Every October for the last 37 years you can hear the skirl of bagpipes and see the colorful parade of tartan as they descend to Stone Mountain park in Georgia and this year was no different. It is the start of the Stone Mountain Highland games and Clan gathering.

In 2005, Ruth and I attended our first games and have made an annual sojourn most every year since then. This is certainly an event I look forward to.

So now on to the story and the pictures.

Saturday, 17 October.

The guys to the left are the group that invaded the mountain with me on Saturday. I am the big smiling guy on left. Next to me is Michael Casanova who was wearing a kilt for the first time and was going to be attending his first highland games. Next in line is Sean who I met at the church and invited to come along with us. Lastly is Bruce is also wearing the kilt for the first time as well as attending his first highland games. I cannot think of a better group of guys to attend the games with!

Our next stop was at a group that called themselves the “Wild Highlanders”. This is a group of historical re-enactors that spend time covering the weapons and lifestyle of the old highlanders. It was not as romantic as the movie “Braveheart”! (as an editorial, a more historically inaccurate movie you could not find!)

The guy on the far left was playing Robert the Bruce and the scary guy on the right was playing a highland chieftain. Both gave very interesting talks of what the life and times were during the period they were representing.

On the left is what we had for breakfast on this day. This is called Scots Eggs and Chips. This is a hard boiled egg that is covered in sausage and oats and then deep fried. I can tell you from experience that these were very popular with the group I took with me.

As part of the highland games is the march of the massed bands. This years band was over 700 members strong. Hearing that many pipes and drums in one place will certainly get the blood boiling.

One last comments about the games on Saturday. It was Cold and it was WET! It misted and rained on us all day and the temps did not get much above 50 degrees. During his remarks at the opening ceremony the Honored Guest, the Chief of Macdonnell of Glengary, took the blame for bringing the weather with him!  I think he was spot-on!

After the games on Friday, I took the crew home and then headed to the German eatery to meet up with a bunch of other folks for dinner. YUM, Sauerbraten for dinner!

Sunday, 18 October.

Sunday dawned at a nice, cool, 38 degrees. Ruth, Michael and I made our way to games field. We got up early so that Michael could try his hand at the heavy events. The photo on the left shows his attempt at the Heavy Weight for Distance (this is a 48 pound weight on the end of a chain and ring).  For his first attempt, Michael did great.

The second event that Michael tried was the caber toss. If there is a single event that people think of when they think of highland games, this is it! To Michaels credit, he was able to pick it up! That is very unusual for a first timer. He was not able to control it for long, but he picked it up!

This young lady is Michael’s mother. The lovely face she is making is because she is trying Haggis for the first time. Most of the others that tried it liked it. Robin, however, was not a fan. I guess that is what happens when you take a Connecticut Italian and make her try Scottish food!. Her son loved the stuff as well as the Scot Eggs and the Irn BRU!  Hmmm, it must of skipped a generation!

To the left is one of the other demonstrations we attended. These were herding dogs that were working trying to get a group of ducks to go over a bridge and then to get the sheep to move all across the field. it was a lot of fun to watch.

The last thing we attended was the march of the clans. Each of the clans that participated at the games marched onto the field at the end of the games to make their presence known. It was an awesome sight was the clans were led into the parade field by the massed bands. At the end of all of the clans marching on, there were more than 1,000 people on the field with their banners and their arms.  It was another stirring sight!