Lost and found in the Scottish/English Borders

I decided to take a trip to Berwick on Tweed for no particular reason except that I hadn't been there before. I headed south on the A1 and again encountered the roadworks at the Portobello junction. I must tell you that these roadworks have caused me a great deal of consternation since I arrived - I always seem to get into the wrong lane which means I end up taking the wrong exit and getting myself horribly lost. I have done it 3 times now so clearly learning from experience is not something I am particularly good at.
Anyway, I ended up heading for Portobello beach, which looks like it coud be quite pretty in summer but simply looks pretty bleak at this time of year. I eventually hooked up with the A1 again and continued my journey south. You can see photos of the border in the Scotland photo album. I managed to find my way to Berwick and had a bit of a look around but to be honest, it is a fairly nothing sort of place, especially I suspect, when it rains. I headed down to the Promenade which was grim - all the seaside attractions were closed up for the winter and even the colourful playground equipment did not help make it look any cheerier. I set my GPS for home (I've pretty much mastered it now, as well as the CD player) and followed it's instructions as it took me up a very narrow rutted country lane. I almost got to the top of the hill when I encountered a set of gates protecting me from crossing a railway track in case a train came past. I have to say, the tracks did not look well used so the gates may have been a bit of overkill! Anyway, I became somewhat confused because there were 2 sets of lights controlling these gates - one green and one red. Both were irrelevant though since the gates were locked. I found a button on one of the gate posts so I pushed it but nothing seemed to happen so I got back in my car and was pondering the best way to turn my car round on a sixpence (that was all the space there was) when apparently out of nowhere, a signalman appeared to unlock the gates and see me on my way. I was so taken aback by this experience that I forgot to get out and take a photo of the situation so sorry about that - just remember - don't go to Spittal.
Further on up the hill, I found the Elm Bank Coastal Retreat - again check out the photos. Only the English would build plastic and weetbix houses and stick them on wheels which then become redundant once they are parked at one of these Retreats (although I suppose the Americans do have their trailer parks which I assume are very similar). Mind you, they do have a stunning view of the Atlantic.
All this traipsing around the English coast was making the day disappear quite rapidly so I endeavoured to get back to the A1 and back to Edinburgh as fast as possible. I thought I should stop and get a coke and use the services at the Eyemouth turnoff but I coudn't find the services and ended up back on the coast road heading towards Old Carbus and Pease Bay by mistake. This was a pretty drive and I was glad to have got lost on this occasion but as I said, time was marching on so I did the trip back to those damn roadworks again as quickly as I could. The roadworks did not let me down and I was in the wrong lane again and heading back out to Musselburgh before I knew it. I turned round as soon as I could but by then I had gone about 1 mile along the road so it took me a bit of time to get back on to the right road. I had now hit Edinburgh at peak hour and it was starting to get dark. Drivers at that time, in this city, are an unforgiving lot and would not allow me to change lanes so it took many wrong turns and plenty of time before I got back to Lyss' place where I was ever so pleased to be offered dinner and a drink without having to lift another finger. Note to self: Don't try and drive when it is dark or rush hour!
I managed to catch some of the NZ v England Cricket match last night at the Walkabout but of course, being a bar, it got too loud and raucous to be able to watch the whole thing, so after a very nice crayfish salad, I went back to Lyss' and watched the highlights later in the evening. I must admit to being a little concerned when Lou Vincent, Ross Taylor and Stephen Fleming went out so quickly but thank goodness for Jacob and Scotty.
Well, I'm off to Keswick now so I'll catch up again soon.