Scotsfest Long Beach! Otherwise now known to us as ‘So you think you’re a Scot?’
Behold the next adventure/misadventure in us discovering our Scottish heritage. Somewhere ancestors are rolling eyes or cracking up…
I couldn’t figure out why in the world a Scottish festival and Highland Games would be held at The Queen Mary in Long Beach. Nothing about that seemed to say ‘Scotland’. I’ve been on the Queen Mary as a child for a tour and as an adult for their Halloween and Christmas celebrations. Again, nothing visibly said to me ‘Hey this is a great place for a Scots Fest!’ But…what do I know? It turns out that The Queen Mary ship was forged in Scotland so in fact, it’s a perfect place to hold highland games in sunny California.
The Queen Mary
This is a whole blog post in of itself but the nuts and bolts are the ship was built in Scotland and launched in 1934. She was one of the most powerful ships ever built and larger then the Titanic. In her hey day her passenger list was a Who’s Who of Hollywood including Walt Disney, Bob Hope, Elizabeth Taylor, Bing Crosby, Clark Gable, Audrey Hepburn and the list goes on. Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth and the Kennedys also made the list more then once! So many fascinating stories!!!! But I digress… back to ScotsFest!
The Games
This Family arrived at the Queen Mary with our Magregor sashes on and Starbucks in hand!!! We were ready to have fun and learn a thing or two! At the very least, talk in bad accents.
The games were amazing! There was only one guy participating from Clan Gregor (his kilt matched our sashes) and so we met and then we cheered him on as he threw things like rocks and blobs of metal and bails of hay and a telephone pole. Go Colton!
To sum up the games themselves: Large men throwing things, mildly offensive tanks and tee shirts, and KILTS!!! For sure a winning combination.
Mac Gregor Athlete 
Archery 
Caber Toss
We couldn’t throw things ourselves but we DID participate in youth versions including archery and the first ever Tousey Potato Sack Race. Madison won but she totally cheated, shuffling instead of jumping. I won accolades for ‘best effort/most exerted’. Also, I totally crashed and burned at the finish line.
Here’s what happened: I 100% tried to push Josh into Madison so they’d fall and let Sage win but that completely backfired. Madison won and I splayed out like an ice cream that fell off a cone. When we were done cracking ourselves up we went over for lemon shakeups and haggis. Haggis is actually pretty good! Don’t believe the hype people! It was delicious!
The Beginning 
Moments before Disaster 
mmmm Haggis
So Much To Do
We visited Clan tables, we tried oatcakes, we took a cooking lesson, we shopped, and we watched the dancing. OH THE DANCING!! Sage was OBSESSED! The girls were beautiful and all the dancing was to the tune of a lone bagpiper off to the side. She was hooked and wouldn’t let us leave until I contacted someone for lessons for her. (seriously…she plopped down in a chair and refused to budge until I talked to someone)
Personally I loved the sheep herding dogs. They were super smart and adorable.
A note on bagpipes: Madison, my oldest daughter, was in love. Every time there was a bagpiper she would get this silly little grin that covered her whole face. She recorded video of them every chance she got. I have to say, the parade of all the bands was pretty impressive and when they did the bagpipe rendition of Amazing grace, I got teary. It was my grandmother’s favorite song and I’m still a bit raw from losing her last fall. She would have loved it! I thought of her when they released the beautiful white doves at the end of the song. Hi grandma!
Scottish T Shirts
In addition to kilts everywhere, there was a plethora of mildly inappropriate tanks and tees.
Winning inappropriate Tees and tanks (as decided by the adults AKA Not Sage):
4) Clan Offkilter
3) Official Kilt Inspector (Predictable but still funny)
2) Only thing I wear under my Kilt is lipstick (not for kid eyes)
and collectively our favorite…. (drumroll please!!!!)
1)Sky’s out, Thighs out!
We would have poked fun of the guy wearing Sky’s out thighs out because….well… obviously…and it was pink and ripped up, but he was huge and could throw a telephone pole so yeah, we didn’t say a word…just snickered quietly and backed away slowly.
What’s Next in American Scottish Adventures
There was clearly so much to see, do and learn. It’s going to be a very exciting year! I really don’t know how you top Scots Fest but we’re only in February and there is a lot of year to go…
Aw this took me down memory lane. My husband is from Scotland and when he moved out to California to be with me, one of the first things I did was take him to this Highland Games!! 🙂
OH We go to most of them. Would love it if you stopped by and said hi!
This sounds sooo fun! What a cool thing to do with your family.. love how there were so many hands on activities!! And I love bagpipes too.. now I want to go watch Braveheart!
Do it!
This trip sounds amazing! I’ll have to put that one down on our bucket list!
It’s a hoot! We now go to several a year
It is so great to “see and read” about families taking trips that have a little history involved. It is a great way to teach our kids the history of our ancestors. I think if they can experience a piece of history they tend to appreciate the event much more. Thanks for sharing!
Agreed! And it’s really what we hope to do on the blog. Inspire by example.
Another GREAT ‘blog’ lass, keep ’em coming! You didn’t happen to meet a Campbell Tuck at The Games?? He’s a Scot from Springburn, Glasgow and goes to all the celebrations of Scottish kinship. Cheers!
Thank you sir! I did not but I’ll keep an eye out for him!
Looks like a really fun trip!
Ridiculously fun! I highly recommend