Old Post Office & Customs House, Key West

     

After a pretty cool night where the temperature got down to about 19 degrees below 80 which is actually 61 degrees, the sun came out and the winds died down, so we decided to head into Key West and visit the Customs House down on Front St.  It's just a short drive into town, and we found a very convenient parking spot over by the USS Ingham and the Fort Zachary Taylor State Park.  From there, it's just a short walk through the Truman Complex.  While passing through the Truman Complex, we saw flags flying in front of what's referred to as the Harry S. Truman Little White House.
     The house was originally built in 1890, and was the officer's quarters on the original naval base.  In 1911, the house was converted into a single family dwelling for the base commander, and was first visited by President Howard Taft in 1912.  In November 1946, President Truman visiting Key West on the advice of his doctor, stayed at this residence.  Throughout his Presidency, he spent 175 days visiting and it soon became known as the Little White House, Key West, Fl.  Stories run rampant around Key West of President Truman walking around the local area.  Stories persist how he enjoyed walking across town to the public beach to go swimming.   Other presidents who have used the Little White House include, Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton.  In January 1987, the house was deeded to the State of Florida.

There is a guided tour of the residence, but since we were destined to the Customs House, we made a quick pass through the free exhibit near the gift shop.  Inside we found a brief history of events at the property, and viewed a display of White House Christmas decorations which are sold to help maintain the building.
     A short walk from there put us down on Front Street and in front of the Old Post Office and Customs House, Key West.  Today the Customs House serves as the Key West Museum of Art and History, and currently is displaying artifacts and drawings pertaining to Ernest Hemingway.

The building was completed in 1891 and served as the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida until 1932.  In 2011, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the railroad's arrival in Key West in 1912, a permanent exhibit of the Flagler railroad was opened.  As we started up the the magnificent wooden stairs, we were treated to 59 original pen and ink drawings by Guy Harvey.  The sketches follow the story line of Hemingway's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "The Old Man and the Sea".  The sketches are displayed chronologically to follow Hemingway's narrative.  The museum also featured a life size bronze Ernest Hemingway in Key West statue, as well as a pair of his boxing gloves.

 
The wood floors, banisters and door casings of the museum were renovated by the Florida Historical Society after the building had been abandoned for nearly 25 years.  The upstairs courtroom, which now holds a display of the early railroad years, must have been a magnificent room.  The window and door casings remind me of numerous federal buildings I've visited over the years. The stairways and the floors are all wood and have been completely restored.

Even the bathroom had the familiar white/black tile floors that seem to be common with older federal buildings.  I remember the bathrooms in the Port of Entry Building in Rouses Point, NY, which is now registered as a National Historic site, has similar tile.
     There are several life-size statues around the museum, which I really can't comment on.  They were created by John Seward Johnson II, grandson of the Johnson of talcum powder fame.  They are a little unusual to say the least, and I believe there are statues in San Diego down near the waterfront from the same artist.

 I have to wait till I get out there to verify that story.
     We have 1 more week here at Bluewater Key, and as Debbie says, "If you're lucky enough to be at Key West, you're lucky enough!"  Pretty much sums it up.  We keep track of our friends up north working there way through the winter storms.  We really are rooting for them.  We certainly enjoy sipping our cocktails in front of the tiki hut and getting the grill ready for a nice steak.  We look forward to Ben calling on his way home from work.  Debbie found Jamo a new friend who was on a sailboat in KW harbor the other day.  He looked like he was having a pretty good time watching the tourists walk by.  I wonder if he's been taught to pee while underway?  That would be a neat trick.
   

Sun and Fun @ Bluewater Key-Key West

     On Friday we headed east from Imperial Bonita Estates on I-75 headed for our next destination, Bluewater Key RV Resort @ MM14 on U.S. 1.  Traveling on Friday seemed to be a good idea as we didn't want to get caught in the weekend traffic into the Keys.  I'm not sure if our trip to Ft Lauderdale Airport with Princess at Christmas resembles weekend traffic on U.S.1 into the Keys, but I know it's an event I want to avoid at all costs.

