Key West Trip - October 8, Doing the tourist thing in the Conch Republic

 Breakfast at our hotel.  It was about 9 a.m., and the temperature was already in the low 80s.  Our room is just over Barry's head in the background.

 White tablecloths, a cream pitcher, and a wonderful breakfast await me.

 The pool.  Cool and refreshing on a day when temps would get into the mid-80s with high humidity.

 Southernmost.  The most common word in Key West -- well except for "Conch".  This is the southernmost house in the US.

 The southernmost point in the US -- actually the navy base off to the right really is, but this is the southernmost point that can be ACCESSED.  Cuba is 90 miles from here.

 South Beach.  Tennessee Williams wrote here, saying "I work everywhere, but I work best here."  We did go swimming, and it was only a short walk from our hotel.

 South Beach.

 The view from the end of the pier at South Beach.  Cuba is out there somewhere.

 After going back to the hotel and showering the salt water off, we walked around Key West.  Must have done 10 miles.  Our first stop was Louie's Backyard, where we tried the conch fritters.  We'd had some bad ones a few years ago in Melbourne, so I really wanted to try them again.  Barry pronounced them delicious!

 Mosquito Board?

 Bougainvillea shrubs (nearly trees) are everywhere, and they were still in full bloom.

 The highlight of the day -- and probably one of the highlights of the whole trip. 
Ernest Hemingway lived here from 1929 to 1939.

 Hemingway's bedroom, with Archibald MacLeish in his usual place of repose.  All the cats here are named, and well-cared for.  Most are descendants of Hemingway's original "polydactyl" cats.

 Wish I could remember this one's name.  He has 6 toes on the front and 5 on the back; most cats have 5 and 4.  Count them on your cat(s) -- if you can get them still enough.

 Hemingway's studio.  It's in a separate building, originally a carriage house, and was once connected to the main house by a skywalk.  One wonders exactly what Hemingway wrote on that typewriter.

 OK, the urinal story.  Hemingway brought one home from Sloppy Joe's and put it in the garden for the cat's drinking fountain.  His second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, was NOT going to have a bar urinal in her garden, so she camouflaged it with a huge Greek olive jar and had the water run out of that into the urinal.  The cats often will drink the water running down the side of the jar instead.  We purchased a print of Archibald MacLeish drinking from the side of the jar.

 Pauline had a salt-water swimming pool installed, the first pool on the island.  Even though she paid for it with her own money (much more than Hemingway had), he said she was spending his last penny on it.  He threw a penny up in the air, and Pauline had it encased on the ground just where it landed.

 Hemingway's studio.  The ground floor is now a gift shop.  The pool is seen to the left.

 Just a reminder how close everything in Key West is to the ocean, this is the view of the Key West lighthouse from the balcony outside Hemingway's bedroom.

 One of the more famous photos of the author.

 The front entrance.  Every window is floor-length, and was opened to catch the ever-present breeze.

Nothing to do with the Hemingway house here.  Roosters, chickens and chicks wander freely around Key West.

Key West Trip - October 7, We head for Key West

The second in the series -- Heading for Key West.

 

We left Ft. Lauderdale and headed south on I-95.  And just south of Miami, we reached the southern end.Our next goal was to get to the southern end of US-1.

 Seven-Mile Bridge.  Over open (but not very deep) water.  The original railroad bridge (1912) is seen on the right.  When a hurricane destroyed the railroad in 1937, it was rebuilt as a highway, but has now been replaced by the one we're on here.

Key West city limits!  We made it!

 Here's where US-1 goes west then south; Fl-A1A (which runs along the ocean through much of Florida, heads east and south.

 Duval Street -- where all the night life is in Key West -- crossing US-1.

 Mile marker "0", the southern end of US-1.  I've always wanted to drive US-1 from Fort Kent, Maine to Key West, FL.  Well at least, I HAVE driven it to Key West.

 The pool area at our hotel.  It was like being in a lush tropical garden -- probably because it WAS a lush tropical garden.

 One of our first stops, Margaritaville.  This was the first place where I tried mahi-mahi, which is also known as Florida dolphin, a VERY ugly fish; of course no one would EAT a dolphin (love ya, Flipper), so calling it mahi-mahi assuages the guilt, apparently.

