Eating in St. Andrews

There are a lot of great restaurants in St. Andrews, from fine dining all the way down to a Subway sandwich shop. One of my favorites and a consistently good place is The Vine Leaf. Run by Ian and his wife Morag, they specialize in local fare. They have a two course meal for 25 pounds or a three course meal for 27. Unfortunately with the current exchange rate that is not a deal, but usually it is for the quality of food you get. There are 5-6 choices each for meat, seafood and vegetarian starters and entrees. I had the haggis as a starter and the Dover sole as an entree and they were both fantastic. This is one of the few places you can still get consistently good haggis. The desert choices looked great, but unfortunately we were unable to tackle them.

There are also several great ethnic food restaurants in town. Two of my favorites are Nahn Jim and the Balaka. Nahm Jim is a great Thai place that has also added sushi. We stuck to the Thai food and had a great meal that was not too expensive. The sushi is a little spendy, so we did not order any, even though it looked great. The Balaka is one of the best Indian food places in Scotland. They have a large menu of Bangladeshi style curries and all he other Indian favorites. The one drawback is that it can get loud if you eat late.

The Doll's House, The Grill House and The Glass House are all owned by the same folks. They along with Littlejohns all offer good lunch and dinner fare at reasonable prices. They have salads, soups, wraps, fish, etc. and The Grill House even has a few "Mexican" items that are pretty good as long as you don't compare them to any Mexican restaurant in the U.S.

On the lower end of the price range there are several pubs that offer good lunches and dinners. First among them is The Dunvegan which has the best burger in town and a good steak and The Central which has a daily pie special (meat not fruit). If you are ready to get really Scottish, there is the fry bar - where you guessed it everything is fried. I would recommend the Kinness Fry Bar or closer in theres Peter Michael's. You can get your fish and chips, blood pudding, or a deep fried Mars bar. All good eating.

There are also several really nice places that a short drive away, however I have focused here on the ones you can easily walk to in town.

The Jubilee

Not much to report from Sunday, it was a bit of a lazy day - no golf. I had to take the car back to the airport in Edinburgh, which is about an hour drive. I then caught a bus into town so I could get another bus back to St. Andrews. Luckily there was one just about to leave - the buses don't run as often on Sunday - but it was a very slow bus that stopped in every Small town and it took about three hours to get home. Thankfully I had a good book with me.

On Monday morning I got my season ticket to play all the courses in St. Andrews. This was great news as it is pretty expensive to play if you don't have a pass. I stopped by the starter's boxes for the New and the Old Courses to find out when is the best time to get on as a single. Seems like it is luck of the draw, you may have to wait for a while or you can time it just right. I decided to walk over and play the Jubilee as it is usually less crowded.

A little history on the Jubilee Course. Now well into its second century, the Jubilee has developed from a basic 12-hole layout into what many consider to be the toughest test of golf at St. Andrews. The course runs along a tight strip of land between the New Course and the sea, it was originally intended for ladies and beginners. It was laid out by John Angus Jr. and made ready in only three months.

The course was named in honour of Queen Victoria, whose Diamond Jubilee fell in 1897. Around 1902 David Honeyman, Tom Morris' assistant, suggested extending the course to 18 holes. This was done in 1905 at a cost of £150. Further improvements were made between 1938 and 1946, under the supervision of Willie Auchterlonie, the Open Champion of 1893. He increased the course's length to 6,020 yards and commented that "..some day this will be a championship course". In 1988 the re-design of the Jubilee to championship standard was carried out by Donald Steel. The teeing grounds were raised, not only providing great views of the Links, but also exposing the golfers to the winds which sweep in from the bay. The redesigned course now plays at 6,742 yards and is a real test for all golfers.

Tuesday I got lucky. I walked out and got right on to the Old Course as a single with two English guys on a 40th birthday trip. They were a lot of fun to play with and were about the same level as me, although my local knowledge helped a lot. I had five pars, five doubles, and one "other" the rest were bogies. I was happy with my par on the road hole. My drive hit the wall and bounced straight into the middle of the fairway.

