On the road again.   We have started our drive home.  We were the last of our seasonal neighbors to leave Snug Harbor but the time has come.  We had a great winter season.   The enjoyment of our friends and the almost daily sunshine makes winter pass by quickly.  But the summer weather is settling in and it looks like Wisconsin weather is good so off we go.   Condos are cleaned and covered and set for us being away.  We have a slow trip home planned starting in Savannah.   We have enjoyed each time we have been here and looked forward to returning again.   We returned to an Andaz hotel we have used before, a block from the riverfront and the historical district it makes a great home base.   We are visiting some of our favorite restaurants, lots of good food in Savannah.   Upon arrival it was time for dinner at the Little Duck Diner.   They have mouthwatering choices of grilled cheese!   In the evening we did our camping by making s’mores on the terrace.   Savannah has lots of parks that were laid out by the British pre revolution.  The old tree lined parks are beautiful.   The riverfront is full of shops and restaurants in what was once the warehouse district that bought cotton and readied it for shipping back to England.   The horse drawn wagons would pull in the back of the warehouse and be unloaded from above the wagon and moved into the warehouse.   The buildings and cobblestones remain mostly original.   A fun place to visit and nice to be back.   Tomorrow back on the road through the mountains and on to Asheville.

Little Duck Diner beer and Bellini

Back of riverfront shops where cotton wagons were unloaded from the top

Savannah is full of wonderful parks

Time does seem to fly by.    No big things happening here in Florida but we sure seem to be busy!   I have not golfed as much as I need to, my scores show it.   But I try to get out each week.  We have had our neighbor grill out each week, a nice night to share a meal and some comradery.  We have included breakfast and a super bowl party. We have had numerous Saturday morning trips to the Delray farmers market, and many happy hours and cigars.  Along with time at the pool and a little gardening.  We have not been at our local haunts as often as past years,  a concession to our check book and waistlines.  It has taken awhile to get our neighbors to full strength as a couple have had some physical delays.  But we are full strength now.  When the weather is warm we can interact with neighbors each day (and we have warmth each day) so we have a wonderful social network.  At the end of January Wally and Bev spent some time with us and we spent some time with them in Orlando area, including a night with Darren and Sheryl with German beer and polkas. Our birthdays; Randy, Chris and Marie, have come and gone and that means we have another year of adventure to look forward to.  

It looks like the northern weather has been a mild winter and we are thankful for that (for our good friends!).   But we still love our sunshine and warmth.  A time change has come, which means more hours for golf (well we could have gone out earlier, but we are retired).  And it means more hours to enjoy the sunshine and our good friends.  We hope the rest of winter and the spring is easy on our northern family and friends.  We will see you in a few months!

Super Bowl, I won the final!

green grass, blue skies

Beach Kites

Breakfast of Champions

Car show at the farmers’ market

160 yards down to green over the trees and bush

We made it around the water

Birthday Girls

over the gator

grilling out

So I have been remiss at updating the blog, and it is almost Christmas and the end of another year. A time to think about family, those we are blessed to have and those we were blessed to spend time with.  So we will have Christmas with Marie, and MJ is flying in Christmas Eve to see the New Year in.  MJ flew down with Marie at Thanksgiving and then went back to Detroit.   We have all had bouts with colds but all good now.   A cold front coming in for Christmas, 60’s and the jackets will be out!   But it doesn’t feel the same at Christmas here, even though there is lot’s of decorating and Christmas lights.  Seeing the weather at home and the temperatures,   we have learned to deal with being here in Florida.  A day of fresh snow would be pretty, but then back to the shorts.

We wish you all a blessed Christmas, and the making of new memories.  Enjoy and stay safe and healthy.

