ROAD TRIP DAY 7: THE CAPITOL OF KENTUCKY IS???

Posted on May 16, 2015 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

If you are like me and Bruce, we first guessed Louisville, and then we thought it was Lexington. We were incorrect on both guesses, because the capitol of Kentucky is Frankfort.

If it hadn’t been for Rebecca Ruth’s Candies, we would have never stopped in Frankfort on our way from Louisville to Lexington. They offered a tour of their factory, though, and I tour every chocolate factory I can find.

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Since it was the weekend, they weren’t producing candies during our visit, but we had a nice chat with the tour guide as she took us through the small “factory” and mini-museum. We were the only ones on the tour, and our guide didn’t seem to be in any hurry to return to the retail shop, so it was relaxed and enjoyable. Learning the history of Rebecca and Ruth (the two ladies who started the business in 1921) was interesting and inspiring. They were two ladies ahead of their time.

The best part of the tour, as always, is the free sample you get at the end. They make bourbon chocolates for Maker’s Mark, and we had sampled a chocolate at the end of that tour, so we knew we were in for a delicious treat.

Lucky for us, the retail shop had some “Boo Boos” available for purchase at a steep discount off their regular retail prices. I picked out a bag of bourbon balls and a bag of “Mystery Boo Boos,” a combo of whatever flawed chocolates happened to end up in the bag. (I’m looking forward to finding out what they are!). Finally, another candy wrapper for my collection was a can’t-resist purchase.

After our tour, we noticed a sign for the state capitol, so we got an extra bonus of having a quick look at it while we were in town. I say “quick look,” because at times it was pouring down rain and not the kind of day for a long walk outdoors.

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Until today, we had beautiful weather, so we couldn’t really complain about the rain. (After all, there is a reason why Kentucky is such a gorgeous lush green state!)

Upon arrival in Lexington, we headed for Stella’s Kentucky Deli on the recommendation of my sister, Gail who knows Lexington very well. My niece competed in dressage with her horse, so they had been to Lexington several times and still return for visits. They love it here, and I can see why!

Stella’s was our kind of place. Located in an old converted house, it was quaint, a little bit funky, and a cute place to dine and get out of the rain. We were ushered to a cozy little table by the window with a view of their beautiful rose bushes, and we enjoyed a delicious lunch.

Bruce’s “The Revro” was a burger with fried green tomatoes, bacon, lettuce, and basil mayo (heart attack on a plate, but tasty!). My “Apple & Kentucky Blue Cheese Sandwich” was toasted on sourdough with walnuts and balsamic mayo. Wow!
Gail recommended trying a home-made soda, so we ordered a refreshing blackberry soda. Delicious!

All of their food is locally sourced from small farms, and everything was reasonably priced. Fresh and inexpensive is our idea of an excellent restaurant!
The best part of lunch was dessert, something we don’t typically order when we dine out. One glance at the dessert case on the way to the restrooms was all it took to stop me dead in my tracks, though. I spied something black, and black means chocolate. I had to have it.

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I don’t normally have much interest in pies; I can take ’em or leave ’em. But, this wasn’t any ordinary pie. This was Kentucky Pie, chocolate pecan pie with a touch of bourbon and dark chocolate chips on top. Just look at the picture, and you can just see that this pie is a slice of heaven! Honestly, it was the best pie I had ever tasted.

Our afternoon ended with a stop into the Visitor’s Center and a stroll around Artique, a fabulous shop of arts and crafts of local artisans.

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Due to the rain, we called it a day. Hopefully, it won’t rain like this tomorrow.

ROAD TRIP DAY 6: LOVIN’ LOUISVILLE

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

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Yesterday afternoon following our tour of Maker’s Mark, we made our way along the less-traveled back roads to Louisville. The remainder of the day and evening was spent exploring the downtown area and scoping out the spots we would return to today during business hours.

Before returning to our hotel after dinner, I insisted we take the short drive on one of the bridges that crosses the Ohio River, so we could get a short look at Indiana on the other side. Hey, with us being THIS close to a state we had never been to, how could we come this far and NOT go there? Yes, it’s almost like cheating to add Indiana to my “States Traveled” list, but what is the official criteria, anyway?

This morning, I finally had an opportunity to get in a good swim. Although we had the time in Bowling Green, the pool was closed until later this month, so I had nowhere to swim.

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The Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center was wonderful, because they offered an option of swimming short course yards or long course meters, because of their set up of a half-pool bulkhead. Given that option, I’ll take long course every time. Walls just get in the way! I love to get in a good rhythm swimming butterfly without having to break it up with a turn.