The trip across Florida and south into the Keys was uneventful.  Traffic was light, and we had hoped to utilize my new Go Pro camera and video some of the journey south, but it looks like I failed to properly charge the batteries, and they went dead within a few minutes of the video attempt.  P-P-P-P-P-P-P, and I thought everything was ready to rock and roll as we started south from Homestead.  And I had my hillbilly Go Pro tripod ready to go.

 Oh well, we'll try it northbound in a few weeks.
     We settled into site 69, overlooking the bay, and enjoyed a nice breeze blowing through our tiki hut.  There's a nice refrigerator in the tiki hut, so our adult refreshments are right at hand.

This is very important when you're battling a bright sun and and a brisk wind forcing wind chills down to the upper 70's!  Debbie keeps the Rondackers handy for just these types of emergencies.  Luckily we found an ABC store in Bonita Springs that carried our Bombay Gin on sale in 1.75 L. bottles, so I'm confident we'll make it through the next 2 weeks.

     Our first 2 days here were a little windy and cooler than we'd like, but day 3 the sun popped out and the temperature soared into the 80's.  We had lots of activity at IBE, but down here on the island, our pace is slowing down.  Debbie says she want to soak the heat right into her bones, and is perfectly content to sit on the waterfront and let the day pass by.

Not quite sure what the water temperature is here in the bay, but after hearing there were lobsters out there just waiting to be captured, I had to take a try at it.  I checked out YouTube and saw a couple of videos on how to capture those delicious crustaceans, and I soon found myself floating in the bay ready to test my new but untested skills.  Now when we arrived, our hosts told me that one lucky diver out here had located quite a few lobsters, and had several great dinners during her stay.  She just failed to tell me exactly where the little bastards were hiding!  I looked for quite a while, but didn't see a single one.  They are out here, cause they are putting lobster traps out across the bay.  But it looks like they stay under the rocks and will need a little more prodding to get them out.  The water temperature is kinda like Lake George during the summer - takes your breathe away for just a second or two, and then is very refreshing.

It definitely beats the current alternative of cutting a hole in the ice and going fishing, which is occurring up home.  Debbie even got up the courage of testing the waters, and soon I had to hike up to Big Red and retrieve her sun hat.   I  stayed in the water a little too long and got a little sunburned on my chest, but not bad enough to cause any discomfort.  "Red is a color, right MaryAnne???"

     Sunday afternoon we drove over to Geiger Key Fish Camp to enjoy their chicken and pork barbecue.  The crowd was small because of the upcoming Superbowl, but they had a nice calypso band, the beer was cold, and the barbecue was pretty good.  I gotta get used to those black beans though.  We had a nice waterside table, and enjoyed a terrific sunset on the bay.  We left right after the National Anthem, and were home within 10 minutes.  We settled in and watched a great football game, and screamed at the tv when Seattle made the stupidest play in Superbowl history at the end.  In 30 years, when our grand-kids are reading this blog, they can look it up.  I bet it will still be the stupidest play in Superbowl history!

Geiger Key

A month at Imperial Bonita Estates

   