Samers Bay Christmas past

family at Skip and Claire’s

Christmas Meal 2000

Cousins

More Cousins

Family

Left Oshkosh on Sunday after enjoying Steve and Janet’s 50^th wedding anniversary party.  It was great.   Weather report showed good chance of sleet and snow in the UP of Michigan so we decided to take the southern route.  We thought on Sunday it would be an ok day to drive through Chicago.   Yeah right.   Maps said there were delays on 94 and recommended an alternate route, our old 294 route. That went well until we were ready to head Eastbound on I 80 and then Maps said get off…..     I 80 was stopped, we made some miles on side roads but had to get back on I 94/I 80 to head into Indiana.   I think it was after whatever was the large delay, but was still moving slowly.  Not too bad from there, headed up to Stevensville Michigan to relax for the night.  Found a nice pub with a hard working bartender during Sunday football.  Hotel was a new Hilton Tru which was a great place to stay.  From there the next morning drive was easy to Sterling Heights Michigan.    We stayed at a brand new Hilton Garden Hotel near MJ and John’s house.  We went out to our new favorite BBQ Brewhouse and had a fun dinner.   From there Chris and I headed to Cleveland.  It was a pretty short drive, even for us.  Of course there was construction on the way, as there had been in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan.  But the Interstate took us most of the way to our hotel in downtown Cleveland.  It was an 1890’s hotel atrium that was beautiful.   Such great architecture.   The Hyatt at Cleveland Arcade.  Had a good bar and a restaurant we used for breakfasts.  The first night we went to Masthead Brewing a few blocks away which had great beers and food!  The next day we had breakfast and were off to the Rock and Roll hall of fame.  We spent a few hours touring.  Very interesting, but honestly Chris and I both felt that the Country Music Hall of Fame was done better.  R&R was crowded into a small area with overlapping sounds and you felt hard pressed to stop and listen to any video presentations.  Lots of cool stuff to lookat but trying to get more of the stories was hard.  Most of the history is on one floor, and the other 5 floors are sparse.  I still love that we went, just disappointed.   Of course we were there on 40 degree rainy days which didn’t help a lot.   There were a number of areas we could have walked downtown and along Lake Erie if we had better weather. 

After 2 nights in Cleveland (the 2^nd had another nice brewpub – The Butcher and the Brewer) we had a nice breakfast then on the road south.  The weather was getting better which was welcome, and traveling I-77 with some sunshine and fall color went well.  About 6 hours later we had our scheduled stop in Wytheville, VA.  The Bolling Wilson Hotel had popped out to me as about the right distance for the day and something unique.  Edith Bolling Wilson was born in Wytheville and was Woodrow Wilson’s wife.   She is credited with running the White House after Woodrow had a stroke.   The hotel is boutique, each room being different.  The building was originally a hotel and at some point was turned into a bank, then left vacant until bought and refurbished in 2014.   A drawing point for me was a restaurant on site with good reviews.    Since a 6 hour drive is longer than we normally like the idea of staying on site for a good meal and cocktails was enticing.   And it did not disappoint. After a good nights rest and one of the best hotel breakfasts we have had, we hit the road.   My original hope was to go to Savanah from there, but arriving there on a Friday meant hotels close to booked and sporting a $450 price tag.   We decided to go back to Savanah another time.   So I just found a spot in the 5 hour driving range in South Carolina, Walterboro.    This was a pretty good ride through the mountains of Virginia/North Carolina/South Carolina on a nice day.    Did I mention we were never on an Interstate that was not under construction?   That was true again that Friday but we were able to keep moving.  We even got lucky in Charlotte, when the 4 lanes of traffic stopped just after we got on an express lane.  And the express lane kept us moving past miles of stopped traffic.  Worth a few bucks!!   Walterboro was just a convenient stopping point, with nothing special nearby so a Cracker Barrel served as our dining spot that night.  The next day with no special plans we headed south, and as we got into Florida the thought of getting home got stronger and we stayed on I-95 for 7 hours to get to Snug Harbor.   There was a long traffic backup in one spot.  Unfortunately when we go to the front it was a motorcycle laid down and you could see it skidded a long way on its side.   Other than that just usual construction  areas.  Oh and an added bonus when an old semi kicked up a rock into our windshield; but that spider was fixed today.     So the last few days have been the usual unpacking, remembering where to find things, cleaning.   Oh and about 9 hours on the phone with Xfinity trying to get the TV boxes, they had me pick up, to work.   Still no resolution on that.  But it’s warm and sunny.  We had a great summer but it is also good to be back here.  Some golf at the end of the week and things will start to feel normal!