Meanwhile, Bruce got in a nice 3-mile walk in a path around the reservoir across the street.

Feeling refreshed and invigorated, we were ready to tackle a full day in the city. Since the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory was top on our list, we started with a tour.

Normally, when photographing somebody, I like to get in close so you can actually see the person in the photo; however, this ant-sized photo of Bruce shows just how large the bat is on the outside of the factory! (Just in case you were wondering, no, it’s not made of wood!)

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This “Gallopalooza” horse depicts the scene across the street.

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Here’s the bad news/ good news about the 1.8 million wooden Louisville Slugger bats that are produced each year. The bad news is that 40,000 are used to make those bats. The good news is that the trees used for the bats reseed themselves and six more trees grow for every tree that is harvested from the forest.

Back in the 1960’s, the bats were made by hand and took 20 minutes to shape. Now, a more precise computerized lathe is used, and it takes only 30 seconds to shape a bat (or 37 seconds for a major league ball player’s bat).

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After the tour and enjoying the exhibits in the museum (especially everything about Hank Aaron and Tony Gwynn, our favorite baseball players), we walked all around the downtown area and rode on the free Zero Bus to Muth’s Candies to buy some chocolates. Muth’s has been producing chocolates since 1921. We also visited The Brown, one of the top hotels in the United States. It was absolutely gorgeous.

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About that Zero Bus, the “Zero” stands for zero emissions, because the buses are 100% electric. It was interesting to see this bus pull into the charging station and hook up for a fresh electrical charge.

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Our day ended with a stroll through the Historic District and a drive by Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby.

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We enjoyed our stay in Louisville. The downtown area was clean, safe, and a nice place for walking.

ROAD TRIP DAY 5: TAKE YOUR (MAKER’S) MARK, GET SET, GO!

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

Getting to Maker’s Mark Distillery isn’t a quick trip, though, and that’s just the way we wanted it. From Bowling Green, it was a meandering drive through beautiful farm country once we exited I-65. The distillery was out in the middle of nowhere, but it was definitely worth the drive.

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Upon arrival, as we waited for the tour to begin, we wondered why on earth they would have a large book on glass artist Dale Chihualy sitting on the table in the waiting area. After all, wouldn’t a book on bourbon have made more sense? Oh well, we were quite content thumbing through the pages of his beautiful blown glass as we waited.

The tour was very interesting, and we especially enjoyed seeing the huge barrels of mash and watching the gals quickly dip the tops of each bottle in hot red wax. After being placed back on the conveyor, the bottles entered a miniature black tin “building” complete with red shutters to be cooled by fans. It was really very cute.

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After our tour and tasting session, we were ushered through a hallway to end the tour in their very nicely displayed gift shop. This wasn’t just any ordinary hallway, though. As soon as we entered, we knew why that Dale Chihualy coffee table book was prominently displayed in their lobby. See below, and you’ll see what I mean. WOW!

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ROAD TRIP DAY 4: VROOOM!

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

We each got to sit in a new Corvette on display at the National Corvette Museum.

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Our reason for stopping in Bowling Green on our way to Louisville, Kentucky was to take the recommendation of our friend Max and tour the Corvette factory. We had heard from other friends, too, that this was a must-see tour, even though cameras or other electronic devices are not allowed for photography.

Instead, I did things the old-fashioned way. I brought my spiral notebook and pen with me, and I took notes during the 1-hour tour of the one million square foot factory (250,000 square feet of which are devoted to painting those gorgeous Corvettes).

We aren’t car buffs, and neither of us aspire to own a Corvette, but watching the assembly of these sleek sports cars was fascinating. It’s the only Corvette factory in the world, and an entire Corvette Stingray or Z06 is built in this plant in 3-1/2 days. On average, 170 ‘vettes come off the assembly line each day, and it takes 900 employees to make this factory hum.

Make that 901, if you cough up an extra $5,000 and assist in the assembly of your very own Corvette. It’s a new program that just started this spring, and you get to follow your car every step of the way and help get it built. There is even a photographer that hovers around you throughout the entire process, documenting you in action. At the end, you are presented with a “Baby Book” on the day your baby is born. There is even a plaque that gets mounted on the engine documenting your name and those who helped in building your car. And, of course, the born-on date is prominently engraved on the plaque as well.

When your baby is completed, you get to be the first one to start the engine and hear “Vrooom!”

All that for an extra $5,000!

For us $7 per person folks, it really was an interesting tour. At the end of the assembly line, it was fun to watch a ‘vette roll off and be driven into a booth where it was tested for 800 different quality-control checks in 3 minutes. (It was all computerized, of course, and Corvettes currently have a 99% pass rate.)