 The original Sloppy Joe's Bar.  Ernest Hemingway practically lived here from about 1929 to 1939.  Story goes that when the rent was raised about 1937, Joe ripped out all the urinals and threw them into the street.  Hemingway told Joe he had spent enough on beer there to have bought one of the urinals, so he took one and brought it home.  We'll see where it is now in one of the future posts.

 The "new" Sloppy Joe's Bar.  After the urinal incident, Joe moved here, to the next block.  So did Hemingway.

 Mallory Square.  We'll watch the sunset here along with a huge crowd of merry-makers, in a carnival atmosphere.  It's a daily occurrence and has been for 19 years.  Watching the sunset, of course, not actually the sunset -- that's been going on for longer than 19 years.

 Luxury yacht, tied up at Mallory Square.  This is so big, it has another boat INSIDE the stern that most people would die to own!

 Stopped in here for a beer.  What a laid-back atmosphere, an such a cool name.

 Schooner near sunset, Key West.

 Almost down, split by a bank of clouds.

 Gone, but the afterglow is still there.  Like a good piece of Key Lime Pie.

From here it was off to dinner, and looking forward to really doing the tourist thing tomorrow.

Key West Trip - October 6, We leave for Ft Lauderdale

This is the first in a series of posts on our recent (well, a month ago now) vacation to Fort Lauderdale and Key West.

 Our hotel in Fort Lauderdale, an older model, badly in need of upgrades, but practically ON the beach!

 Fort Lauderdale Beach, looking north toward Pompano Beach; water was rough due to a hurricane offshore, and the wind actually whipped the sand into our faces!

 Fort Lauderdale Beach, looking south; Miami is only about 25 miles from here.

 A sea grape.  We have one in our dining room (seed came from Sebastian State Park about 150 miles north of Ft. Lauderdale.  These trees grow to maybe 30 feet, and the grapes ARE edible, and make good jams and jellies.  Now if our "Sebastian" would only grow this big, we'd need to add an open second floor to the house!

 Marina in Ft. Lauderdale.  It's called the "Venice of North America" and with all the canals, one can see why.

 See the boat?  See the tourist?

Can you find Barry?  We didn't eat here -- but we did next door, at Kelly's Landing -- little canal-side restaurant run by a guy from South Boston, MA.  He flies in the clams and lobster from New England 2-3 times a week.  I don't have a photo of the meals but I'll say the Ipswich Fried Clams were THE BEST -- even better than anything I ever had in Maine!  We would head back to Kelly's for my birthday -- look for pics under Oct. 10.

More random liberal political thoughts -- and latest news, too.

For our last major trip of the year (probably until Spring), we're headed out to Fort Lauderdale and Key West on Wednesday morning -- thank you, Delta Sky Miles for nearly free tickets.  Plus it's off-season, so motel rates are great.  One in Fort Lauderdale is $53 a night (WONDERFUL reviews on "TripAdvisor", our travel "Bible"), and it's 269 FEET to the beach.  Water temps are about 80, and the seafood is already making both of us hungry!

In Key West, the place we're staying is $100 a night, but in September it was over $200, way, way out of our price range -- remember, we're not just poor, we're CHEAP and poor!  Well, maybe just CHEAP!  Even got a coupon for a free breakfast at Denny's on my birthday -- the morning we leave -- and Denny's is 2 blocks from our motel.

So, it's off to drive to the southern end of I-95, and US-1, sunset at Mallory Square, Hemingway's house with the polydactyl cats, maybe some swimming in the warm, tropical water, and just relaxing and eating great SEAFOOD(I want to try grouper, had pompano in Nashville and loved it) and home-made KEY LIME PIE!!

So we're off Wednesday!  Pics when we return!

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OK, if you're anti-liberal OR closed-minded, you may not want to read the rest of this post.  It basically credits liberals with many positive aspects of our every-day life -- and it IS historically accurate as far as I can tell.  This is NOT my attempt to criticize conservatives -- most of them are good, hard-working Americans -- but rather an attempt to point out that not everything with the tag, "Liberal" is bad, either, as some conservative pundits would have people believe. 

With so many people who are angry at those liberal, communist, statist, socialists for  stealing away "their" country, I had to share this commentary.  Please note that this originally read "Joe Republican", but with the change in outlook of the main parties, this isn't accurate today.