Maybe OK

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Chris was in New York Feb 1964 when the Beatles arrived

Butcher and the Brewer tap room and brewhouse

Atrium attached to our Cleveland Hotel

Downtown Wytheville from roof top bar

West Virginia road

I-77 downhill

We keep returning to family history to work on a new question or a blank to be filled in; so I thought I would share a little.  Inspired by my brother who has done a lot of work on our family, and by Chris’s cousin Charles who is invaluable for the Switzerland background, we have worked on Chris’s family.  She only had one grandparent growing up, Grandma Louise, who of course left a big impression on her.  Grandma Louise was proudly Swiss and imprinted that on Chris and Marie.  But like most of us they never asked questions of Grandma about the past. So when we cleaned out the family house we found lots of old pictures that had many unknowns to us. 

Chris had known her Grandmother came to the US with Chris’s great grandfather in the early 1900’s, and that Chris’s Dad was born in Little Rock Arkansas.  After getting to travel to Einsiedein Switzerland to her Grandmother’s birthplace a couple of times our thirst for more information grew.  Thirst fed by spending time with Cousin Charles who is a wealth of knowledge.  The relationship is really Chris’s great grandfather and Charles great grandmother were siblings.  With help from my brother,  Chris did a lot of searching of Ellis Island records and found her Grandmother Louise, brother Adelrich, and great grandfather Franz came to the US in 1908 arriving in Ellis Island 7/22/1908 on the ship Gothland out of Antwerp.  That left some questions as Chris knew there was another brother and sister, and that they were going from Ellis Island to Louisville Kentucky (Swiss showing up in the US and going to Louisville??).

Start with why Louisville.  Great Grandfather Franz had a sister and brother in law who were already in Louisville.  And recent findings show that from the 1800’s on, 2000 to 3000 Swiss from Einsiedein migrated to Louisville area (if you build it they will come?).  This month there is an official contingent from Louisville visiting Einsiedein to share information and celebrate the connection.  Searching the Louisville, northern Kentucky, southern Ohio, Cincinnati areas today still comes up with a plethora of Kaelins in the records.  When you visit Einsiedein it seems harder to find someone NOT named Kaelin than to find one!   Trying to find the correct Kaelin in early 1900 records feels the same.  But it fills in a big question. 

Chris had also found in the Ellis Island records that 2 of Louise’s siblings came to the US in 1910.  Franz Moritz then 16 and sister Theresa then 14, came 2 years after their older siblings came with their father.  Louise was probably 18 and Adelrich 17 when they came.   Note over the years Louise and Adelrich changed their birthdates which clouded  the searches.   Louise wanted to be younger and Adelrich older!  There was also another son who died a month after birth and a daughter who lived a year.

More facts were filled in by Charles that Chris and Marie had never known.   Louise’s mother had died after having children quickly one after another.  AND  Franz had remarried after her death to a much younger woman and again had child after child until the second wife also died.  These children were left behind in Switzerland to be raised by relatives.  Katherine who was left behind had a tough life until she met her husband Jean and married in 1922.  She led a full life of service after that.

In April of 1910 Louise married Christian Biegel in Louisville.   How they met is unknown, the guess is the large German contingent near Louisville and the Swiss intermingled.  The local directory showed that after they were married they lived very close to father Franz so that may have been the connection also.  The 1911 directory showed Christian as a machinist for American Machinery and Adelrich was a butcher for Anton Straus (WW1 Adelrich draft registration still shows him as a butcher in Louisville).   1911 brought the birth of Chris’s dad Frank.   At that point Christian was a machinist for the railroad and they were in Little Rock Arkansas.  From looking at the Little Rock directory they lived in a property that is still listed to a large railroad and could it have been railroad housing?  Side note Chris and Marie remember an Uncle Vogel who visited from Chicago and they did not know the relation. When Christian and Louise lived in Louisville Vogel lived a few doors away and when they went to Little Rock he again lived a few doors away.  They were obviously friends and took the job together.

