We left Asheville and had a pretty good ride through North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky.  We hit some rain that day, but still we were able to take in most of the scenery.   A very pretty drive.  We went to Georgetown, which is outside of Lexington in north eastern Kentucky.  I wanted to take a tour at Buffalo Trace distillery near Lexington, and Chris agreed to get up a little earlier so we could make it there in time to take a tour.  It is one of the oldest continuingly operating distilleries in Kentucky and has several tours available.  We took the general tour and it was enjoyable.  They include a video about the distillery and took us in one of the barrel aging rickhouses.  We were able to see the line where less than a dozen people were finishing the bottles of Blanton’s bourbon.  Each bottle hand labeled, wax sealed and cap added.  Of course some bourbon tasting was included!  For Chris we went to supper at Local Feed in Georgetown where we ate last year, and Chris said had the best Mac N Cheese she had ever had.  Great food and drink again.

The next day was off to Indianapolis.  We had never stayed in the city and took this opportunity.  An easy ride from Georgetown, up to Cincinnati then west.  We were both impressed.  We stayed right downtown and were a block away from Monument Circle in the center of the city.  The Monument was put up in the late 1800’s to honor Indiana’s veterans from the Civil War and before and it is beautiful.  We walked the area and took a look into the State Capitol.  Plenty of bars and restaurants in the area and we took a taste.

The next morning off to Winfield Illinois to visit with Jeff and Donna.   Being in Indy made this an easy ride again that day(even though we forgot our I-Pass in Florida).   A little rain again but nothing terrible.  It was good to catch up with Jeff and Donna and share a couple of meals.  From there it was heading home the next day.  We made it back to Oshkosh to some beautiful Spring weather.  We had been able to see the difference in Spring blooms as we came north.  There are still trees we see outside our window that have not budded out.  But the first days of unpacking and getting situated were in that beautiful weather.  It is a chore to remember what is in which drawer when you get home after 6 months (or is that age?).    But we are figuring it out.  Still doing some cleaning and still have local favorites we have not made it to yet.   We did make it to Milwaukee for Judy’s birthday party.  Her family put on a super party, at an establishment some of us have a little history with.  Chris and I enjoyed ourselves.  Over the last 2 weeks we saw many of our oldest friends and life is good.  Thanks Noel and JoAnn for giving us a place to stay, and congrats on being honored for 50 years at St Pius.  So Chris and I are home, MJ comes in later this week for a few days, and Marie the following week.  Then we start our summer travels!

Historic Buffalo Trace

Bourbon barrels

labeling bottles

Monument Circle

Judy’s family

We are on the road!  It was a great winter in Florida (some of us forget what season it is) but it was time for us to head back.  We have some appointments that need to be taken care of in Wisconsin.  We were able to get new windows installed in Marie’s condo before we left.   Unfortunately we attended a funeral, but we were happy we saw Tom recently.  Jackie fulfilled his wishes and it was a moving ceremony at the National Cemetery in Cape Canaveral. 

We try to have patience in our travels.  Long days in the car are not fun, and as we get older our joints are not happy with long sedentary hours.  So we plan our trips with what is next 5 hours away.   That gives us time for a relaxing morning and to be settled before rush hour and cocktail hour.  So our first day was to visit old friend Jeff in Jacksonville.  We had a nice hotel and spent a number of hours in his favorite brew pub.  Good meal and lots of good discussion.  From there on to Charleston SC.  There is a lot of good press out there on Charleston and well deserved.  One of the pre-revolutionary colonies it has a ton of great architecture and history.  We started our investigation of Charleston by taking a horse drawn carriage tour in the city.  It was very informative and we got a feel for the beautiful city.  Chris and I took a long walk through the marketplace and down King Street and had a lot of choices for a relaxing dinner.  The next morning we planned a boat trip out to Fort Sumter.  Jeff joined us as he has visited a number of Civil War sites.  Seeing the site of the start of the civil war was very interesting.  Being in Charleston made us very aware of the history surrounding the start of the war, and how Fort Sumter continued to play an important part through that war.  Then the Spanish American war, fortified for WWI and WWII to protect the coastline.  Being the first boat out in the morning involved us in the raising of the flag at the fort and a moving speech from a National Park warden.  The rest of the day was more touring of the city, a visit to the Charleston Museum (the first museum in the US) and of course more food and drink.

Tonight finds us in Asheville NC.  A good ride through the Carolina’s today, green and very pretty.   And no problem getting a beer in Asheville!  A large selection of breweries and brew pubs.  And we partook of some this evening.  Tomorrow on to Kentucky.

Main window delivered

install

Tom’s procession

a Moving experience

Charleston

flag raising

the Fort and our ride