     It's been nearly a month since we arrived at Imperial Bonita Estates at Bonita Springs, Fl.  We arrived with a little trepidation, not knowing what to expect but our blogging friends John and Sharon (On the Road of Retirement) had stayed here previously and recommended it.  It was going to be a new experience for us to sit and relax in one spot for a month, and I was wondering how long till what they call "hitch itch" would kick in.  "Hitch itch" refers to that anxious feeling one experiences when one wants to pack things up and get moving down the road.  But our fears were soon calmed as neighbor after neighbor welcomed us to the park, wanting to know where we were from and where we were destined.  Debbie knew I would be fine when she started looking for me about 7 minutes after leveling the coach, and finding me sitting with a neighbor, sharing our first adult beverage.    Our first acquaintances were John and Diane from Ontario Canada who are long term snowbirds.  They've been coming to IBE for years and filled us in on all the goings on around here.   "Red" from Syracuse, who has a park model across the street, invited me to join in on the morning horseshoe game which starts promptly at 8 AM.  John likes the "cornhole" that occurs every Wednesday at around 4 PM or the beanbag baseball games that occur each week.  Then about 3 days into our stay we met Jean, formerly from Syracuse, now a resident of Buffalo, who also has a park model right behind us.  Turns out she's really from Ilion, NY, and a great friend of Vivian, Char's mom!  As she started going through the family history, I thought for a moment she was going to end up being a relative!
     A few days later we met Steve from Indiana, who had contacted us through RVillage.  RVillage is a website currently with over 14,000 members and growing, who are living the RV lifestyle.  The site is very similar to  Facebook with the common theme being anything pertaining to RV's.  One of the most interesting functions of RVillage is having the ability to sign in/out of the various campgrounds through RVillage, and also be able to see  any other RVillagers are also camping in your campground or nearby.  When I checked-in, I saw that there were 2 members in the park.  Steve was interested in our Tiffin so I invited him over to see it.  We soon found many common interests including the fact that he is the Sheriff patrol on his lake in Indiana.  We ran into him at the RV show in Tampa, and we've stopped to visit each other in IBE.  It's just a nice way to meet fellow RV'ers if you're the bashful type.

     Time has passed very quickly at IBE even though we've found ourselves relaxing more on the premises than out touring around as we usually do.  Traffic around here can be a little heavy especially on the weekends. We've made 2 attempts to visit Ft Myers, and each time have turned around because of the stand still traffic, especially over near the beach.  We did work our way around Ft Myers and over to Sanibel Island.  After crossing the bridge to get on the island, we noticed 2 guys fly fishing out in the bay.  There was a Ranger parked across the street, so I wandered over to see if I could get some information on fishing.  The poor girls looked at me like I had 3 eyes, and responded that she had no idea on fishing tactics from the shore.  She must be really enjoying her job as a Ranger!  We grabbed a quick burger at Schnapper's Hots, a little burger joint on the island.  The burger and fries were great, and I would bet there's quite a challenge to get in during the busier season.  We were lucky that day, and found a parking spot without much trouble.
     Debbie has made sure that we attend Sunday Mass and we've been amazed at the cash this local church collects each Sunday.  Even more amazing was the collection at Christmas....nearly $57,000!  The following Sunday they picked up an additional $26,000!  With just a little help from this parish, we could pay off the debt at St Mary's in just a couple of weeks.
     We've made a few attempts at getting to the beach, but as ya'll know, I'm not a beach person, and even Debbie is starting to enjoy the pool over the beach.  Maybe the Princess is right...."Too Sticky"! But the temps have cooled down a little and the wind is up, but not to the point where we have to start worrying about windchill.  So Debbie and I meandered over to Barefoot Beach anticipating that the cooler weather would lessen the crowds.  We had no problem locating a parking spot and pulled our chairs up and enjoyed the pounding surf.  The beach is very nice with soft white sand, and it would be interesting to visit when the wind has quit and the surf isn't so rough.

 There were hundreds of these star fish all along the beach and people seemed to be picking them up for souvenirs.  I bet today when they open up that plastic bag and the odor hits them, they'll be headed for the trash.  With the cooler weather, the manatees have returned to IBE and it's always fun to see them.  They are pretty ugly....but harmless...and they just keep to themselves.
      And everyone seemed so concerned with my lack of visits to the barbershop.