I have to wonder what those who hate liberals, and everything liberals have done, with a passion, would choose to give up on this list.  Also note, in the past many of those "liberals" WERE Republicans, notably Teddy Roosevelt, who would be hounded and shouted out of the GOP nowadays as a "RINO."

Back a hundred years ago, both major parties contained both liberals and conservatives; then about 1964 with Goldwater, the Republican party began its shift to the right, furthered by Reagan and Gingrich (Bush isn't a conservative, TRUE conservatives say), which continues today.  There is NO room in the GOP now for anyone who is to the left of Atilla the Hun.  The Democratic Party, however, is still populated with both liberals and conservatives (at least here in the South), and that's a good thing to my mind.

There IS another side to this "big government" debate.  There ARE wasteful government programs (some heralded by GOP members of Congress because their districts benefit); there ARE more people on welfare than there should be (and yes, some of them are Republicah); there ARE crooks and connivers in government (Democrats seem to be more crooked, Republicans seem to be more immoral), there IS more "soft money", untrackable, going into politics today (latest figures show 5-1 for Republicans).  But does anyone actually BELIEVE that the "other party" is going to be any different?

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A Day in the Life of Joe Conservative

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance -- now Joe gets it, too -- EVEN IF he lives in a "right-to-work" state where he gets union benefits without paying union dues.

He prepares his morning breakfast: bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girlie-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment checks because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the taxpayer funded roads.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.

The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved conservatives have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. 

Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have." 

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Wouldn't it be nice if ...

To those who think that anything the "government" does is bad...

Wouldn't it be nice if ...

People were paid a fair wage and treated fairly by their employers?  Then we wouldn't need unions.

All babies were born, wanted?  Then we wouldn't need state agencies to take care of them after they are born.

All children were read to every day, and came to school prepared to learn?  Then teachers wouldn't have to play catch-up.

People realized that there is more to life than making money?  Then the arts would thrive.

People picked up after themselves.  Then we wouldn't need sanitation departments in our cities.

Restaurants, hotels, and other places of public accommodation served all people equally, regardless of race, religion, ethnic background, disability, orientation?  Then we wouldn't need civil rights laws.

Food processors only produced healthy safe food?  Then we wouldn't need the FDA.

Businesses earned a fair profit, and paid executives what they were truly worth?  Then we wouldn't need financial regulations.

Countries respected each other?  Then we wouldn't have war.

People respected the property of others?  Then we wouldn't need laws against trespassing and theft.

People settled their differences with words and agreements, instead of guns?  Then we wouldn't need criminal courts.

People took responsibility for their own actions, instead of blaming and suing others?  Then we wouldn't need civil courts.

Pay were commensurate with the importance of the job?  Then football players wouldn't be paid much more than teachers or doctors.

Everyone gave of themselves or their wealth to support those less fortunate?  Then we wouldn't need welfare.

Able-bodied welfare recipients sought or got work?  Then we wouldn't need welfare.

Politicians said "I'll try" or "I'll do my best" instead of promising things they (and we) know can't be kept?  Then maybe more people would contribute to their campaigns, and we wouldn't need government-funded campaigns.

People simply agreed to disagree?  Then we wouldn't have hate, name-calling, character assassination.

Government used every single tax dollar wisely, and didn't tax one penny more than necessary?  Then we wouldn't need Republicans. 

People accepted that the religious or political beliefs of others are just as valid as their own ... but everyone knows the other side is made up of fools or idiots and is going to Hell.

All people worked to the best of their ability, and only asked for fair wages and benefits?  Then we wouldn't ... oh wait, that would be Communism and we can't have that.

Unfortunately, the world isn't nice, it isn't fair, it isn't all sunshine and roses. 

If all the above things were true, then most Democrats would have nothing to campaign on, most Republicans wouldn't have anything to criticize, and Libertarians would have their Nirvana.

Until then, I'll continue to be a social liberal, as many Democrats are, and I will not apologize for wanting to live in a better world, even IF it means (Heaven forbid!) actually having a government that "promotes the general welfare" instead of pandering to the wishes of special interest groups, and I'm willing to pay reasonable taxes (not wasting that money though) to support those ideas in which I believe.

