Living it up in Louisville

Kentucky is the smallest state we've lived in, but we still haven't explored much beyond Lexington, so we recently traveled to Louisville. The drive was only an hour from our house to the hotel in downtown Louisville.

We arrived in time for lunch and walked to an area called 4th Street Live, where there are many restaurants, clubs and shops. Part of the street is blocked off to vehicle traffic, so it's easy to walk around.

Our view at lunch of the 4th Street Live area.

We ate at the Red Star Tavern for lunch, and it was very good. We were among the only two or three groups of people dining, but they told us it gets very crowded at night. We returned to the area that night but soon realized the place turns into a very loud, crowded and smoky area for adults over 21. Ten years ago that might have been fun but probably not. :)

The world's largest bat outside the entrance to the Louisville Slugger Museum.

Of course we went on one of the hottest and most humid days of the summer, but we found refuge in the Louisville Slugger Museum. I am not a baseball fan, so I didn't know a lot of the players whose statues and photos are there, but it was interesting to see how they make baseball bats all the way from a tree to the finished bat. Admission is only $10 for adults, $5 for children and free for kids 5 and under. At the end of the 30-minute tour, everyone receives a small Louisville Slugger bat.

I don't think Cash will break any batting averages any time soon. He tried to bite the souvenir bat and then went back to sleep.

On Sunday, we drove over one of the bridges that crosses the Ohio River, and on the other side is Indiana.

On the Kentucky side, there is a riverfront park with 7 miles of walking trails, and several playgrounds. There is an amphitheater and an area where vendors can set up booths for events and festivals.

Our hotel room at the SpringHill Suites in downtown was very nice. We noticed our room had the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon.

We paid less than $100 for our room, but on the back of the door, the hotel lists the maximum amount it can charge for a room. Any guesses? Remember, Louisville is home to the annual Kentucky Derby that brings in thousands of rich visitors the first weekend in May.

Speaking of the derby, we drove by Churchill Downs but decided to wait until our next trip to do the outside walking tour because it was too hot.

We have a rule while traveling that we will only eat at local restaurants and no chains, but we broke that rule to eat at Macaroni Grill on the way home since we don't have one in Lexington, and it's one of our favorite places. It was delicious.

Also on the way home, we stopped halfway in Frankfort, Lexington's capitol. We've never lived this close (30 miles) to the capitol in any state. We drove around the capitol building and Governor Steve Beshear's mansion.

A clock made out of flowers is across the street from the capitol building.

Here is a scenic view of the capitol we drove by in Frankfort.

We had a great trip, and it was nice to get away for a short excursion since David starts dental school today. I'm sure we'll make more visits to Louisville during our fours years here, and we also want to travel to other parts of the state and visit Cincinnati.

What can you make with two pounds of okra? Gumbo time!

My parents in Florida have a wonderful garden, and I miss the numerous fresh vegetables during the summer—tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, potatoes, squash and okra. During our recent trip, my dad gave us a lot of okra. Okra is a unique vegetable, and most people eat it stewed with tomatoes or fried. It has a slimy texture when sliced, and I actually had trouble giving it away since many people don't like it or don't know how to cook with it.

I found several recipes online for gumbo with okra, so we made a pot on a Sunday afternoon and had plenty of leftovers throughout the week. I sauteed the okra in olive oil first for about 30 minutes to remove most of the slimy texture. Then, I added tomatoes, onions, garlic, celery and red and green peppers and let the mixture saute for a while longer. Next, we added chicken broth and water and brought it to a boil.

We decided to add sausage and shrimp.

I seasoned the shrimp with salt, pepper and some Old Bay Seasoning.

We added the meat last and then let the gumbo simmer for several hours on low heat. It smelled great, and we ate it over rice. With the leftovers, I made some orzo and served it over that. I also ate it over a package of instant cheese grits. It was a great dish with lots of fresh vegetables, and okra was the not-so-slimy star.

Summertime sunsets, storms and sunflowers

Our recent trip to Florida was full of heat and humidity as we had expected, but we also saw some gorgeous sunsets. I took photos of the sun setting on a lake in Winter Haven on a muggy Saturday evening.

I wasn't the only creature close to the water that evening. A small alligator waded near the shore...a site we don't see in Kentucky. 

I also wasn't the only one taking photos of the beautiful sunset.

It rained during our trip, and I shot this video outside my parent's house one evening. I love the dark purple color of the clouds.

Back in Kentucky, it also rained. One evening, it poured for more than an hour, and our gauge outside showed three inches of rain. You can see how quickly the water filled up the area behind the back of our house.

Below is a similar view that I took last fall when we moved into the house.

We put up two bird feeders full of bird seed that hang on the back deck, and now there are sunflowers growing there, my favorite flower!

1800 miles in 2 weeks across 4 states...our summer oblication

We spent almost two weeks in June visiting our families in Florida. I nicknamed it an "oblication" since it was combination vacation and obligation trip to see everyone. David starts four years of dental school at the University of Kentucky August 1, so we drove down before he's in school for 11 months of the year with limited breaks.

For our family members who have only visited during the winter, this is what Kentucky and Tennessee look like during the spring and summer—plenty of beautiful green mountains!

We left on a Sunday and drove part of the way, stopping in Macon, Georgia overnight. On Monday morning, I watched one of my former University of Tennessee students, Samantha Smith, on air as a weather forecaster for Channel 41 in Macon. She is working on her degree in meteorology and will have a great career!

