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July 2 - Extracurricular Activities
Return to Laurieston
Me and My Mini by Robin Smith
At the Mini-Mart in Fife, Scotland, © 2000, Robin Smith

The traffic leading away from St. Andrews is much lighter compared to the approach, and we're making good time, but we need to stop for petrol. It's amazing that we haven't filled up since we left Melrose; the cars seem to get much better mileage here.

Somewhere along the A915 we discover The Mini-Mart, which sounds like a convenience store, but it's a petrol station that also sells gently used Morris Minis (or vice versa).

I am out the door as soon as Robin has shut the engine off and admiring the cars. I first saw one of these cars parked along the street behind Durham Cathedral. It was maroon; it made me feel tall. It was a case of love at first sight.

After a brief inner debate between the red and the teal, I mentally choose my Mini from among the offerings here. The tartan seats in the teal one clinch it. £3895 reads the sticker on the window and I start doing mental math, figuring the exchange rate. I would love to have one of these cars to run errands in as opposed to the gas-guzzling SUV I have now.

Dana brings me back to reality by wondering aloud how much the import charges would be, as Robin snaps my picture next to "my car."

It's also around this area that we pass a deer park, a sort of nature center with herds of roe deer and such; and just beyond it, a sign offering venison steaks for sale. This sends us into fits of giggles. We then create an imaginary scenario for selecting venison steaks at the deer park similar to entering a seafood restaurant and choosing a lobster from the tank.

Soon we are back over the Kincardine bridge and pulling into the drive at Oaklands, where we find Frank puttering away in the garage. He still hasn't found the mysterious tool he's misplaced.

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Credits: (Related Resources) Includes material from the Wikipedia article "Mini", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
Photo credits: (Featured) Mini-Mart in Fife, Scotland © 2000, Robin Smith, (Related Resources) 1967 Morris Mini-Minor, © 2006, DeFacto, used under Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 2.5.
Related Resources

1967 Morris Mini-Minor by DeFacto
The Mini is a small economy car produced by the English-based British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered an icon of 1960s British popular culture.

On its introduction in August 1959, the Mini was marketed under the Austin and Morris names, as the Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor. The Austin Seven was renamed Austin Mini in January 1962 and Mini became a marque in its own right in 1969.

Read more about The Mini at Wikipedia.