Tuesday, August 31.  We drove up to Cincinnati, only about 90 minutes away, and checked into the motel.  It was a real bargain, good price, nice room, nice pool, and best of all, within walking distance of our main goals -- the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, home of the National League Central Division leaders, and the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, KY.

After checking in, we walked over to the Hofbrauhaus to use a $3.00 coupon to sample five of their beers -- our choice.  From left to right they are, Oktoberfest, Hefe Weizen, Dunkel, Premium Lager, and Light.  My favorite was the Oktoberfest; Barry's was the Hefe Weizen, with a slight hint of cloves.  It's served in parts of Germany with a slice of orange, but NOT in Bavaria!  I tried to alphabetize the beers, but our server said we needed to taste them from left to right.  She was SO right.  For me, it got better and better as I moved from one to the other.

We came back later for lunch -- ordered the Weiner Schnitzel and a beer, now that we knew what kind(s) we liked.  Nice lunch, food not outstanding, but good.

After the Hofbrauhaus, we decided to walk over to Ohio.  There's an old railroad bridge, now called the Purple People bridge, which now is a pedestrian walkway over to Ohio.  So we walked over.

At the Ohio end of the Purple People bridge is a park, with a statue of Cincinnatus.  Cincinnatus was a Roman citizen who, when the Roman Republic was at war, put down his plow, led a Roman army to victory, then came back to his farm.  He didn't want honor, glory, money -- he just did it because it was the right thing to do for his country -- civic virtue, it's called.  During the American Revolution, the Society of the Cincinnati (plural for Cincinnatus) was formed, made up of many famous names who emulated Cincinnatus's civic virtue.  One of the members was George Washington, and when Fort Washington was settled (in what is now downtown Cincinnati), the settlement was named for this society -- Cincinnati.  We then headed for the US Bank Arena, the Great American Ballpark, then back over the US Route 27 bridge to Newport, and back to our motel.  HOT!  SWEATY!  UNPLEASANT, but good exercise.

Later that evening, we again walked to Ohio, to the Great American Ballpark to see the Cincinnati Reds play the Milwaukee Brewers.  We had seats about midway back from the Reds dugout on the third-base line, and it looked just perfect.  Unfortunately, they were aisle seats, and I missed probably half the hits for both teams because people were walking in front of me, and the vendors seemed to be coming through about every 4 seconds.

Anyway, this guy came up and sat in front of us (not his seat), talking with a friend, and while this was going on, Barry called his sister, Carol, telling her that we were FINALLY at the Great American, the field we drove past when Carol visited Kentucky back in June.  He mentioned how long it had been since either of us had seen a major league game, and that he had never seen the home team score a home run.  Well, the guy in front turned around, we started talking with him and before we knew it, he said he had seats in Row F, right behind the Reds dugout, and that we were welcome to take those for the remainder of the game!  An incredible act of kindness to total strangers -- wish I had a way to thank him again.  So at the beginning of the 7th Inning, we moved down front.  WOW!  We could touch the dugout!  Also, the Reds had a new pitcher, Aroldis Chapman, "The Cuban Rocket" pitching over 100 mph.  We got to see his major league debut, and if you look closely in this photo, the gray streak going through the third-baseman's head is the ball jaunting away at about 103 MPH!  The Reds won the game, and with St Louis losing, were now 7 games in the lead for the National League Central Division!  Wednesday, they increased that lead to 8 games, as they beat the Brewers again, and St Louis lost to the Astros once more.

After the game, we joined thousands of fans leaving the stadium, many of whom walked back over the US 27 bridge to Kentucky.

Wednesday, Sep 1:  Today was the day for "Newport-on-the-Levee." and a shuttle tour of Cincinnati, OH and Covington, KY.  We

just lolly-gagged around Newport.  Went back to the Hofbrauhaus for lunch and ordered the Bierwurst, a sausage made from beef and pork.  It was OK, but the casing was very tough and chewy.  The Oktoberfest beer I ordered was great, though, as was Barry's Hefe Weizen.  We then moseyed over to Newport on the Levee.  This is an interesting place.  In the 1950s, before Las Vegas became the gambling capital (and maybe the organized crime capital) of the US, Newport, Kentucky, was "sin city."  There were practically more houses of ill repute than there were churches, more casinos than schools.  Crime was rampant, and the likes of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin got the start of their organized crime reputations in good old Newport.