 I haven't officially been to a barbershop since March 2014 in Ocotillo, Ca.   So Erika volunteered to clean me up a little bit.  My only concern was that she kept me handsome, and I think she succeeded!  So I'm all cleaned up and I told her I'll be back next year for a little trim.
     We closed out our bingo season at IBE last night, and out table ended with 7 bingo's!  I brought home $17.50, having to share a $35.00 pot with some senior citizen.  Debbie still hasn't been able to figure out how the game is played, but she's a sport for going every week.  Although I don't think I'd get her back for a game next week. Today we're making final preparations for our Friday departure.  Debbie is cleaning up the inside and I've been checking all the tire pressures making sure everything is ok.  Everything appears to be fine.  Tonight we're going out for pizza with Erika and Dave.  Steve stopped over this morning to say goodbye, and hopefully our paths will cross again.  He had several suggestions for parks for us to visit, so we've got to check them out.  I'm sure our paths will cross again, and since we're "friends" on RVillage, I'll be able to keep track of his location.  I think Big Red is anxious to get back on the road also.  Everything needs to get lubed up again.  So we'll be doing 2 more weeks in Key West at Bluewater Key, our favorite haunt.  Then up the west coast of Florida to visit Annette in Pensacola.  Then we'll have to make a decision on how fast we want to get to California and how we want to cross Texas.  Plenty of time before we need to make those decisions though.  Hopefully I'll get a lot better a keeping up with this blog as we get moving along.  Goodbye IBE and hello Key West!

       
   

Key West up to Bonita Springs

     Amazingly, here it is January 5, 2015, nearly 3 weeks since I've updated our travels.  There are several reasons for this....Christmas Season....MAE visiting from Syracuse....days too short & having a great time.  But the most compelling reason is because a few weeks back, I stupidly placed the laptop on the ground next to my chair after checking emails and such, and as I stood up, I stepped directly onto the laptop.  I realized it before all of my weight was on it, for that surely would have caused major damage.  But I did manage to completely destroy the LCD screen.  As I turned it on, the screen went completely haywire, and I was unable to do anything with it.  Not a tremendous problem I thought, for I had a backup plan.
     Last year after Debbie's other laptop's LCD screen went haywire, we purchased another monitor, so all I had to do was plug this laptop into the new monitor, and I was back in business.  So I pulled out the box containing the monitor, but found a few things missing.  NO CABLES!  Somehow I had managed to pack everything up in the original box, but failed to include the cables.  So after settling into Bonita Springs and after the New Year, I located a computer store down the road and scored a monitor cable and a power cable for $5!  What a deal!  Back at the RV I plugged the latest broken laptop into the monitor with my $5 cables, and everything works fine again.  So now I knew the LCD screen was the only thing needing replacement. After a visit to You Tube for directions, a visit to Amazon for parts, and words of encouragement from Debbie, I gingerly started the process of replacing the LCD screen.  Ten screws.....how difficult can it be!  To make a long story short, I was successful in my 2nd attempt, (didn't quite get the cable connected) and everything is back working like a dream.  Well kinda.....the clips that hold the laptop shut are not seated properly, so right now I can't close the lid, but that's just a minor problem.  I've got a pretty good theory on how I'm gonna fix that, but that will be another day.  Now, when Debbie told this story to MAE, she thought it was hysterical.  Then she threw in the story of my dealing with Directv, and that fiasco, and I guess MAE was nearly rolling on the floor.  Some of these things you just can't make up.  I think she's got a warped sense of humor myself.
   

         
     MAE's week in Key West passed too quickly, but the weather held nicely for her.  She was able to spend several days at the pool which she really enjoyed.   We toured around KW a day by tram which saved a tremendous amount of walking.  Parking is a problem especially downtown, but the tram had several stops around town and got us pretty close to our car at days end.

     The day we picked to venture over to Fort Zachery Taylor State Park for some swimming and snorkeling turned out to be a little too windy.  MAE and I attempted to swim out to the rocks and snorkel around but the waves and current were a little rough, and the visibility in the water was minimal.  The water itself was a nice 74 degrees which went along nicely with the air temp. of 75.   MAE spent most of the day working on her tan.  I spent most of the day with my factor 50 sunscreen on, up in the shade under the trees.  At the end of the day, we were both successful.  At the end of the day we wandered over to Mallory Square to watch the sunset and to be entertained by the street performers that fill the square every evening.  They hawk the tourists pretty hard for a few $'s tip, as they eat fire, swallow swords, juggle knives and work to keep the tourist's attention.

