Clam Boy

These pictures are from our trip to San Francisco last summer. We tell the story of CJ and his big bowl of clams often. Somehow the story never made it to the blog, until now. On our second day in SanFran we spent the day wandering Muir Woods and the Presidio. For dinner we decided to try a restaurant that had been recommended by a few people back home. CJ ordered the clams and the waiter was very skeptical. He figured that there was no way the mere child would eat an adult portion of clams. When the clams arrived we also were skeptical.

That's a big bowl of clams!

That's a lot of empty clam shells.

 

The bowl wasn't completely empty but for a kid of just 11 years, that is some impressive shellfish eating!

A Week at the Beach

We arrived in Ocean City, MD about 9 hours after leaving home. Amazingly I drove about half the time, I love my car! We checked into the hotel and then hit the boardwalk. This was our first time in OCMD and were pleasantly surprised to find the boardwalk very similar to NJ in that it is made of boards and has shops the whole length of it. We were even happier to find that the restaurants tended more toward food and less to fries and ice cream. This is very important when living in a hotel room that has a fridge the size of a shoebox!

Ah, sand!!!

After walking the boards north, we opted for a ride in the tram car south towards the ferriswheel. After a delicious dinner at a wood fired pizza restaurant we headed for the kite store.

Way back in the '90's when we vacationed in OBX we always made several trips to Kitty Hawk Kites. The Kite Loft wasn't quite as big but it was just as impressive. We bought a new kite and despite the setting sun headed to the beach for some flying time. Steve gave CJ a refresher lesson. CJ hadn't flown a kite since our trip to OCNJ during hurricane Isabel. Flying a stunt kite is just like riding a bike, a few close calls and then all is good.

Day 2

After a big breakfast we headed down to the beach. It was a gloriously hot day and the ocean was a perfect temperature to cool us down after some hard work digging holes, Steve & CJ, or reading a book, me.

The waves were breaking too close to shore for bodysurfing so we spent the day jumping and diving into them. It was a perfect day! 

We eventually headed back to the room for showers and found that the hotel across the street had live music which was a great way to unwind and relax before a night on the boardwalk.

Day 3

After getting a little too much sun the day before (yes, mother I had sunscreen on) we decided to check out Assateague Island. Thank goodness for sunburn or we would have missed this amazing place. It's a barrier island that is home to 100+- horses on the northern MD side and 150+- horses on the VA side. They are wild horses that have adapted to living at the shore. The MD horses are in a National Park and protected by the government. The VA horses are owned by the volunteer fire department and the foals are sold off each year to raise money for the department.

While they are used to being around people they are still wild and let us know that they run the place. We stopped the car to take a picture of one of the  horses and he looked at us then walked in front of the car and just stood there looking at us until the Pony Patrol shooed him away. It was quite funny. The Pony Patrol is a guy on a bike with a fan of branches that he shakes to move the horses along.

The island has many activities available including, camping, windsurfing, crabbing, swimming, and hiking. We opted for hiking the half mile trails and learning about the ecosystems on the island.

Mussels

As we walked along the boardwalk in the marshes we found crabs everywhere. In the photo below there must have been 2 dozen that we counted in just a couple of minutes we stopped.

We also visited the forest which is where the horses gather when a hurricane approaches. The forest was quite a bit cooler and very quiet. It was a great place to visit and we recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

When we got back to the hotel we quickly changed and headed down to the beach. The water was colder and the waves were stronger than the day before. Steve and CJ saw many broken boogie boards in the trash cans. Yikes.

Still, digging in the sand and playing with army guys beats a day at school, even if the water is cool and the waves wild!

And there is always kite flying. The wind was quite a bit stronger and occasionally Steve needed to make sure CJ didn't get drug down the beach!!

Day 4

Thursday brought another beautiful day. We headed out to the beach early and stayed as long as we could.

The waves were once again stronger than the day before and the water was so cold that it took your breath away. Hard to believe when it was perfect just 2 days earlier. It was really hot on the beach so we did go in but not for long. It was funny, on such a hot day, to see everyone standing just at the water's edge. There were a few brave souls all the way in, they must have been from Canada.

So instead of playing in the waves the boys dug a hole!

Which got really deep.

They got reprimanded by the Beach Patrol for digging a hole deeper than their knee and had to fill it in!

After showers we headed out to dinner.

Steve and Cheryl made the drive down from Philly to spend a couple of days on the beach and meet us for dinner. It was just like old times in OBX and  brought back some great memories from the many vacations in OBX. We had dinner at a great place on the bay. Even though we could see the rain out over the bay we took a chance ate at a table outside.

Steve, Steve

Steve & Cheryl

Just as we finished dinner the rain started. We watched the storm over the ocean from a covered porch.

CJ tried really hard to capture the lightning. This was the best he could do with my little camera.

After the rain stopped we all headed out for ice cream,

It was a perfect end to a perfect day.

And, after packing the car on Friday we headed back to the boardwalk to get a hermit crab to finalize a great, great vacation.