Well, by the 1980s, after property values plummeted, and the sleaze factor increased (if that was possible), Newport decided to re-invent itself.  The slums along the riverfront were cleaned up, and the area was reborn as "Newport-on-the-Levee."  For those who don't know, a "levee" is a large dirt banking designed to prevent a river from flooding nearby land.  Well, why have this perfectly good levee going unused except in times of flooding?  Newport built a shopping mall right ON the levee.  Today it's one of the premier attractions of the Cincinnati area.  It has stores, restaurants, bars, theaters, and the Newport Aquarium to entice tourists.  The view at night is spectacular, particularly during warm weather, with music coming out of several bars, Irish music in particular, the night we were there.  Not being really interested in the aquarium this visit (maybe next time), we chose not to go into the Aquarium, but we DID sample Bar Louie's food, Saxby's coffee, and Cold Stone Creamery ice cream!

Thursday, 2 September:  Got up, got a picture of the levee overlooking the Ohio River.  The grassy area is the levee, the cement and white opening allow vehicles to access the Ohio River.  There is a gate in the white opening which can be closed during times of flooding.


Leaving Cincinnati, and taking the long way home.  We took I-75/71 south out of Cincinnati, then followed I-71 as it went southwest toward Louisville.  Our goal was US-127 at Sparta, KY, the location of the Kentucky Speedway.  Now neither of us is a NASCAR fan, but I'm SO glad we came this way.  The Speedway is located in a county about half the size of Sagadahoc in Maine, and apparently it's THE only source of income for the county.  They have seating for 66,000, and hundreds of RV spaces.  Next year, July 9, a major NASCAR race will be coming there, and plans are to expand the Speedway to well over 100,000 seats -- every one of which can see the entire race!  The photo is of a poster, so we can see the entire speedway, but this only shows maybe 20% of the grounds.  Parking for cars and RVs extends WAY out!

We stayed on US-127 all the way through Frankfort, and back to Danville, where the cat was (yawn!) sort of waiting for us, in a way.  Guess he wasn't too upset about our leaving him; after all, he had food, water, air-conditioning, a recliner, three beds, and two toilets.  What more does a cat need?

Off to Nashville for a great weekend

Kathy has been working in Nashville for two years.  Her husband, Kenn, and I have been best friends since 1958 and he is retired, spending about half his time in Nashville, while keeping the home place in Westfield, MA going.  Kathy is ending her job in Nashville, and moving back next weekend, so this would be our last time to see K&K while they are in the South.  We went down on Aug 6, came back Aug 8, and had a great weekend with them, and touring Nashville, as well as spending time in the city by ourselves.

On Friday, Kathy was working, so Kenn took us downtown to Centennial Park, where there is an exact, full-sized replica of the Parthenon in Athens.  Nashville is known as the "Athens of the South", so it's appropriate.  We toured the building and its enclosed art museum, noting they had, among others, a Winslow Homer there (y'all can take the boy out of Maine, but y'all can't take Maine out of the boy)!

Then we did a driving tour of the southern suburbs of Nashville, the "ritzy" neighborhood, and past homes of many country music stars.  Such beautiful homes, and such woodland preserved only a few miles from downtown Nashville, a city of nearly 500,000 people.

We picked Kathy up at work, then went out for dinner at a little hole-in-the-wall place called "The Yellow Porch."  It was one of the best meals I've ever had.  I ordered the pompano, a southern whitefish, which was sweet, tender, flaky, and mild.  Never had it before, but I hope I can have it again.

After dinner, we went back to their apartment, and headed for bed.  The next day was going to be a touristy one.

On Saturday, we went into town, drove in by the Franklin Pike, lined on both sides with multi-million dollar homes.  We parked in Bicentennial Park and walked around before it got really hot.  In the floods of May, this whole area was under water, and even in August, repairs are still being made.

They took us to Big River Grill and Brewing Works for lunch, which was very good, reasonable prices, and substantial quantity.  Whoa, seems all we do when we travel is EAT!  Well, YEAH~!