1923 still showed Christian, Louise and Frank in Little Rock.   Frank had told his daughters he could remember a cross being burned in a neighbor’s yard by the KKK and they left not long after.  By 1926 they are in Milwaukee directory and Christian is shown as Sec/Treasurer for Crown Machine at 809 Winnebago St.   Initially they are listed as living at a house that could be in the same building, and this address is in a neighborhood lost to Freeway expansion, basically next to the Pabst complex.  Also interesting that in Christian’s WW2 draft registration in 1940 he is a machinist for Miller Brewing.  Not long after moving to Milwaukee they are shown living on 8^th Street.  Frank grew up here and in 1928 is listed as a salesman for Diamond Market!  At this address we believe was Adelrich and his wife Anita; and Adelrich was a butcher who now ran his own grocery store there.  Note that Frank was a butcher the rest of his life. 

Louise’s brother Franz Moritz married Lucille and they stayed in the Louisville area.   Chris doesn’t believe that there was a lot of contact with them and her parents.   Franz and Lucille had 2 girls that we have not yet been able to follow.  We did find Franz and Lucille’s gravestones in Kentucky and a possible one on one of the daughters.  Adelrich and Anita had 2 children, Geraldine and Adelrich.  Geraldine married Rudy Pechacek we still keep in touch with their daughter Jackie in Florida.  Adelrich married Isabelle and they had several children including Brian, who you may have heard of by his nickname Kato Kaelin and a friend to OJ!  Louise’s sister Theresa married Paul Kehrli.  Theresa had moved to Milwaukee and met Paul and they lived there until 1958 and then moved to Wintergarden Florida.  Father Franz also moved to Milwaukee and lived with son Adelrich until he passed away in October 1932.

It has been a fun challenge to keep filling in the blanks and more to do.   Made more fun because it helps keep up the contacts with extended family.  When I went along to Switzerland we had tour guides Charles and his wife Annemarie, Charles brother and wife, Walter and Yolanda, and Charles sister Rosie. Also another cousin Emil who had lived in Milwaukee and worked for Gehl dairy.  He had a great memory and could still list off the members of the early Braves teams.  He had gone back to Switzerland to marry Bertha and raise their family.  Unfortunately we lost Emil this year. Charles sister Rosie we met in Switzerland and here in the states, and unfortunately she has passed.  Charles sister Elizabeth came to the states, to start in Milwaukee, then worked for the airlines.  She has great stories of her life and lives in Ocala Florida.   Charles had worked for Swiss Air in New York and uses his perks to try and visit Elizabeth when he can. 

So even if you have kids or grandkids that don’t seem to care about the past, we recommend writing down all you can for them now.  Someday it might help, although the suspense of the hunt is good too.

Einsiedeln Monastery that made it a destination

A destination for the Pope and its stables once well known for their breeding

Louise, Christian and Frank

1. Paul Kehrli. 2. Franz Moritz Kaelin. 3. Louise Kaelin Biegel. 4. Christian Biegel. 5. Frank Biegel. 6. Adelrich Kaelin. 7. Theresa Kaelin Kehrli. 8. Lucille Kaelin. 9. Franz Kaelin. 10. Anita Doutaz Kaelin. 11. Geraldine Kaelin .12.+ 13. Margaret and Frances (Franz and Lucille). 14. Adelrich Kaelin Jr.