At the completion of the tour, we had a long walk back to our Toyota Prius that was forced to park with other non-GM cars in the furthest lot at the plant. (GM’s got to park in the close parking lot.)

From cutting edge 2015, we drove back in time 200 years to visit the South Union Shaker Village Museum, the southernmost and westernmost Shaker Village. It was quite a shock from the high-tech, fast-paced cutting edge Corvette plant to the quiet, simple life of the Shakers.

Along the way, the drive through country roads was gorgeous; so lush and green.
The Shaker village we visited existed until 1922 when the community had dwindled to only nine members, and they sold their property, buildings, and furniture.

Branching off from the Quakers, the Shaker religion began in America near the end of the 18th century. Originally known as the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, they eventually became known as Shakers because of their unique “dance” in worship.

Eleven Shaker communities flourished in New England and New York by 1805 when missionaries were sent to America. They are known for their celibate and simple communal lifestyle, pacifism, and their model of equality of sexes.

Learning about their culture was fascinating, and we enjoyed roaming through the buildings and seeing displays of the largest collection of Shaker furniture in existence.

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Our day ended by opting for another back roads drive to our hotel rather than the faster route of the freeway. We did make one stop though at Chaney’s Dairy Barn, rated by USA Today as the best ice cream in Kentucky. We shared a scoop of yummy “Wow Now Brown Cow.”

ROAD TRIP DAY 3: THIS CAVE IS MAMMOTH!

Posted on May 12, 2015 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

This morning, we made our way up I-65 from Nashville and headed to Mammoth Cave National Park on the recommendation of our friend, Toni. Mammoth Cave is known as the longest cave system in the world, and we took a tour to see just a small part of this amazing underground labyrinth.

Our tour was two hours (and 400+ stairs) long winding up and down through some tight areas. I was thankful to be no taller (or heavier!) than I am, because I could only imagine how difficult it would be for somebody of either description to make it through.

I was also VERY thankful I came through my hip surgery so well, because today was a good test of the strength of my hip. I’m sure glad I was so diligent about doing my physical therapy exercises! My hip did great today.

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ROAD TRIP DAY 2: MUSIC CITY, NASHVILLE

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

If you toured the mansions of famous people, you probably heard the word, “don’t” a lot before (and during) the tour. “Don’t sit on the furniture!” and “Don’t touch ANYTHING!” were probably the two you heard the most. I know I have.

Well, today we were on a mansion tour where the first thing we heard from the guide was, “Please pick up and play one of the guitars if you would like! And, try on Kenny Chasney’s leather jacket!” She also said, “Please sit on the furniture !” and “Use any of the bathrooms if you need to…!” We were also instructed to “Make yourself at home and enjoy!”

At Fontanel Mansion, all of the guests are given the same instructions, but we were fortunate to have a special tour guide for the twelve of us on what was supposed to be a 1:15 minute tour that turned into 1:40. Our guide was Jamie, the daughter of Barbara Mandrell, a person who obviously had the inside scoop on what it was like to live in this mansion and have such a famous mom. Her stories were as fun as the mansion itself!

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The Mansion is a 27,000 square foot log home– the largest log house ever built– is the former home of Country Music Hall of Fame member Barbara Mandrell. (When their three kids were grown and moved out, they “downsized” to a 5,000 square foot home and sold the mansion.) It was an architectural masterpiece, and the interior logs were the most gorgeous I had ever seen. It was built by Barbara Mandell’s husband, Ken Dudney and his crew, and it took 14 months to complete. It was completed in 1988.

The “Great Room” was truly great! Extremely valuable autographed guitars (displayed out in the open rather than in glass cases) lined the walls, and we were instructed to take them down and play them if we wished. We opted for photos instead.

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The home features five fireplaces, 13 bathrooms, a 300 gallon fish tank, an indoor swimming pool, and a shooting range. My favorite feature, though, were the three bears carved out of one log. Those three little bears represent Barbara and Ken’s three children.

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Bruce and I were not only struck by the beauty of this magnificent home, we also found the warmth and down-to-earth friendliness of Jamie quite striking. She was raised well and didn’t take her upbringing for granted. All of the memories she shared with us about being on the road with her mom were upbeat and positive.

Jamie’s favorite memory? Waking up as a little girl each morning in the touring RV, looking out the curtained window, and discovering what state fare hey were at that day. (Jamie had actually already been in 48 states by the time she was 2 years old, so these were repeats!)

