The Borders, Hadrians Wall, Jedburgh Abbey, Melrose and a taste of Haggis

Wednesday morning had us seeing the beautiful countryside of the lowlands and then visiting a portion of HADRIAN'S WALL by CHESTERS BRIDGE. The time was around 10am and it was hazy out but not raining. Our bus stopped along the road in front of a field with many sheep & a gray brick wall about a couple feet high. I thought it was amazing that parts of Hadrian's Wall are still standing and that it is 73 miles long! Now my friends & I weren't the only younger people on this tour. There were 2 other females with one being about our age & her younger sister. The older one declared, "I'm not getting out with all of that sheep s#!t" and she didn't while staying on the bus. What a SNOB! By this time we had started to give nicknames to people. Hers was CAMELTOE and with good reason! :)
We stopped at the GEORGE HOTEL around 11am which was by CHESTERS BRIDGE & the TINE RIVER to have coffee/tea and it had such a pretty little flower garden. On our way back to Scotland, I laughed at a sign that said SWALLOW LEISURE CLUB. Around noon, we arrived at the Scottish Borders and a man was playing the BAGPIPES in front of a large stone that said Scotland. This was my first experience of bagpipes being played and it was lovely! The area was so pretty with the many hills of different colors. I loved Scotland already!
After an hour lunch in JEDBURGH, we toured the JEDBURGH ABBEY ruins which were also beautiful. The flowers around it were in full bloom of red, white, yellow, pink and purple colors. We lingered here a while & I looked at the time & said we better get back to the bus because I was afraid of getting left behind like the couple from the day before. We made it back without incidence.
Our last stop of the day was Sir Walter Scott's home, ABBOTSFORD HOUSE in MELROSE which Dame Jean-Maxwell-Scott conducts the tours. It looked like a castle and I was happy that we WERE allowed to take pictures inside including the exact spot of where he died in the dining room, September 21, 1832. We also saw the drawing room, his study, entrance hall, armouries, and the library with over 9,000 books. The garden was pretty with the hedges perfectly trimmed. 
We would be in EDINBURGH for 2 nights at the Capital Moat House and it was my turn to have my own room. We did the Scottish Dinner optional excursion that consisted of the CEREMONY of HAGGIS. There were highland dancers, a man playing the accordion, and another playing the bagpipes. This was my first taste of haggis & I actually liked it. It does have a pepper taste. Suzi doesn't like it so I also ate hers. We had the pleasure of sitting across the younger sister talking about how fulfilling her job as a funeral director was. The older one stated the accordion player kept looking at her and even walked past him in her leather pants to see if he was "checking her out"!  I enjoyed the dinner (even with the annoying sisters & all) until my ear started hurting & had a blocked feeling. Oh no! Could it be an ear infection coming on?