Christian, Louise, Frank

Mary and Frank’s wedding

Paul, Theresa, Geraldine, Aunt Anita, Uncle Johnny (Adelrich), Louise, Christian, in front Mary and Frank

Mary, Chris, Frank, Marie

1924 Young Mary’s parents decided to go back to Germany. That was short lived and they came back to the US.

Marie, Chris, MJ, in front Yolanda, Emil, Charles, Rosie, Walter

2022 Charles, Merideth (Jackie’s daughter) Chris, Jackie, Elizabeth, Annemarie

After Door County and the last blog, our August started off with Denise and Jason’s wedding.   It was a small affair which allowed everyone there to connect.  Denise was a beautiful bride and the ceremony was touching, officiated by Jason’s sister.  A good time was had by all.

The weekend after their wedding was Irishfest in Milwaukee.  Always a staple of our summer, we had a fun 3 days.  Jeff and Donna joined us, and also Jeff VW.   In addition we had a chance to spend some time with treasured old friends Judy and Pres, Allan, Noel and JoAnn, and Mary and John.   Jeff and Donna stay at the same hotel as us so we spent our festival hours together and included some meals downtown.   We heard a lot of great music and tasted a bunch of food and beer.  The Sunday mass is still not as well attended as it was pre-covid but it was an inspiring start to the festivals last day.  The final show on Sunday is called the Scattering, with most of the musicians still in the park taking the stage and giving us a great jam session.   It made us want to stay until the very last moment.

On Monday after breakfast we headed back to Oshkosh to unpack and pack.   On Wednesday we left on a trip to Canada.   We had last crossed the border in 2019 and it was time to head North again,,,.  Well, a lot East too.     Things have changed now so we had to create an ArriveCan account on line and download our passport and vaccination material.   And then within 72 hours of crossing you need to log back in and give a day and approximate time.   It worked will and crossing the border was a couple of questions and on our way into town.  We crossed the bridge at Sault Ste Marie and stayed overnight there.   Then the next rainy day we headed out for less than a 6 hour drive to Tamagami Ontario.  It was great to see Ron and Verna again.  They treated us well and overfed us.    But how can we complain about Verna’s cooking and homemade poutine.  And breakfasts and pork chops, and wild blueberry pie.    While there we also spent some hours with Bob and Sandi, other Florida friends from Canada.  We had a wonderful afternoon sharing the lake view and some cocktails!

On Monday we headed to Paris, but didn’t have to leave Canada.   West of Toronto and about the right amount of hours in the car, it is a quant little town and we had boutique hotel called the Arlington.  https://www.arlingtonhotel.ca/   We stayed in the Sigmund Freud room, because I am so brainy.   There was a nice pub across the street for dinner and that evening and the next morning we had some walking in the downtown, and spent some American dollars.  Then on Tuesday it was off to Chatham Ontario.  We checked into another fun boutique hotel, the Retro.  Again a large room and the whole hotel was interestingly decorated.  https://www.retrosuites.com/  

Once we checked in we were joined by another Florida/Canada connection, Joy and Paul.  They gave us much more than we were expecting as they took us on a tour of the area including a brewery lunch on Lake Erie, another brewery, and dinner.   A fun day, and some beer to bring home!   The next day after checking out we went to Joy and Paul’s to also see Joy’s parents Wayne and Elaine (with a bonus  of Joy and Paul’s daughter Jocelyn and her new daughter).   Wayne and Elaine were owners in Snug Harbor before my Uncle Clyde and were good friends to him and Milly and to us.  So it was great to see them again as Covid has kept them home.

After that it was on to Sterling Heights Michigan.   Another easy border crossing made it a simple day.  Then time with MJ and John.  Of course, some more eating and drinking is involved.   Then we will be back off to Oshkosh.   We have noticed the colors in the trees starting to change and some days a touch of fall is  in the air.   Summer is winding down, it has gone so quickly.  But we still have September in Wisconsin.   And to start October a trip to Washington Island, a celebration of Janet and Steve’s 50^th anniversary and my cousin Diane’s wedding!  So there’s lots to do yet, as well as planning our trip south.  We hope you are enjoying your days.