 Sunset is nice from the square and everyone seems to disperse into KW after the sun goes down.  We stopped for a cold beer at the Hogs Head Tavern in downtown KW which is something every tourist has to do.....once.  It's quite honky, quite noisy,  but something every visitor has to experience.
     Being able to share our experiences with our kids is special for Debbie and I, and visiting KW with MAE, we hope, is something she'll talk about and laugh about after we're long gone.  She seems to be catching onto this game of life, and tolerates all of our wild ideas.  As we start thinking about our upcoming visit with Ben, Joanne, and the PGD, we hope they realize that we think of them often on this Journey Across America, and hopefully someday all the families will get to settle a little closer, and everyone will get to enjoy our madness.

     The day after Christmas, we took MAE back to Ft Lauderdale Airport for her trip home.  It was a 3 hour ride from KW to Ft Lauderdale and we made it in plenty of time.  Quick goodbye's were made curbside, with the local Sheriff doing his best to keep the traffic flowing.  Remember those days when you used to be able to walk your party all the way to the gate?  We stopped for a quick breakfast before making our way to U.S. 1 and our return to BWK.  I was glad we did.  MAE arrived in Albany long before we arrived back in BWK.  Traffic was backed up at the beginning of US 1 into the Keys and didn't let up till almost the end.  It took us nearly 6 hours to get back, and we were absolutely amazed at the amount of people and traffic that were SB toward KW! 

     The following day we headed out of the Keys and checked in for a month at Imperial Bonita Estates in Bonita Springs.  But that's another story for another day.  

...and into the Keys for Christmas

     We've been doing a little bit of traveling and visiting since my last blog, which makes it difficult to keep up.  But today is a rest day, so I'll see if I can't get something on paper.

Alabama

     After Tennessee we worked our way south to try and find some warmer weather, and to re-visit Teddy & Maryanne and some of their family. We were down earlier this year, probably Feb. or March, as we worked our way out of Florida heading for San Diego.  It's always a treat to visit them, and this trip was no exception.  Teddy and Maryanne are always gracious hosts and welcome us into their home.  Sparkles, their dog, was even glad to see us, and after a few minutes, settled down enough for us to relax and visit.

They treated us to a trip up to view some extravagant Christmas decorations over in Calloway Gardens in Georgia, which included a trolley ride through the park.  Christmas songs were playing and soon their grand-kids were joining in.  They looked frozen by the time we finished, but some hot chocolate soon warmed everyone up.

The following day we headed over to Ft Benning and a tour of the National Infantry Foundation, which is truly a must see for anyone visiting the area.  It provides a comprehensive history on the U.S. Army Infantry back to the Revolutionary War and up to the war in Afghanistan.  There is plenty to see, and it's going to require a return visit.  The Army recruits getting ready to graduate from boot-camp walking around the museum with their families, reminded us of the terrific sacrifices made by these people.

Gainesville

     After saying our goodbye's in Alabama, we continued south for Gainesville, Fl. and a visit with some of my "peeps".  There's a clan of Doody's located in Florida, and it's always a treat to stop and visit.  And of course it was extra special this year to be present to celebrate Aunt Anita's 89th birthday.  And it became perfectly clear how our MaryAnne developed her wacky celebrations.  Our MAE likes to celebrate her birthday for weeks at a time, and we found ourselves singing Happy Birthday to Aunt Anita for 3 days!

Then we were invited to help put up the Christmas tree and set the Christmas table.  All the good china was brought out and Debbie was in charge of ironing the table linen.

The project was tackled with great enthusiasm from all involved, and soon everything was ready including Andrea Bocelli blasting out Christmas carols on the CD player.  As I've said before, it's just like going home when we visit Gainesville, and this year was something special.  Cousin Johnny has moved over to St Augustine and has installed a 50 amp plug for me, should I get over that way.  Now if I can figure out how to get my MH which is 12' 10" high, under his tree which is 12" 8" high, Debbie and I will be over for a visit.  Thanks to Patricia and Bob for putting up with us, and all their help.  Still waiting for the gate code from Cousin Timmy!?!

