Dunnottar Castle is always popular with tourists, but when one dad shared his vintage holiday snaps from the iconic Stonehaven fortress next to his son’s picture taken in the same spot 32 years later, the internet went wild.
For the Texas father and son recreated the same pose in the same location, not realising just how similar both images would turn out.
“We had thousands of reactions – many of them saying the same thing… ‘you both look so alike’,” said Kevin Hudson, who first visited Scotland in the 90s when his father was stationed in Edzell with the US Navy.
Iconic castle impressed American Kevin Hudson and his baby boy Ben
Lieutenant Commander Robert Hudson was in the Navy Reserves’ submarine force, based in Scotland with his wife Nancy, when their son and his young family flew across the Pond for a holiday
Kevin and wife Melinda from Pearland, Texas, brought their first son Ben to visit his grandparents, all the while checking off their tourist bucket list attractions during their stay.
“We saw the Edinburgh Military Tattoo on a cold rainy evening and on the day we visited Dunnottar Castle it was incredibly windy.
“The waves were crashing in on the base of the slopes… it was very impressive to see.
“The castle ruins looked both peaceful and haunting, and the history of the castle – hiding the crown jewels of Scotland for a time and the demise of the castle – only added to the mystique of the place.”
Dad ‘delighted’ to see image recreated
During their holiday Melinda snapped a photo of Kevin with Ben, in his baby carrier, with the castle in the background.
Fast forward to summer 2024, and this time it was the turn of Ben, his wife and his parents-in-law to visit Scotland with his own baby girl.
“We travelled from Texas for a wedding.
“I’m 32 and my daughter Ellie was 10 months old at the time,” he said.
“I had hoped Ben would maybe follow in our footsteps during his trip,” added Kevin. “Then he sent me the photo of him and Ellie in exactly the same spot.”
Heartwarming reaction to ‘identical’ photos
Delighted to see their treasured memory recreated Kevin shared both pics online.
Within hours thousands of people had commented.
“I didn’t realise my dad shared the photo until a few weeks later, when it already had 7,000+ likes.
“I was surprised but enjoyed reading the positive comments,” said Ben.
“People used to come to me when the boys were small and say something like ‘there’s no denying those are your kids’ but as they got older I guess I don’t see it so much,” Kevin added.
“I’m often told how similar we look, but being able to compare side-by-side pictures like this really helped me see it,” Ben laughed.
“I’m glad other people liked the pictures as much as we did,” added Kevin.
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