It took about 10 and a half hours total to reach my parent's house in Alachua, so not a bad drive. We spent the next 10 days visiting our families and friends and sharing many great conversations and meals. Here are some photo highlights from our trip.

I was very excited to see my nephew Judson again since he is almost 10 months old. He is crawling and laughing and a very loveable child. (About 90 percent of the photos I took on the trip are of Judson and his cuteness!)

He loves to play on the computer while sitting on Grandpa's lap.

Grandma steals some sugar. 

We made Judson into a little Kentucky Wildcat.

We also visited David's family in Winter Haven and Lake Alfred and saw his extended family and even met some new little cousins.

David's aunts, uncles and cousins on his mom's side came over for BBQ night.

David's mom has redesigned her kitchen, and it looks great!

Yummy pizza from the Pizza Connection in Auburndale, Florida, courtesy of David's dad.

David's aunt made a delicious pineapple upside down cake.

There is always time to play Angry Birds. David and his sister, Allison, are addicted to this game on their phones!

We saw some beautiful sunsets in Florida. I'll write another post about them and share more photos.

While in Polk County, we traveled to Dinosaur World in Plant City, Florida to meet up with some friends from college. They brought some delicious Publix subs, and we had a picnic while their kids enjoyed the dinosaurs. The outing represented my love/hate relationship with Florida—love seeing family and friends and eating Publix subs but hate the heat and humidity! (Ironically, while we were in Florida, Publix announced it will open stores in Knoxville. I'm hoping they move on up to Lexington, too!)

We had a great trip, but we're happy to be home again in Kentucky. Sammie and Cash had a wonderful lady named Miss Maria who came over and checked in on them while we were gone. I talked to her several times during our trip, and she said they were doing fine but missed us. We missed them too!

Cash spends hours sunning himself on the floor.

Sammie spent a lot of time sleeping on Dad's chair upstairs. It was coated in a thick layer of hair when we returned.

Shrimp Boil

In the spirit of summer and shrimp, we recently cooked a shrimp boil feast with Old Bay Seasoning. It was quite good, and we had plenty of leftovers. The recipe below says to use uncooked and unpeeled shrimp, which we did, but I hate peeling shrimp, so for the leftover version, David peeled all the cooked shrimp (bless him), and I added a few more unpeeled ones we bought. Both versions were quite delicious.

Recipe from Old Bay's web site

Ingredients
4 quarts water (16 cups)
1 can (12 ounces) beer (optional)
1/2 cup OLD BAY® Seasoning
2 tablespoons salt
8 medium red potatoes, quartered
2 large onions, cut into wedges
2 pounds lean smoked sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces
8 ears fresh corn, shucked and halved crosswise
4 pounds unpeeled jumbo shrimp (21 to 25 count)

Directions

Bring water, beer, OLD BAY Seasoning and salt to boil in 12-quart stockpot on high heat. Add potatoes and onions. Cook 8 minutes. Add smoked sausage. Cook 5 minutes. Add corn. Cook 7 minutes.

Stir in shrimp. Cook 4 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink.

Drain cooking liquid. Pour contents of pot into large serving bowl or platter. Or, mound on paper-covered table. Sprinkle with additional OLD BAY Seasoning, if desired.

Enjoy!

A visit to Daniel Boone's Tavern

During a recent trip to Kentucky to explore possible job opportunities, we stopped at the historic Daniel Boone Tavern Hotel in Berea, Kentucky for lunch. According to its web site, the hotel was built in 1909 for $20,000 and is named for Appalachian Revolutionary War hero Daniel Boone. The "tavern" part of the name is from the historic definition that refers to a public inn for travelers rather than the modern definition related to the sale of alcohol.

The hotel is beautiful on the inside and out. It has a modern historical look and feel. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served daily, and the food was delicious.

The tavern is also is part of Berea College, which is rather unique. It is a liberal arts school, and students who are accepted do not pay tuition but are required to work on campus as part of the college's Labor Program.

Many of the tavern's servers are also students at Berea, and our server is a recent graduate. My sandwich was served on Amish pretzel bread, which was very good. There is an Amish store and deli in Berea, but we didn't stop there this time. I have a feeling we'll be back.

A trip to Kingston

We recently decided to explore a part of East Tennessee we hadn't been to, the town of Kingston. It's not very far from Knoxville, but it was a nice drive through the country. Kingston Pike is one of the major highways in our area, and if you keep heading west on it, you'll end up in Kingston. It starts as Cumberland Avenue near downtown and UT's campus, also known as U.S. Route 70. Before Interstate 40 was constructed in the 1960s, it was the main road from Knoxville to the western edge of Knox County.

An afternoon thunderstorm rolls in as boaters enjoy Watts Bar Lake.

It was about a 30 minute drive, and we ate at Red Bones on the River, one of the few restaurants in Kingston. Red Bones serves a variety of dishes, but we focused on their seafood and sandwich options and ordered alligator tail as an appetizer. I had a shrimp poor-boy, and David ordered a sirloin steak sandwich. Our window view overlooked the lake.

Red Bones on the River is right off the main road with outdoor and indoor seating.

It was a nice afternoon outing, even though we stayed on land. Maybe some day, we'll own a boat, or at least have some friends who do. :)

Another view of Watts Bar Lake