Key Largo 

      On Tuesday we started our push for Key Largo and The Point of View RV Resort in Key Largo, Fl.  As we came south past Ft. Lauderdale, I noticed Debbie removing her polar fleece.  I guess I finally was able to get her warmed up.  As we pushed through Homestead and onto the Keys Highway, the sunshine coming through the front windshield finally forced me to turn on the A/C. Hard to believe it took me 46 days to get far enough south to require A/C!
     The POV RV Resort is located at about MM 102 on the Keys Highway, just below Key Largo. The sites are all covered with small stones which prevents everyone from walking around barefoot, but gives the sites a nice clean appearance.

The sites are all separated by shrubbery giving everyone just a little privacy.  The waterfront has a small swimming area, but most everyone congregates around the pool.  On Thursday, MAE flew in from Syracuse and we picked her up in Ft. Lauderdale.  Followed I-95 north from Homestead and it dumped us right into beautiful downtown Miami.  Nice to say we've been there, but once is enough. MAE thinks the fun and sun in the Florida Keys beats the hell out of winter in Syracuse, even if she's running with her "peeps"!  Now if we can figure out a way to get Ben and Joanne and Jamo over for a visit.  They are working out in San Diego away from both their families, and it would be nice for everyone to be together for Christmas.
     So far, daytime is spent at the pool working on the tan.

Seems like MAE got in the habit of walking around her office in Syracuse singing, " All I Want for Christmas is a Real Good Tan" by Kenny Chesney, and some of the staff there now "hate" her.  So I guess she's going to have to do something really special to get back in everyone's good graces when she gets back to work.

       I sent a note up to Mr. Grogan at the Albany Office saying that this looked like Santa's sleigh, and he called me a jerk!  Some people are so sensitive!

Sundown every evening finds us down at the waterfront enjoying some spectacular sunsets.

   
Tomorrow we're heading 100 miles further south into Key West for Christmas at Blue Water Key.  Hope everyone's ready for Christmas....Santa is almost here!

Fall Creek Falls State Park/Jack Daniels & Cumberland Caverns

     On Friday 12/5/2014, we departed Nashville and headed for the Cumberland Plateau and Fall Creek Falls State Park.  This park is the largest in Tennessee and encompasses around 26,000 acres.  The park is pretty quiet this time of year, but during the summer months it is jammed pack full of tourists.  We planned on spending 4 days at the park, but we had planned plenty of activities to keep us busy if the weather is lousy.
     Friday night the rain started around 8:00 PM and continued throughout the night, and into the next day.  So after breakfast, we headed over to Lynchburg for a tour of the Jack Daniels Distillery.

 The tour is free, unless you want to take the tour that includes a tasting for $10.  Since we had a little drive to get home at the end of the day, we passed on the tasting.  The tour lasted about 1 hour, and we got quite a tour of the distillery. The distillery is located in Moore County which has been a dry county since Prohibition.  But the politicians allow Jack to sell bottles in their store on the property.  If you want to purchase it other than there, you'll have to drive a few miles down the road into the next county.   In the grotto behind me is where the special water used to brew Jack comes from.  It looked pretty clean....up to the point where we noticed some ducks swimming in the creek.  We all know what ducks do in the water don't we ????  Maybe that's what makes Jack taste so good!  At the end of the tour we passed by this Christmas Tree on our right.

They were going to have the official lighting later on that evening, but we didn't stick around to watch.  It was a fun day, and would recommend this stop if you're in the area.
     On Saturday, we had a special treat in store.  Last year when we passed through this area, we toured the Cumberland Caverns over near McMinnville, TN.  At that time we found out about their program called Bluegrass Underground.  What we discovered were music programs happening 330' underground in the cavern's Volcano Room.  We had seen that the Gibson Brothers from Chateaugay had played there last year, but we were unable to get any tickets.  While preparing for this trip, we found that Kenny Loggins would be performing with his band Blue Sky Riders.

