworth]

Oh, how I miss the Smokies.

Maybe next year my wife and I can make it out there.

[GMan]

Nice looking group, rain and all.

[HeathBar]

My wife and I just got back in this afternoon. Great picturs so far. I have a few additional ones to add. We had an event packed weekend. On Friday morning my wife and I hiked the Porters Creek Trail in the Greenbriar area of the GSMNP. It was led by one of the games officers, Dan Smith. It was a small group of 8. It was nice hike and very easy. At the end of the trail was a hiking club cabin that was built in the 30's. It no longer used for overnight camping.
Later that evening Barclay joined us for the parade through Gatlinburg. They only closed half of the street. The southbound lane was still running and had traffic creeping by. We were also followed by a Jaguar (auto) that was part of the parade. We kept getting the feeling it wanted to run us over.

You've read Matt's account of the weather. Saturday and Sunday were extreme opposites.

A shot of Barclay's Spork Alba

We know its a fork, but give us a little lattitude.

Can't remember what was said here. Piperdbh, probably said something funny. He did that a lot.


A nice shot of the massed bands. See the bullseye? We figured that was target for the hammer toss. This was right behind my tent. Not too comfortable about that.

OK, Ok, I know its the layout for the pipe band competitions. But why does it have to look like a bullseye?

OK, last one. We dubbed this man, "Blue Face Guy". He wasn't there for very long. We figured the paint was not allowing his face to breathe and in Saturday's sun, he got too hot to continue on.


The highlight of the weekend was getting a chance to meet more xmarkers. A truely wonderful group of guys. We had a kilt night at The Ship, an English Pub. Peter was the only one with a camera, so he'll have to share those.