WV to TN: Random Photos

39°f/about 4°C, occasional drizzle and overcas.            Not the prettiest day. Most of the snow has already melted. 

The wedding venue,  a pretty home with these log walls enclosed inside. They were part of the original house.

A photo booth in our hotel, which had some pretty cool retro decor, including a book of Andy Warhol's art on the table in the huge lobby.

The Corvette Museum, or, as my grandson called it, the Male Midlife Crisis Museum.

So many odd roadside attractions in this region!

Like this castle in Versaille, Kentucky, in racehorse country.

I always wondered about the castle. We used to pass it when visiting our son when he was stationed at Fort Campbell, and at other times when traveling near Lexington. It was empty for years, and I think this might be the first time I have seen it completed and in use. It has an odd, some might say cursed or at least uncomfortable history. This is from Wikipedia: "Construction on the castle was started by real estate developer Rex Martin and his wife Caroline Bogaert Martin in 1969, after they had returned from a trip to Germany and were inspired by the architecture and many famous buildings they had seen in Europe.^[3] The finished project was to have seven bedrooms, fifteen bathrooms, a fountain in the driveway, and a tennis court. In 1975, the Martins divorced and left the castle unfinished. Over the years, it became a popular oddity and roadside photo-op for tourists. Rex Martin listed it for sale in 1988, but died in 2003 without selling it. In 2003 the so-called "Martin Castle" was sold for 1.8 million dollars to Thomas R. Post, a lawyer from Miami who graduated from University of Kentucky, and the name was changed to "The Castle Post". It had been for sale for many years at a price rumored to be more than 3 million dollars, and there had been talks that it would be turned into a medieval-themed restaurant or a museum.

On May 10, 2004, after months of renovations, an ugly mishap caused newly installed woodwork and wiring to catch fire in the main building. Post, who was at his home in Miami at the time, had already spent months renovating it but vowed to rebuild. Approximately twice the castle's original cost went towards the reconstruction project.

Reconstruction was completed in Fall 2008. New additions include twelve luxury suites, a library, game room, music room, dining hall, ball room, swimming pool, formal garden, basketball court, bar, and tennis court. It is used as a tourist inn,^[4] fund raisers, weddings, special events, and corporate functions. It has sixteen bedrooms, four of which are in the outside turrets.

In November 2010, the property was listed for sale at $30,000,000.^[1] Post said he would continue to operate it as an inn while it was listed.^[1] It was sold in 2017.^[5]

I saw that a night in the castle costs about $271, and there is a really nice restaurant there as well.

Less elegant, but pretty cool is this water tower's message, "Water Grows Ky". With so much granite and limestone in the soil there, no wonder they can grow that beautiful bluegrass! The region between Lexington and Nashville seems to be riddled with caves, many of them tourist attractions, like the famous Mammoth Cave. I think that if someone wanted to build a home there, they might want to do some geotechnical drilling and testing, because we saw evidence in the fields we passed of many sinkholes. You can kind of see what I mean in this photo; all those little dips filled with trees, and the pond, are probably sinkholes.

Snowy, but not snow-covered roads on the way home.

Then finally ---

and back down the last hill before our driveway. Ahhhh...always good to go, but even better to get home.

What a Weekend

22°f/-5.6°C this morning when we left Nashville, TN. Light snow most of the way home, and about 3-4" on the ground here at home.

It has been a wild few days. With way too much food. 

Oldest son George and his son Clayton arrived Saturday afternoon. We visited, then Larry and Clayton changed the oil in the truck while George and I made spaghetti for dinner. 

Sunday morning we all went out for breakfast in town: eggs, biscuits and gravy, coffee...then George, Clayton and I were on the way to Nashville for granddaughter Cassie's wedding, while Larry stayed home to care for critters and deal with whatever snow might happen. It was in question whether we would go to the wedding or not as the weather forecast was all over the place, with no meteorologist giving a clear view of the coming storm. But we decided to chance it anyway.

Our route took us across Kentucky, and I thought about Jim as we passed all the bourbon distilleries! 

We stopped for lunch at the neatest place; I am not sure what the little village was called, but I can tell you that The Whistle Stop Cafe was a fine choice.

It was about 2 hours from Nashville and I would bet that the area was a day trip destination for the city folks, with its cute antique stores, coffee shop, etc. 

One of my less than stellar photos. Oops. Mr. Wavy got in the way!

Lunch was homemade bread with homemade jam, fried chicken, lima beans, and mashed potatoes. Carbs, much? But so good.

The wedding was fabulous! So much family, so much joy, so much music and dancing and talking! I will post photos as I get them; I didn’t take any as I wanted to focus on my family and not have to step away to be photographer too. Here, though, is a sneak peek, taken by one of my granddaughters. 

And of course, there was food. I ate little because I wasn't hungry, and avoided the wedding cake entirely! It was nearly midnight when we got back to our hotel, and I was soon asleep.

Morning came too fast. I was up at 5 to get ready for the return trip home, and was glad I was awake because my son who is vacationing in the Philippines texted me. That was nice, as I had not heard from him since he left February 3rd.