 So we scored some tickets, and adjusted our trip to be here for the concert on Sunday.  And we weren't disappointed!  They put on a rocking program for nearly 2 hours, singing only 1 classic Kenny Loggins song.  There are 3 members in the band, and all 3 are prolific songwriters and performers in their own right.  It was pretty remarkable being 330' underground, at a concert.  But even more remarkable was the median age had to be on the positive side of 60! After checking out their website, we discovered that the age group they generally play to runs between 54 & 65.

Kenny's voice is still strong, and he generally seemed to be enjoying himself. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves, including the audience, as they played to several encores after their show.  This is an event that we would definitely recommend and you can find out more information about Bluegrass Underground by following the link above.
     Yesterday was cool but clear, and Debbie and I decided to tour around the park and see what it had to offer.  We walked over to see Fall Creek Falls which drops 256 ft.

The sign there claims it the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi, but I'm not quite sure that's true.  But I'll have to do a little fact checking on that.  We had a great picnic lunch, enjoying the crisp Fall day.  We passed a few deer enjoying themselves along the roadway, not really concerned that we were watching them. All we saw were does, but some park workers told me there's a nice 9 pointer with about a 2' rack running around.  Another fact that needs a little checking out??

We paused and watched a American Eagle catch a fish in the lake there.  He sat quite a while along the shoreline enjoying his catch before flying off.   After touring the park, we stretched out at our camp, made a nice campfire, poured a little whiskey over ice, and enjoyed our peaceful surroundings. It really has been our only chance for a campfire the entire trip, and we stayed out late as the fire died down.  Don't we look comfortable???
      Today we departed Tennessee and worked our way south into Alabama where we will meet up with our dear friends from our old California BP days, the Hamptons.  We had the fortunate opportunity to get to visit with nearly their entire family last year, which was a special treat, and we had to get together again this year on our way south.  So we are going to barge in, just a few weeks before Christmas, and hopefully not make a pain of ourselves.  It should be a good time.
       Debbie and I were looking at the weather report and noticed that another snow storm is headed for NY.  We really do feel so fortunate that we are able to escape that cold weather, and travel south for the winter.  We're hoping everyone has a great Christmas Season.

Touring around Nashville

      Sunday we departed Syracuse returning to pick up Big Red in College Park, MD.  MAE didn't seem too disappointed in us leaving.  As a matter of fact, as we pulled out, she was already sitting on a party bus heading for Buffalo and Bills football game!  She has made new friends in Syracuse and none of them like to spend too much time sitting around!
      Big Red survived our away time just fine, and Monday morning we headed across Virginia toward Nashville.  We traveled about 5 hours on Monday and spent the night at the Fort Chiswell RV Campground.  It's a nice RV park located right off of I-81, so it is quite convenient for over nighters like us.  And to make it even more inviting, there's a Pilot truck stop with a Denny's restaurant there also.  Tuesday morning found us filling our tank at the diesel pump, and our stomach at Denny's breakfast.  And you can't forget the 15% AARP discount now can we???  Continuing west on I-81 and I-40, by afternoon, we were nestled into the Two Rivers Campground about a mile from the Grand ole Opry.  We stayed there mainly because we were there back in May attending the FORBO Convention.  The sites have a crushed stone bed and are pretty much level, but the roads are not paved, and after a few days of rain, they were starting to get a little muddy.  This time of year there was no problem getting a 50 amp site, but I remember back in May, there were none available.  And right next door, there was a gigantic blinking Christmas light display.  It was quite impressive to sit and watch out our window, but it got even better after we found out there was music!  As we were pulling in, an Airstream trailer from Ontario pulled in across the way.   It wasn't long before I was over visiting our friendly neighbor to the north.  The following day he advised me that their was music accompanying the blinking lights, being broadcast on 101.5 on the FM dial.  Now we had a light show.......for free!  The price to drive through the blinking lights was $25, and cars were lining up at dusk to drive through.  People are amazing!