The Balcomie course in Crail

The Balcomie course in Crail is one of my all time favorites. It is still a little bit of a secret because on paper it does not sound very challenging. It is a short course, only 5800 yards from the back tees, a par 69, so most people pass it by. What they don't know is that the wind protects the course making it quite a challenge, as the course literally runs along the coast and is on higher, less protected ground than St. Andrews. In fact, there are a couple of tee shots that demand a decision on how much you want to cut across the beach to leave a shorter shot into the green. Chris and I both left our drives short, but luckily it was low tide and we were able to find our golf balls on the sand. Unfortunately you can no longer actually play off the beach as it is now staked out of bounds.

This course has a rich history. The Crail Golfing Society was founded in 1786, making it one of the oldest in Scotland, and the original nine holes of the Balcomie Links were laid out by old Tom Morris in 1895 - another 9 holes were added a few years later. The clubhouse also has some of the best views in Scotland and is a great place to have a beer after your round. Speaking of which. I lost five of the seven beers I was up from the New Course back to Chris after he shot an 80 and I shot a 92.

The New Course

The New Course is the course I was most worried about as I remember having a hard time with this course when I was younger. However, the good news for me was that there was a fierce wind blowing off the ocean, so it was impossible to push the ball right on my drives. I was in the middle of the fairway most of the day. Chris however got off to a tough start. He was exploring he gorse on a number of the first holes. We were playing a skins match for a beer a hole and I was up over 10 beers at one time. The wind was not to my advantage on the way in, so I gave back a few beers before it was all over. The New Course is not actually new by US standards. It was been around for a couple of hundred years now. It is a great test of golf and if you are looking for a second course to play in St. Andrews after the Old, I would recommend this one.

After golf, we had a great dinner at the Thai restaurant. They also have sushi on the menu now, but with the exchange rate being so bad, it was too expensive for my blood. Tomorrow is the last day of golf with Chris, we are playing the Balcomie course at Crail.

Carnoustie

We were anticipating a tough test of golf today and we got it. The wind was whipping the rain into our faces as we got to the first tee at Carnoustie and found out that we had arrived at 10:30 a.m for a 10:00 a.m. tee time. For some reason we thought it was supposed to be 11:00 a.m, but luckily they were able to fit us in with another twosome. The guys we played with were up from Kent, in England, for a couple of days to just play Canoustie, their wives had bought them the trip as a 60th birthday present. Despite the driving rain, Chris started off with a par. We thought this might be the start of something great, he shot a 77 the last time he played here, but it didn't last. Luckily Chis had bought hand warmers for both of us, otherwise I don't think I would have felt the club all day. After about nine or ten, the rain finally stopped and we just had to deal with the wind. Our play was sporadic, moments of greatness and some ugliness. The 17th was the toughest test of the day, you have to cross the burn (a small ditch) twice on this hole. I somehow missed the water both times but still ended up with a bogey. After the 18th I think we both felt like we had experienced true Scottish links golf.

Since we had a late tee time on Friday, we went out for a few beers after the round. We also had a great steak and mushroom pie for dinner at the Central pub - pictures to be posted on "My Photos." One of the funnier moments of the evening came when we stopped in at a pub called the Raisin. We felt like two dads looking for their under aged daughters, we had to be at least 20 years older than everyone in the bar. We did not stay for a drink.

The Old Course

I arrived in Scotland on Wednesday, April 16th and got to the house without any problems. Chris Mike, my former Nike Golf client, arrived a couple of hours later. After lunch we headed out to the range where we hit a few balls to warm up. The range has been built in the last few years; when I was younger you used the first hole to warm up. The range is actually very nice although it is a bit of a hike back to the first tee of the Old Course. Our start time was 4:00 p.m. and we were a little worried about getting done before dark, but the starter assured us it would be light until 8:30 p.m. at least. After a few pictures on the first tee, we both hit decent drives down the first fairway. Luckily we were not paired with another twosome.

The weather was pretty nice for this time of year, it was probably in the high 40's (it is hard to tell as all the readings are in Celsius) and windy. We both played well on the outward nine. Chris faltered a little on the back, but had an awesome drive on the 17th, taking an aggressive line over the sheds, that had him right in the middle of the fairway. However the pin placement was brutal, hidden right behind the road hole bunker. Chris put his third up against the wall and came away with a double after a great drive. Neither one of us got close to crossing the road on our drives into 18, as the wind had picked up as the round went on. However, Chris did close out with a nice par. All in all, it was a good start to the trip, especially having spent the night before on an airplane. We made an early night of it as we had Carnoiste the next day.