After our tour, we headed back downtown to take in the views from the pedestrian bridge, stroll the streets, and ride the Music City Circuit. Along the way, we saw a vintage guitar store, so we returned on the bus late in the afternoon to check it out (along with a nearby chocolate shop!).

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Check out the price of these boots! Can you imagine spending four figures for a pair of BOOTS?

Carter Vintage Guitars was like a museum. Hundreds of gorgeous vintage guitars and amps were on display for sale, the most expensive I saw was $105,000. There were also an additional 87 guitars in cases on the floor, recently purchased from guitar collector (and 3-time Grammy Award winner), Steve Earle who was reducing his collection.

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Our final highlight of the day had nothing to do with Nashville at all. On our first full day on the road, Bruce received an Etsy order for 7 pairs of earrings, a record for a single order. He also received an order from another buyer for a pair of earrings. We brought our “store” with us, but if this keeps up, we’ll end up the trip with a cleaned-out shop!

ROAD TRIP DAY 1: BOOT SCOOTIN’ IN NASHVILLE

Posted on May 10, 2015 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

We don’t own cowboy boots, we don’t dance the “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” and we don’t even listen to country music, but here we are in Nashville, Tennessee.

The “Music City” is our first stop on what is planned to be a six-week road trip, and this will be as far west as we go.

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Nashville has a fabulous free downtown bus system, the “Music City Circuit.” There are three different color-coded bus circuits, and the longest wait at any given stop is 15 minutes. We hopped on the blue bus and headed to Riverfront Station, located along the waterfront of the Cumberland River. Just across the river is the NFL football stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans. A pedestrian bridge crosses the river nearby, so we plan on taking in the skyline view from the bridge when we return tomorrow.

Across the street from Riverfront Station is Broadway, the street where much of the action is if you’re into live music and bar hopping. There are dozens of bars, one after another, each with live bands that start performing in the early afternoon. Bands will play for a few hours, and then move on to play at another club.

Between 2nd and 5th Avenues, the streets were buzzing with loud music and people cruising in and out of the clubs– and this was a Sunday afternoon. I can only imagine what a Saturday night during the high season must be like.

In between the bars are music-themed memorabilia and t-shirt shops along with cowboy boot and hat shops. Need a pair of cowboy boots (or three)? One of the shops advertises that they will give two pairs of boots for free with a pair purchased. (I wonder how much that first pair costs… I just may have to investigate after our visit to Fontanel Mansion tomorrow.

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HITTIN’ THE ROAD (THANKS TRIP ADVISOR!)

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

Soon, Bruce and I will be hittin’ the road in Scarlet (our Prius V) on a six-week adventure that meanders through 18 states in an odd-shaped loop.

It’s been in the planning stages for six months, and now we’re excited to see our plan through, especially since most of the states we’ll be visiting will be firsts for us. (I’ve been to 26 states so far.)

For the longest time, I couldn’t quite figure out how to plan for such a trip. We had a (very) loose idea of where we wanted to go; however, I just didn’t know where to start.

Is there a right way to organize this long of a road trip? As the old saying goes, there are many ways to skin a cat. (Where did that saying come from? The visual in my mind when I hear that… oh, never mind.)

After reading several blog posts and internet sites, I learned there are as many ways to plan a road trip as there are people who have done it. After I pondered them all, I hit the delete button and decided to do it my way. Bruce agreed—

a good thing since he’s leaving all the planning to me anyway!

The first place I started was sending an e-mail to my family and friends asking for recommendations after giving them a loose idea of the states we hoped to hit. As it turns out, most of those recommendations made the cut, and we are planning our travels around them. (Take Niagara Falls, for example. More than one of them said, “Bring your passport and see the falls from the Canadian side, because the American side is TACKY!”)

While researching on the computer, I also visited the tourist bureau of each state and requested a map and guide. Sure, all of the same information is available online, but the paper guides were for Bruce who spends as little time on the computer as possible, thanks to burnout from a computer-intensive career.

As for the maps, they’re going with us in a file box with a folder dedicated to each state. I will be adding AAA maps where needed, and I plan to file keepsakes that I collect along the way such as chocolate labels from chocolatiers I hope to visit (and sample!).

My favorite source for planning this road trip has been Trip Advisor (www.tripadvisor.com). You can find my reviews there as “ElaineK-SunCity-GA.”

Skeptics out there will claim that many of the reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp are fakes posted by friends and family members of the business owner. Sure, there are probably plenty of restaurant reviews posted by the Aunt Bobbi Sue’s and Uncle Billy Bob’s of the world to help out their entrepreneurial nieces and nephews who just opened up rib shacks off some godforsaken highway. I’ve seen them myself, and those reviews are easy to spot. Type in the restaurant’s name on the site, and you see ten restaurant reviews giving the joint a perfect rating. Not one of those reviewers has ever written a previous review about anything else. That should be your first clue.

