"Patches" the painted pony

Every other weekend, I have a day completely to my own. I try to explore more of South Central Kentucky every chance I get, especially since fall has set in and the leaves have begun to fall.

Yesterday, I worked for about half a day at Mammoth Cave and decided to take a different way back to Glasgow, over the river and through the woods. One of the routes out of the park is road that leads to a ferry that takes you across the Green River. The ferry has been slated for a bottom inspection and paint job but the river has been to low to even pull the ferry out.

Before you get to the river a one way gravel travels along the ridge of the foothills of the park.

Turn left and upwards I went on the road less traveled. The hardwood trees are shedding their leaves with wild abandon with every little breeze that blows by and moves their spiney limbs. Leaves of gold, red, and orange are everywhere tempting me to jump out and make leaf angels on the ground. But, you have to be careful because some of these leaves can be poison ivy.

I continued further until I once again hit pavement and headed to another park attraction, Cedar Sink. Located about 3/4 of a mile off the road, Cedar Sink is where one of the underground rivers that flows through the cave actually surfaces in an area that has sunk. A crushed stone walkway leads to a set of stairs down to the sink. The lack of rain this summer made the sink a little disapointing but still a nice walk in the woods. On the way back I made a stack of stones and will always wonder how long that stack will last.

Now, I'm sure you are starting to wonder what the title of this blog has to do with my nature musings about leaves and walks through the woods. For the last few weeks I have been passing by a barn on Highway 31E with an interesting painting above the entrance. 31E is also known as Dixie highway and was first built as the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike in the 1830's. Many barns along this road have some type of emblem or symbol painted above the entrance. Sometimes they are quilt type patterns of triangles and squares, or stars, or a logo representing the farm. I assume these paintings are for good luck or to ward off bad luck.

This one particular painting has been the objective of my day and I decided to make a pilgramage to the barn.  Therefore the title of today's blog.

21 Years

The days since my last post have been filled with work, travel, music, cars, caves, and a little time with Tami; my wife of 21 years.
I made my bi-weekly pilgramige to Pensacola at the end of September to spend time with family, friends, and take the boat in for maintenance  My return home corresponded with my son, Dylan's first cross-country race with the Pensacola High School Team.  We were all proud of his time and the performance of the whole PHS team.
My daughter is in the middle of applying to colleges and taking the SAT. A whole lotta pressure for a seventeen year old and her parents. Why these colleges can't all use the same form is beyond me.

I was finally able to convince my wife to visit me in the land of Lincoln to celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary. This took considerable more coordination than anyone could have predicted. We had to schedule plane flights, work days, school schedules and driver's license test dates that needed to correspond with my bi-monthly visits with the smaller car. whew.....
Tami arrived at the Louisville International Airport Thursday afternoon and was greeted by her very grateful flower bearing husband (that would be me). We were both famished and ready for an early dinner. Tami had met a Lousville native on the plane that recommended the famous "Pat's Steak House", an old world Irish restaurant that was seeped in history and tradition. A green jacketed young waiter served us steaks, green beans, mushrooms, and yeast rolls that filled our overly abitious stomachs.
After diiner we headed South to Glasgow and the Hall Place B&B where I have been staying the past few weeks. The innkeepers, Karin and Gary, greeted Tami with their typical openess and she too became a member of the family. A good night's sleep was followed in the morning with a great breakfast of eggs, bacon, super french toast and a history lesson about the Hall Place House. The inn keeper, Karin, does something special with the french toast and coffee creamer.I'd tell ya but,she has sworn me to scerecy.

Tami and I drove to Mammoth Cave, passing several deer and the three turkeys that always hang out at the curve. Tami donned a yellow hard hat and I gave her a tour of the Visitor Center and the grounds surrounding the project.
We had decided to take a tour of the Cave that day, and joined about a hundred others to walk the two hour journey. The tour is very impressive and a bit of a exercise. There are large cavernous areas and areas were you are bent over to walk under or turned sideways to walk through, properly named "tall man's agony" and "fat man's misery". After the cave tour, we had lunch at the retro coffee shop diner located at the Mammoth Cave Hotel and took a drive through the park, stopping to visit a birdhouse shop in the front yard of someone's house.

Friday evening was perfect to enjoy a little of the outdoors and we did, sipping and sitting at a sidewalk table on Main St. in Bowling Green. Life is good.....The dinner at the adjacent restaurant was great with crab cakes and bourbon glazed pork tenderloins. mmmmm, good.......

Saturday's weather was Kentucky perfect and we headed to the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Memorial.  I finally was able to enjoy the Park as a visitor instead of as a worker at a jobsite. We also chose to visit the Maker's Mark Distillery for a tour. What an interesting place, filled with history, barrels of bourbon, and the aroma of sour mash. After the tour, we were lead to a tasting room to learn how to properly taste and enjoy the bourbon.  the trademark of Maker's Mark is the hand-dipped red wax topping on each bottle and I did try my hand at this task.  Needless to say, I will keep the day job.

Once we got back to Glasgow, it was time to get ready for the "show". Last month, I had purchased tickets to see Mary Chapin Carpenter at the Plaza theatre here in Glasgow and was fotunate enough to get seats in about the third row.  woohoo.....The Plaza is a hundred plus year old theater that has been renovated within the last few years. the side walls of the theater have a facade remeniscent of an Italian town with windows, storefronts, and balconies.

Well, it seemed like the whole town turned out as we walked up to the box office and will called our tickets. About 800 people showed up and just about filled the little theater to capacity. MCC walked on stage promptly at 7:00 and began the show solo with her bandmates joining her one by one after each 12 bar segment of the song with each member adding their touch to the song. The concert lasted about an hour and 45 minutes with MCC playing many of her Grammy winning hits and new material from her most recent album.

No visit to South Central Kentucky is complete without a visit to the National Corvette Museum. So, Sunday came and off we went to Bowling Green to learn a little history of America's only true sportscar.  Tami and I had a great time looking at the cars and going head to head in a virtual pitstop competition.  I will be practicing for the rematch!