Bandon Dunes Trip

The sabbatical is off to a great start. Barbara, Stevie, Dad and I spent the weekend in Bandon where we got in three rounds of golf in beautiful Oregon spring weather. We drove down on Friday morning and made it to Bandon in plenty of time for our 12:50 tee time. We started out on Bandon Dunes, the easiest of the three courses, and thanks to the wind it was still a challenge. After a nice dinner in the main lodge we made an early night of it. Saturday morning was quite painless as we didn't tee off until 11:30. However, the pain began soon thereafter. Pacific Dunes was playing very hard and the greens were extremely fast. Barbara was playing well, otherwise none of us had the greens or our approach shots figured out. It was also quite hot out there and three people walked off the last green tired and defeated. A good dinner at the pub revived everyone's spirits and we were ready for our early call the next day at Bandon Trails. While Trails is considered by some to be the hardest course, the greens were in good shape and it was much more forgiving than Pacific this weekend. Also, it was quite a bit cooler, which made it more comfortable to play. Considering how bad my first two rounds were on this course last year, I thought we all played well. Barbara started with pars on three of the first four holes. While there were some rough spots, we had a great time and I think everyone looks forward to a return visit when the greens at Pacific Dunes have some grass on them.

The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God

If you are a Pogues fan, you may question this call. Most critics favor Rum Sodomy & the Lash over If I Should Fall From Grace With God. I say buy both, but if you only buy one, I recommend Fall From Grace because you'll get the Pogues best song ever, Fairytale Of New York. Shane MacGowan sings this duet with the late Kirsty McColl and it is a show stopper.

I first saw the Pogues open for U2 many, many years ago. MacGowan came on stage a little late and was obviously drunk. He sang a couple of songs and people began to pelt him with tooth brushes (he has terrible teeth). He threatened to leave the stage unless the tooth bushes stopped, at which point he was hit on the forehead, turned around and left. The band kept playing like this happened all the time and it turned out to be a great show.

The Green Dragon

The Green Dragon is two places in one. On one side there is a cool bar with lots of great micro-brews and on the other is a low key restaurant with a smart small menu. It is located right across from the revamped Grand Central Bowl in an old warehouse. The space works better for the bar side than it does for the restaurant side, which could use a few more tables. The menu is as I said small, but it feels like they have picked a few things things and tried to do them right. There are about six featured entrees, a couple of appetizers and one desert choice. There are also several sandwiches that sounded good. For our entrees we tried the mussels and the Cajun meatloaf. Both tasted great, but the portions were a little excessive. Maybe we should have skipped the wild mushroom appetizer, but I don't regret it; it was spicy and delicious. Unfortunately we didn't have any room left for desert which looked really great. The prices are also very reasonable. I would recommend heading over to the bar for a couple of beers, then sitting down for dinner. It'll be a good night out.

Green Dragon

928 SE 9th St.

Portland, OR 97214

http://www.pdxgreendragon.com/

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads

Do you love murder ballads? I do too. And I can't think of anyone darker and more appropriate to do a record full of them than Nick Cave. Murder ballads have a long rich history. They date back a least 200 years to England when stories of murders were set to verse and sung outside the court house. Some of these songs can be beautiful and some can be down right scary. Cave manages to give us the spectrum on this record. His interpretation of Stagger Lee is one of the nastiest, darkest songs I have ever heard. This song along could earn this record ten parental advisory stickers. On the other side of the coin, Where the Wild Roses Grow, with Kylie Minogue is one of the most beautiful songs you'll ever hear. I hope this record begins your love for murder ballads and Nick Cave.

The Guinns meet the President

It pays to know the right people, because they get you good tickets to important sporting events. It's even better if you marry the person who runs the stadium, so he can put you next to the former president. If you missed the UT meltdown in the NCAA basketball elite eight against Memphis, you probably didn't see when the camera cut to President Bush and his grandson seated at center court right next to our favorite sister. Stephen and the boys were seated a few seats down and they all got their pictures taken with 41.