     On Wednesday we headed over to beautiful downtown Nashville to try and get a tour of the Ryman Auditorium.  The Ryman actually started out as the Union Gospel Tabernacle, built by Capt. Thomas Ryman, after attending a revival by famed evangelist Sam Jones.  Seven years and $100,000 later, in 1892, the Tabernacle was completed.  It was renamed Ryman Auditorium upon Capt. Ryman's death in 1904.   In 1943, the Grand Ole Opry arrived, remaining there until 1974.  After the Opry departed in 1974, there was talk of razing the building, but after a huge public outcry, the Ryman reopened in 1994 after a major renovation.  In 2001, the Ryman was named a National Historic Landmark.

Tuesday afternoon, during our tour, the seats were empty, but Tuesday night, the place was rockin' with Vince Gill and Amy Grant putting on their Christmas Special.  Score 1 for the "old guys" from Mooers.

     We toured around the streets of downtown and stopped in for a cool one in one of the numerous bars downtown.  Seems like that's all there was down there....except for the boot stores.  They were practically giving cowboy boots away....buy 1 - get 2 free!  But this was the best Debbie could come up with!

       Now, Friday was a special day.  Last year we discovered a country music duo on RFD-TV named Joey and Rory.  We both enjoyed their music and their once a week TV show from Pottsville, TN.  Part of the show is a cooking segment from Marcy-Jo's.  Now Marcy Jo is the sister-in-law of Joey, who is the female side of the duo.  Rory is the guy.......confused yet?  Anyway, last year we decided to visit Pottsville, TN and have lunch at Marcy-Jo's....and on Friday we headed down there. And Joey and her new baby, Indiana, were visiting the cafe when we got there.  Can you believe it! Being the bashful duo from Mooers, we didn't bother her, but it was pretty neat seeing her in person.

The food was great, even though the place looked like it was going to fall down at any minute.  If you didn't know it was there, you'd never stop, but there were several other couples like us who watch them every week on RFD-TV, and just wanted to go there.  
      On the way back, we ran across the Carnton Plantation commemorating the Battle of Franklin, TN.  Most people had never heard of the Battle of Franklin, but what took our eye was a plaque indicating a Confederate graveyard.  In our travels we had never seen one as the Confederates were considered traitors and were buried in mass graves at most battle sites up north.  We had an unusual tour guide named Austin who had his history down to a tee.  And he was very enthusiastic about telling us the story of the battle. I guess enthusiastic is being kind.....he was more like a nut.  But again, he knew his history.  (He is also a certified lifeguard.)  But I digress......

In November 1864, the Union and Confederate armies were both moving on Nashville.  If the Confederates got their first, they thought they would be able to secure a Southern Nation separate from the Union at the end of the war.  The Union could end the war and hold the country together by securing Nashville.   On November 30, 1864,  Federal forces positioned themselves on the southern edge of Franklin, a small community of 750 people.  At 4 PM, the Confederate Army launched a massive frontal assault on the Union forces.  The Confederate Army encountered massive canon fire as they tried to sweep across the fields near this plantation.  Five hours later, there were 2000 dead and 6500 wounded and 1000 missing.  This building became a field hospital for the Confederates and soon 4 Confederate Generals lay dead on the back porch.  Blood stains still soak the upstairs floors where the operating tables were located.

 In 1866, John McGavock, the owner of the property, donated 2 acres and created the Confederate Cemetery where 1481 men, killed in the Battle of Franklin were laid to rest.  All the property now belongs to the Battle of Franklin Trust and is supported completely by donations.
     Returning to Nashville, we drove through the current Grand Ole Opry grounds and enjoyed a beautiful Nativity scene on their front lawn.  All the statues are life sized and everywhere is bathed in white lights.  The massive white tree out front is surrounded by colorful light depicting poinsettias.  It was incredible to view, and I only wished I had taken some pictures that captured the scene.

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