By 7 this morning we were on the road again. We stopped at this place called Buc-ee's, which is apparently very trendy right now. It's like a huge convenience store, with probably 100 gas pumps and everything from clothing to perfume to food of all kinds in a store the size of a giant department store. 

Not my kind of place, but interesting. We got gas and picked up breakfast to go.

Six hours and lots of snow squalls later, we met Larry in Charleston (WV), I hugged George and Clayton goodbye, and an hour later was home in my comfy chair. Fortunately we didn't run into any real snow, but the two guys sure did as they continued on to their homes on the other side of our state. They had no trouble, but it took a little longer than usual as those higher mountains got quite a few inches, around a foot I think. I don't know how George could see where he was going!

Here we had only a few inches.

When I got home Larry had a chocolate cake waiting! He decided to bake while he was on his own. I ate a small piece but declined his offers of ice cream and hot chocolate. I swear, I feel like I have eaten 5000 calories this weekend. Time to get back to real food, and plenty of veggies. 

I learned that my throat is entirely out of practice when it comes to loud music, crowds, and much talking! I woke up with an almost nonexistent voice, and I am still squeaky, but slowly improving.

I was glad I did not go to the after-party, which didn't break up until the wee hours, or I am sure it would have no voice at all! But it was so good to see grandchildren from California, Florida, and Colorado, and to be surprised by the presence of my sister Maggie and sister-in-law Bonnie! I hope I will get photos of us three together.

Tomorrow life goes back to normal, but my goodness, what a weekend it was.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Signs of Spring and Hope

48°f/about 9°C, beautiful sunny day but very windy. Last night was thunderstorms, hail, lightning, and apparently a tornado warning, but we slept right through that.

Buds on the silver maple! They won't last though, if the forecast for this weekend is correct. 

Wild, wild weather! The wind today was incredible, blowing things around. One of our antique malls called and said the eibd was pushing in the garage doors which form our back wall, and a few things had broken! They were moving other things away from that wall. I can't get back in to rearrange until next week, as i am leaving for granddaughter Cassie's wedding this weekend. I'm sure it will be fine until I get back.

It has been busy days here. I am working hard to get me ebay room cleaned out and am about 75% finished with that project.  I take totes of stuff out, sort it for booth or thrift. Then price what I am keeping, which of course means research. It's slow and time-consuming, but i have priced 13 totes so far, and 8 of those have been put into the booths. So, progress! In addition, I am also painting a few things: a high chair, a small table, an old chair that will be sold as a "garden chair", a chest of drawers, several picture frames, etc. 

Yesterday was haircut, pedicure, and booth restocking day. Larry ran errands (picking up oil change supplies for the van, post office to mail an ebay sale, etc) while I got prettified,  when we added stock and tidied booths at both locations before coming home. I made steak, baked potatoes and broccoli for dinner before we pretty much collapsed in front of the fire. Still no TV, just haven't had time to go pick out a new one yet, but we have really missed it. 

I've also been getting into a little spring cleaning, and that feels good. Chasing winter's dust out the door! Larry has been doing cleanup around the garage, getting manure spread on the gardens, and tidying up his workbench. Pretty sure the heavens are going to crack at that last one, as he has never done that in the 10 years he's had that workbench! 

My long campaign to get him to cut back on drinking is finally paying off--- he has realized the damage it was doing to his health and has switched to zero beer (0 alcohol, 0 calories, 29 carbs) during the week, quit drinking any hard liquor, and has his Guinness, in moderation, on the weekends. Hallelujah! He has more energy, is less tired, and is much, much more cheerful and easy to get along with. It has been a hard slog, friends, but we're getting there. I know there may be some backslides, but I am thrilled that he is finally doing this by his own choice. 

In other news, I heard Spring Peepers today! Also saw the first snowdrop in bloom, and was buzzed by a pollen-laden honeybee who apparently was working the buds on the silver maple. I worry about that bee; surely the wild bees haven't opened their hives yet? The weather will turn cold and snowy again Sunday,  so that will not be good for them.

It was lovely to have the doors open and to go outside and putter around in the flowerbeds a bit, and to have coffee on the porch. Oddly, I am not feeling the usual urge to get out there and plant lettuce,  which I have often done in February. Just not feeling it this year, and I think I am beginning a gradual reduction in the amount of veggies I plant. I think. We shall see as the season progresses.

I was thrilled to hear of the Supreme Court decision today that the Orange One's tariffs were illegal! What great news! But, it has cost businesses, and us, dearly. The other great news was Springsteen's concert tour. Yes! Finally,  people who are listened to are stepping up. It often takes the artists to make the first strong move, doesn't it? Politicians are too worried about their own skin. 

Of course, our state continues to slide into the Dark Ages. A vote to allow 18 year old to carry concealed weapons without a permit, a change to election rules to hide information about donors to political campaigns,  moving ahead with legislation to allow data centers to be built in some of our most pristine wilderness, and the list goes on and on. It's infuriating that they are so backward, but a whole slew of Democratic candidates, many of them women, are running this year. So maybe there is hope for this benighted state yet.

Leaving you with this photo of our thermometer, taken 11 years ago on this date. Our low that day was -16°f/-26.6C. Brrrr! Link to that post here. 

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.