Irishfest tradition

Denise and Jason

Verna’s flowers

Ron is filling up the woodsheds

Having an Alexander Keiths

At Bob and Sandi’s

a river runs through Paris

catching up with Wayne and Elaine

Eating and drinking at the Brown Iron

at the Sterling Heights pool

So on the last post we had made it to Oshkosh at the end of May.    It took awhile to settle back in, and as we get older we are more confused about which pots and utensils are in which dwelling, and certainly which drawer or cabinet.    But we figured it out.   The cable company said we only needed a smart TV for the bedroom but neglected to say it could not be a Fire TV.  Because Spectrum and Amazon don’t get along and it took a new TV to fix that issue.  But now TV and Internet working well and Chris is happy.    It didn’t take too long to decide that we have owned this mattress in Oshkosh for too long,   and even though we are here for a somewhat short period it is not worth it on a bad mattress.   So new mattress to be delivered this week.   Other than that no issues to speak of.   The apartment maintenance team replaced a shower valve and a temperature control in the refrigerator, so that was easy for me!   

The good part of being back is catching up with old friends.   An afternoon at a winery, eating at favorite places,   Friday nights at our favorite pub.   Mark continues to let me brew with him, so we did an easy recipe Saison that turned out great.   We had some issues getting the yeast we wanted but worked that out and it turned out to style and we have had good reviews from all we shared it with.  I just finished a 2.5 gallon keg in Door County!   And we have plans for our next beer, to try and replicate one we did last year.   We also caught up with Jeff and Becky at Lion’s Tail and their Vienna Lager may be my favorite.

Then it was time to hit the road again, to the Detroit area to see MJ and John for her birthday and 4^th of July weekend.   As per usual we took the northern route through the UP and the big Mac; and this time stayed a night in Gaylord Michigan.  The ‘Alpine City’ of Michigan is a nice spot, and we actually made it a stop their both going and coming home.  We had a nice night out for MJ’s birthday, relaxed, and played some darts.   Brought out the old dart board that was moved to their house.

We arrived back in Oshkosh to have about a week to unpack and get ready for our usual Door County trip.  We had some quality time with friends before leaving and lots of packing.  When we headed north there was NO room left in the vehicle.  Mark brought me a keg of beer I forgot about, that took the very last (note to self-take less next year).  But we arrived with no problem (other than figuring out which sensors had to be turned off to back up with a bike rack on the back of the car).  MJ and Denise made it up to Door later in the day and we started our adventure. 

This was part foodie trip as everyone had places they wanted to make it back to while adding a few new restaurants.  The first week we included Christmas in July with our camping friends and our annual Spaghetti dinner in the park.   Both traditions go back many years.   We also had a grill out with friends Jeff and Donna and Jeff and Becky and Becky’s parents.   Surprising we could fit in meals at the Bayside Tavern, Mezzanine, One Barrel brewing, Stone Hedge golf (new owner and revamped bar), Hugel Haus, Northern Grill, The White Gull, Al Johnsons Bier Garden, Coyote Roadhouse, Parador,  Bad Moravian, and I am sure I missed one.   Oh and ice cream drinks at the English Inn.  There was a mixture of drinks involved, but we did get a fair amount of golf in for exercise.  I was lucky enough to have a few rounds with old friends and our group had a lot of rounds at Stone Hedge.  Jason, Denise’s fiancé, joined us near the end of the first week.    We had a number of nights of Sheepshead along the way which was a blast from the past.  Chris and I both grew up learning the game and playing with family and friends.  Jason has had culinary training and was interested in trying the restaurants.  He also took a golf lesson with Denise and we had a number of rounds together.  Included in our short term plans will be attending their wedding.

Also in August we will be at Milwaukee Irishfest.  Then shortly after Irishfest we are heading to Canada to visit more friends.  Then another visit with MJ and John our way back to Oshkosh.    By then we will already be in September and starting to think of the end of summer and a trip back to Florida!