Caves, Corvettes & Tanks

When the boys said they wanted to do the 4 hour tour through the cave, I thought they were crazy. Who wants to spend 4 hours underground in a cold, damp cave? Turns out that they picked the right tour. The 4 hours went by very quickly and with it being so hot this summer the cool cave air was refreshing.
Mammoth Cave is indeed mammoth, both in miles of caves and in the size of the 'rooms'. The room we ate lunch in was large enough to hold 40 picnic tables without being cramped. Yep, we ate lunch in a cave and the veggie soup was really good.
The cave is remarkably dry, we encountered only one section where water had made its way through the rock. That section has a fabulous draping of rock appropriately named Niagara Falls. On of our tour guides was a descendant of one of the original tour guides. It was fascinating to hear his stories of the cave before it was a national park when people lived and farmed the land above the cave.
That night CJ and I swam in the wonderfully warm outdoor pool. We watched a storm blow in and the sky turn a beautiful deep, dark and ominous blue.
The next morning it was off to the Corvette factory. No pictures were allowed but it's pretty easy to imagine the boys watching one of their favorite cars being put together. You could almost see them adding up their pennies and wondering if they could drive one home!

After the factory tour we headed north to Ft. Knox and the General Patton Museum. There we saw some tanks, and then some more tanks. The museum told of Patton's childhood and career in the army. We all learned that Patton survived both WWI and WWII  but never made it home due to a car accident. He is buried in Luxembourg, I wonder why.
Next we headed to Lexington for an overnight before heading home. On the way we finally spotted horses, lots of beautiful horses on gorgeous rolling hillsides. What a wonderful place to live, for both people and horses. Lexington is a quaint city with several colleges. The architecture was very southern and very stately. Our stay in Lexington was short and deserves a trip back.
Kentucky is a state that is well worth the trip and offers something for everyone.

What's that smell?

The smell would be the more than 50 of these buildings filled with more than 20,000 barrels each of bourbon. As we drove up the road we were wondering what these buildings were and the closer we got the less we wondered, the air was filled with the wonderful smell of bourbon.

We were able to take a look inside this building and see each of the barrels stacked inside. It takes at least four years for a barrel to fully age. After our tour we tasted two of the bourbons that are aged for 8 years, they were quite lovely. I have always enjoyed the smell of bourbon but never enjoyed a mixed bourbon drink. At the tasting I found that for me bourbon is much better on its own. To sip bourbon on a cool day (or in a frigid hotel room) is very peaceful.

After the bourbon is emptied from the barrels they are not used again for bourbon. They are sold and used for making scotch.

Another look at Louisville

While walking to and from the museums and dinner we encountered beauty everywhere. It was a pleasure to be in a city that treasures its history and its art.

The dancing waters on the left are in the entrance to the park from where the pic on the right was taken. We were standing by the river and looking back at the city.

The building on the right had life size red penguins atop it. Never did find out why.

The chandelier was hanging over the sidewalk.

The serpent is a bike rack. There were many bike racks on our walk and not one of them looked like a bike rack.

Two Days in Louisville

We've been in the Midwest for 15 years now and have only managed to visit two areas outside of Ohio; Traverse City, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois. Both were great trips that we all enjoyed immensely. This winter while thinking about places to go during summer break we thought about seeing the sights in Boston, or Seattle or Yellowstone. Why is it that the places close to home are the last ones we think about visiting?

This year that changed with our trip to Kentucky. We started in Louisville which was a quick 3 hour drive down 71.

We found a downtown full of restored buildings and amazing artwork. While on our way to the Louisville Slugger factory,

Steve hung out with a former mayor of Louisville.

Then, CJ and I sat on a beautiful horse. In the couple of block walk to the museum we fell in love with the city.

The Slugger factory and museum were fascinating. We saw a bat being turned on a lathe, just as they were when the factory first made their famous bats. Back then it took 20 minutes to make one bat. Now machines turn one out in just 30 seconds.  Our tour guide told us all about the wood, ash & maple, used for making bats and how the best grades are used for professional bats. They have a machine that is dedicated to making bats for MLB players, it was not in use when we were there but was impressive looking. Bats can have many different finishes and players have their favorites. There are even bats coated in carbon fiber.These are used by players who are making the switch from aluminum, which is not allowed in the majors, to wood. It was a great place to visit even for us non baseball fans!

Next we visited the Frazier Museum. It houses assorted weaponry from English history. Steve and CJ listened to a recreation of a battle from the Crimean War, which was what The Charge of the Light Brigade is based on. While they listened to the account of a bloody battle, I wandered through the pistol and rifle room. Don't worry Steve and CJ got to see it too!!! The museum was three stories of English battle history. My favorite parts were the evolution of the Tower of London and the section on pirates.

After checking into the hotel we walked down to the river to have dinner. It was fun to look out on the water while eating. On our way back from dinner, we were surprised to see moose in Kentucky.

For being a state famous for its horses the only ones we have seen so far are like this one.

On our second day in Louisville we headed to the science museum. It was about a six block walk which we did mostly in the shade of the buildings. At 9:30 in the morning it was already quite warm. They are having the same warmer than usual temps as Ohio is. On our way we stopped to explore a riverside park. The park reminded me of Rittehouse Square with it green spaces and benches, it also had 'dancing water' and a fountain and of course the river. At the river we learned about the men from Kentucky who traveled with Lewis and Clark.

The science museum was good, not our favorite, but good. In case you are wondering our favorites are San Francisco and Seattle.

The visit to the glass museum was great. We enjoyed watching a 'martini' glass being created. Martini is in quotes because while it had the shape of a traditional martini glass it was much more elaborate than anything one would see at a store. The factory makes just about every type of glass object that you could think of. The glass walkway we had passed earlier that connected a hotel and the convention center was made at this factory. They are working on another for the city as well. Their work is commissioned from all over the world. Currently they are working on a cathedral in Chicago and a chandelier for a mall in Dubai.

While we hate to leave Louisville we are happy to have see some of what it has to offer and decide that it would be a great place to visit again. It's time to get back in the car and head down to the cave area. Maybe we'll see horses on the way.