Now, type in “Boldt Castle” (located in Alexandria Bay, New York) into Trip Advisor’s search engine. The castle was recommended by two friends, so I thought I should check it out. Bingo! 590 people have reviewed it, and it gets a 4-1/2 out of 5 rating. In addition, many reviewers posted photos, so I can see for myself how beautiful and photogenic it is. I immediately added Boldt Castle to our itinerary.

When reading reviews, I give the most credibility to other top contributors who are experienced travelers and have posted a lot of detailed reviews. I also make sure to read a selection of the positive AND negative reviews on a particular listing, so I can evaluate whether a particular restaurant or hotel is worthy of our business. (I will ignore one bad review of a Mexican restaurant, for example, if the reviewer criticized the margaritas, especially if all of the other dozens of reviewers raved about the excellent food.)

Thanks to Trip Advisor, I now have a seven-page Word Document filled with recommendations for places to see, things to do, restaurants to dine in, and accommodations where we can crash each night (if we don’t stay with other Affordable Travel Club members www.affordabletravelclub.net ). I organized it in itinerary order, and I’ve included the driving time required to get from place to place. Finally, using www.SwimmersGuide.com , I found pools to train at throughout our travels and listed their locations, and lap swimming times.

The itinerary is just a loose guide; weather and our moods will dictate how closely we follow it. One thing for sure, though; we will definitely be visiting the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and Boldt Castle!

Stay tuned for future posts from the road IF/WHEN I have time and feel like writing. Otherwise, I’ll catch up with y’all when I get to it! A big THANKS to my friend Cynthia who will be watching over the house while we’re gone!

POKIN’ AROUND THE PANHANDLE (FLORIDA)

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

Since moving to Georgia, one of our favorite things to do each year is rent a cottage through one of the websites such as Home Away or Airbnb, pack up our kayaks, and head to the water. Although we enjoyed Sanibel so much we visited there twice, we decided to explore new places each time in the future and enjoy new experiences.
This time, we headed to Laguna Beach, Florida to spend two weeks kayak fishing, swimming, walking, and exploring the state parks.

The following are some of my favorite photos from our visit. The complete photo album of 79 shots can be viewed at www.ExquisiteCards.Fototime.com .

The “Think Pink Cottages” were our home for two weeks in Laguna Beach, Florida, along the panhandle. Our pink kayaks fit in perfectly, don’t you think?

Bruce snagged a nice slot-sized redfish, but threw it back. When fishing from his kayak, he is a catch-and-release fisherman.

The view of Panama City Beach from St. Andrew’s State Park

An alligator catching a few rays at St. Andrew’s State Park

These guys were waiting for a handout of fish scraps from the cleaning table.

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The view of Panama City Beach from the pier.

Panama City Beach Aquatic Center was my training site on a daily basis. It was a beautiful facility, and I especially enjoyed getting the opportunity to practice block starts.

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA: OUR FINAL STOP

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

Alexandria, Virginia was our last place to visit before ending our 18-day swimming and travel adventure. Our friends, Melody and David moved to Alexandria (from Burke, Virginia), so our plan was to see Alexandria during the day, and visit with Melody and David in the evening.

Dating back to the late 1600’s the old town section of Alexandria is very quaint and picturesque.

Like Baltimore, it is a wonderful place to see on foot, so we did plenty of walking. We were walked out from Baltimore, though, so we also took advantage of the free trolley bus that circles the historic old town district.

Although Alexandria has plenty of shops and restaurants, we spent most of our indoor time browsing the artist studios at the Torpedo Factory. At one time, this really was a torpedo factory and munitions storage site. Once World War II ended, it was no longer needed, and in 1969 the building was adapted to studios for working artists. There are now 82 studios, 6 galleries, and two workshops for artists who produce a diversity of artwork, ranging from painting, ceramics, photography, jewelry, stained glass, fiber, printmaking, and sculpture.

After a lovely, relaxed day of wandering around Alexandria (and having a fabulous lunch at Mai Thai (http://maithai.us/ ), we enjoyed our final evening with Melody and David. Spending time with special friends was a wonderful way to conclude a fabulous trip!

Additional photos of Alexandria are posted at: http://www.ExquisiteCards.Fototime.com . Stop on by for a visit!

Elaine-iaK's Travels: A Traveler's Tales of People, Places, Photos, Pools… and CHOCOLATE!

Category Archives: Domestic Travel