Brew time

brothers Ebel  -Appleton

John dart form

Stone Hedge fairway

old friends Peninsula golf day

Stone Hedge ‘swing’ golf

Fish Creek double rainbow

cart buddies

Fish Creek sail

The Orchards golf, Pres and Jim

White Gull breakfast

Hatch distillery cocktail hour

Bad Morovian

Parador Tapas dinner

For some reason time continues go by too quickly, you know how that goes.  So here is some catching up from my last post.  We have been to Milwaukee for my cousin Joe’s daughter’s wedding.  Bonnie was a beautiful bride and we had a wonderful time.  Too early for us to head home in April so we flew up for the weekend.  We flew out of Orlando to get a direct flight and spent an evening with Darren and Sheryl at a favorite place in Sanford.   Getting to Milwaukee Friday gave us a chance to have a meal with my brother and his wife.  Saturday’s wedding was so much fun, and a chance to see what is left of my family.  Getting back to Florida we had the chance to see some of Chris’s cousins.   Charles and Anne-Marie came over from Switzerland and Jackie hosted them and Elisabeth to get together in Titusville.  You have to take advantage of those opportunities, before we left Florida we lost one of our neighbors to cancer, Bob rest in peace.

After getting back to Florida we saw weather in Wisconsin improving and decided it was time to head north!   So we had started gathering what needed to go back north.  We have had great Florida weather but needed to dig out the cold weather clothes we used on the ride down and packed them up.   We worked on cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer,   I thought we started working that down early enough, but still had too much left!  After all we wanted to visit some of our favorite restaurants before leaving.   We did have a great meal at Baciami across the street and a brunch at Butcher and the Bar.   I was pretty successful at reducing our liquor cabinet before leaving.

So Monday the 23^rd we headed out with Valdosta GA in mind.   It was a good ride, Florida rest stops on the tollway are the best.  We made it to Valdosta late afternoon and after checking into the hotel headed to Georgia Beer Company which we visited a couple of years ago.  They are still doing a good job with their beers and Chris found a blueberry beer that was very tasty.  Then went to an Outback Steakhouse that was next to the hotel for a full meal.  After a restful night and breakfast at the hotel off we were to Chattanooga TN. 

So Tuesday the 24^th we hit some traffic slowdowns around Atlanta but nothing crazy, and were good until we were close to the Tennessee border.  The GPS recommended we get off I-75 and take another route since we were not far from Chattanooga.  It worked out great since at the off ramp was a Bass Pro Shops store.  I had discovered I had not taken my good travel rain coat with me (back in the Florida closet) and we had plans to do some walking the next couple of days with rain predictions.  So a nice tour through Bass Pro and then took the state highways into Chattanooga and to the hotel.  A very nice Marriot in downtown Chattanooga.   We checked in and then took a walk to the local Public House which had great cocktails and food.  The pimento cheese and fried pickles were a great way to start to relax after the day’s drive.  We did get back to the hotel before the rain started and were able to watch the lightening from the hotel room.  Although we first stopped at the hotel bar for another and had a nice conversation with a tow truck guy from Louisiana who once was in Wisconsin to buy a truck.  He spent a night riding with a driver, in -13 weather  helping to get trucks righted and running.  He will never forget.

The next destination on Wednesday was Nashville, only about another 2.5 hours.  So we had planned to visit the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Park.  I have enjoyed reading some of the history of the civil war and the battles here are considered the largest, and a turning point in the war.  The visitor’s center tells an amazing story and has a first class movie about the battles.   And many states that lost home sons in the battles have erected monuments throughout the park (including Wisconsin) and the park has a self-driving tour marked to see significant battlegrounds.  The amount of lives lost in the civil war is staggering, and the visitor center features some of the personal stories of those involved.  I had also wanted to visit the Point Park area of the National Park at the top of Lookout Mountain.  The drive was extremely interesting on winding roads which sometimes felt like single lane driveways!   But even though we were on a cloudy day with impending rain it was worth the trip.  A beautiful overlook of several states and the city of Chattanooga.  Since the drive up was hard it was difficult to imagine how (or why) the soldiers climbed to the top and battled for this overlook.  The Battle Above the Clouds seems unfathomable.  With the weapons of the day and lacking of provisions how soldiers could drive themselves through the woods and mountainsides and engage in battle is beyond understanding.   The first days of battle below had over 34,000 casualties.

