The Wild Wild West

My main blog on this years Country and Western is over on Island Blogging, but there were so many good pictures, I thought I’d just do another one here..

Chris and Mhairi  were both in attendance accompanied by a motley assortment of red Indians, cowboys, and ..well, goodness knows what some people were. Gemma and Mhairi went down on Thurs to give Gemma some time to enjoy traditional Millport delights, such as cycling round the island, posing on Crocodile Rock, and sitting in the Ritz cafe checking out the local talent. They were lucky to get a dry day on the Friday, and enjoyed themselves enormously.( Not as much as Mama and her bunch of creche ladies last weekend,though..!!) Half way round the island both girls recalled that they hadn’t been on a bike for quite a number of years. This might have helped them with an authentic Cowboy bow legged swagger, if they were being Cowboys this year, but they had opted for dressing up as Indians instead, so it didnae.

Many thanks to Margaret Hughes for her kindness in ensuring that Mhairi and Gemma met the locals and were fully integrated into the community. Unable to remember Mhairi’s name ,she just hollered”BOYLE!!” till she turned round. Margaret insists she recognised Mhairi since she looks like me- now, I’m short ,buxom and dark with hairy legs, and Mhairi is tall, gorgeous and blonde, but there must be some indefinable “Boyle-ness” going on there. Anyway, Mhairi and Gemma quickly were introduced to lots of young Millportians, so thanks to everybody for making them feel so welcome. It’s one of the things I love about Millport, perhaps stemming from the long years of tourist trade, perhaps the genial nature of the community, but everybody who has visited it comments on the friendly attitude of all the people they meet.

The parade, line dancing and live music seemed to all go really well, but Mhairi and Chris both felt it was quieter on the actual streets. I was surprised to hear this as I had loads of accomodation enquiries-any number of groups of (mostly) middle aged ladies seemed hell bent on getting to Millport and doing some serious stomping to” Achy Breaky Heart” . All the hotels and Guest houses seemed to be full too.  So I’m guessing that the wind and rain kept most of the festivities indoors this year.It would be interesting to know if the pubs and cafes had big takings over the weekend.

The marquee was full to capacity of ladies taking their line dancing very seriously, so Mhairi and Mates decided to give that a miss. Instead they got themselves into their Indaian outfits and hit the pubs, and a jolly good time was had by all.