After lunch, we said our good-byes, and began wandering all over downtown Nashville.  We'd been there before, in 2004 I think, but this time, after having Kenn take us around town, we felt we had a better feel of where things were.  We wandered down by the Cumberland River, looked over LP Field, home of the football Tennessee Titans, then up along First Street, turned left, and left again down Second Street, and browsed the touristy shops.  Then it was right on Broadway, which has more bars and music clubs than anyplace else on earth!

We wandered into a couple of them, and actually had a beer or two, before heading for Legends Corner, THE country singer's launch pad, so to speak.  Nearly everyone who is famous in any form of country music got a start here, or sang here.  I've never heard so many good voices as I did this weekend.  The Stage on Broadway was another great country bar.  In some bars, the music is just too loud for my aging ears, but Legends and The Stage were just fine.

We passed the Ryman Auditorium, original home of the Grand Ole Opry, and still a hopping musical venue.  We passed by right as a Kris Kristofferson concert was ending.  Too bad we didn't have tickets though.

After being sure we were able to drive, we headed out of town to our motel, about 5 miles north.  We checked in, relaxed awhile, then headed back into town to OUR favorite restaurant -- Demo's.  It's rated #4 of all the 785 restaurants in Nashville.

While waiting, we stopped at the bar for a drink.  The bartender was a delight, and we could have spent all evening just talking with her.  But alas, our table was ready, so off we went to enjoy some of the best steaks in Nashville.  Erin, our server, was also a delight, friendly, attentive, yet unobtrusive.  I ordered the Kansas City Strip Steak, and Barry ordered the huge Ribeye.  Neither of us were disappointed -- as with the last time we were in Demos.

After dinner, we wandered around Broadway some more, stopped into a few more country venues, and in general had a great time.  The high temps of the day had moderated, and it was just comfortably warm this evening.  We went back to the motel, having enjoyed Nashville to the fullest, considering the time we had there.

And to realize it's only about 3 hours away, about from Waterville to Boston.  We WILL go back.

After we go to Cincinnati.

And Key West.

And ???

Summer happenings

First, the trip to Maine in June to see my new grand-daughter, Garnet Catherine Patrick.  Beautiful little one, she is.  We got to see about everyone we wanted to see while there.

Next, the trip back to Kentucky with Barry's sister, Carol.  On the way down, we passed through Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and into Kentucky.  While she was here, we drove her all over the state in 90 degree heat and humidity -- from Lexington and Louisville to Lake Cumberland to Paducah, as well as side-trips into Indiana, Tennessee and Illinois!

Then, Rick, Laura and Elizabeth joined us over the 4th to see the wonderful fireworks display at Millennium Park in Danville.

Next, it's down to Nashville in early August to visit my best friend from junior high and high school for a weekend.

Then, in October, we're headed south to Key West.  Last year, we drove as far south as one can drive in Louisiana (Venice, LA, near the infamous BP "spill").  This year it's going as far south as one can drive on US Route 1.  Now all I have to do is to drive from Miami north to Boston, and from Houlton to Fort Kent and I'll have driven ALL of US 1.

In the meantime, Barry continues to work in the garden.  He's frustrated though, because we lost our entire crop of squash and pumpkins to bugs and fungus and virus...or whatever it was that took those out.  The beans, though we got quite a few, were also infested with something; and the tomatoes won't produce enough for a good spaghetti sauce.  About the only things growing well this year seem to be the moles, crabgrass, beets, strawberries, raspberries, grapes, and (cross you fingers) peaches.  The pickling cucumbers (supposed to be small and thin) grew to football size, so we adapted some recipes and made Barry's mother's golden pickles, and some ripe cucumber relish.  Both VERY GOOD!  Motto:  When life hands you football-sized cucumbers, make relish!

We DID trap two raccoons which got into most of the early corn, but at least, with the little critters now living in a wildlife sanctuary miles away, we will enjoy the rest of the corn.

Most of the days in July so far have been about 90, with high humidity.  Can't wait to see the electric bill for air-conditioning, but without it, we'd just be puddles of blob on the living-room floor.  Rain has been about normal, but it's come in spurts -- nothing for 2 weeks, then an inch an hour.  That's probably what ruined the tomatoes -- splitting when they absorbed so much un-accustomed water.  Thunderstorms have been quite heavy and frequent, too.

OK, guess I have to turn on the A/C.  We have a nice breeze, but it's just bringing in humid air now, and my fingers are beginning to stick on the keyboard.