We left the Point Park and headed off to Nashville.  We had some rain on the way, it is a drive starting in the mountains and leveling out on the way to Nashville, and that went well.   Downtown Nashville is pretty busy but we only needed to go a few minutes off the highway to be downtown.   We checked in and it was late afternoon, time to find some food and cocktails.  A few minutes away was a local Martins Bar B Que.  We did not want to venture far as more rain was forecast to be coming soon and this turned out well.  The brisket sandwich was delicious, as was the selection of local beers.  Black Abbey in Nashville makes a great Belgian Blonde.  https://blackabbeybrewing.com/  Baptizing new believers 12 oz at a time.  Then back to the hotel room to relax and plan for the morning.

We had a Gray Line tour planned for the morning and were up early (for us).  The tour included the Ryman Theater and the Country Music Hall of Fame as well as a number of sites around town.  It was entertaining and we are glad we did it.  We had a hotel not far from the Country Music HOF which worked out well.  We left the HOF and were ready for lunch so went to Broadway and spent some time at Jason Aldean’s place.  One of the great things about Nashville is the number of musicians available, so the music starts early.  We had lunch listening to a talented duo.  There was another band playing on the floor below, and there would be a band on the roof later.  Many of the bars look like buildings in many towns, long and narrow.  But they have used them well and used each floor.  Some have 4 floors of music.   We also made it to Blake Shelton’s Big Red and Miranda Lamberts.  By late afternoon on Thursday the bars were already filling up.   We are past the point of staying out late elbow to elbow, so when we headed back to the hotel for a break we were not going to get back to Broadway.  We took a break and found a local eatery for dinner.  Which turned out to be delicious and at a discount to Broadway!  We will go back to Nashville, there is more to see.

After Nashville we were getting the itch to head home.   So we planned Champaign Urbana Illinois for the next night.  And from there we could reach Oshkosh in just under 5 hours.  A stop at a Loves then we made a rest stop at Ooga Brewery in Beaver Dam WI.  Then on to Oshkosh. 

The cable and internet is connected, we are remembering what is in which cabinets.   Chris has some loads of wash done.   Next further settling in, catching up with old friends, and the many plans for this summer.

Bonnie and James

Charles, Meredith, Chris, Jackie, Elisabeth, Anne-Marie

Valdosta

Chattanooga

Point Park

Point Park

Ryman

HOF designed to look like piano keys

Minnie and Roy Acuff and..

Jason Aldean’s

There are so many important times in our lives.  As life goes on we hit those bumps in the road that feel important, but they aren’t.  Just short emotional times,  it is the friends and family we spend our lives with, and how we treat them that is important.  So 44 years ago Chris and MJ became permanent parts of my life, the best choice I could make.  Thank you for sharing your life with me.  And thanks to friends and family that have been around through the journey!

Parents picture

small dinner party after,  Jeff, John and Deb still in touch

Lost Bob last year

Must have a bar picture. Will see cousins Joe and Jim in a couple of weeks

We just wanted to say Happy Easter to all.   We hope you continued blessings and new growth to come with Easter and Spring.  We continue to enjoy our life, and the winter has been beautiful.   We could actually use just a little more rain to keep the golf courses plush, but doing OK.    Some of our neighbors are starting to head north.  We saw Oshkosh was feel like 24 today and don’t need to think about that yet!   We will be going north for a wedding early May but will come back here after the weekend and wait a little longer.    It is time to start planning our route home and places to stay, we think Nashville is on the list this year.  But we have plenty of time to work on that.

To our friends we wish safe travels home.  Each year is a blessing and we look forward to meeting again, but first for most of us it will be north to family and friends.  

Happy Easter

Some Florida time with Enders and Koss’s

Cocktails and Food

Ron and Verna, and Marie already headed back home

Lot’s of fun courses to lose balls at

planned ocean fishing turned into canal fishing due to wind

We caught some snook and other things I had never heard of!