Beach Break

A few days' escape back to South Carolina. The drive, as ever, was beautiful and the traffic negligible. The two hour stretch between Knoxville and Asheville, winding through the Smokies, is our favorite.

Seeing family, sand and ocean. I'm not sure much needs to be said. Beach vacations seem to invoke an almost universal experience - the sun burns away worries, salty winds whip away normal life, waves squish and stretch minutes and hours until the only way you can tell the passage of time is by your stomach growling (or shoulders burning!).

Sporadic showers meant watercolor skies and dreamy ocean breezes for hammock naps.

There's always that moment when I recognize that I have tons of pictures of everyone else (but none of me) then try to quickly remedy that - the hobby photographer's curse I guess.

This trip was extra special because it was little Emmett's first time at the beach. It was a good thing that we had a full house, for it seemed that nearly all of those hands were needed to set up base camp for "lil E".

Often it was a small chunk of time before happy, cheery Emmett became uncomfortable, concerned Emmett. Both are equally adorable, but for the purpose of taking nice beach photos, it made for some narrow windows of opportunity. Thankfully we had Grandaddy's arms nearby, which always seem to cheer the little guy up.

Before we knew it, we were leaving Charleston, driving the nine hours back to Louisville. Even though Isaac used 2.5 vacation days, this weekend flew by much quicker than any in recent memory. 

I think visiting the beach on the east coast makes nearly anybody into a morning person, at least for one day. Sand and ocean sunrises are not to be missed, and we enjoyed all three of them.

Birthday in Bardstown

Isaac's birthday fell over this past weekend, giving us the perfect excuse to check out the Bourbon Festival in Bardstown. Bardstown is a cute city just under an hour's drive south of us, along scenic stretches of farmland. The area has a rich history in bourbon production, and so calls itself the bourbon capital of the world. Every year they host the Kentucky Bourbon Festival.

The drive is quite nice - the four lane road narrows down to two, and towards the west you can see the dark blue ridges of mountains on the horizon. "This is the reason people here like muscle cars," Isaac said. It reminded me of a Grant Wood painting.

Our first impression of Bardstown was charming. The downtown area doesn't have money mongering meters, and it has a stable-themed covered free parking area, complete with well-maintained public restrooms. We were quickly greeted by the town's welcome wagon, wearing neon vests and offering brochures and information.

Above is a shot of the main drag, with the information center straight head. Below, our parking spot just off of that main road.

Onto the festival. A small car show and a bunch of vendors mostly selling bourbon-related goods. Bourbon barrels transformed into furniture, wall art, even toothpicks! Bourbon infused jams, sauces and desserts.

The big bourbon distilleries had impressive pop-up stores that looked like mini houses. Inside you could buy typical things like t-shirts and candles with their logos on it.

The store fronts were really adorable, and I can't help but think about how cute a neighborhood of tiny houses would be if everyone put as much effort into their facades as these distilleries did.

We ducked into the Whiskey Museum where it stood overlooking the festival's tents and tiny houses. We didn't pause to read details, but it was an air-conditioned building filled with an impressive collection of old whiskey-related memorabilia which was very fun to look at.

Having just a few of something can be tacky. But I'm convinced that whenever you have a huge amount of any one thing, it starts to look cool again. For example, this mini bottle collection below.

One of the funnest rooms featured items teasing about prohibition. Sadly, because we didn't read much, I don't know any details like when these bottles were actually made. I imagine they are popular collector's items.

In case it is difficult to read, some of the bottles' captions above and below: 

"Here's the poison that I've taken for years. So you too may drink it without any fears."

"Giggle soup"

It seems like political activists used to be rather witty with their banners. "Large streams from little fountains flow, great sots from moderate drinkers grow."

There was food and live music calling out to our senses, but we made the excellent decision to take the leisurely five minute's stroll back to Bardstown's main street to find a restaurant.

There with the orange awnings, Maya's Mexican. Even if you don't care much for Mexican food, you have to admire the portion sizes.

Isaac got some dish with carne in the title, go figure.

Trying to be healthy, I chose an option under the "salads" heading that had fajita in the title. My good intentions were rewarded and the waitress set this muy grande taco before me.

Everything was delicious. Amazingly so. And twenty minutes later, we were still eating, even Isaac struggling to finish off the generous amount of meat given. 

We walked around digesting, checking out local shops selling handmade crafts (some not bourbon related) and of course Kentucky-made bourbon goods. Another comfortable 45 minute drive through the country and we were back home. It was a relaxing and fun trip that the birthday boy seemed to enjoy quite a bit. More than the festival, discovering relaxing and friendly Bardstown was the highlight for us both. It looks like Frankfort might have just gotten knocked off its pedestal. We have found another lovely and quiet place to escape to on the weekends.

Cherokee Park and Cookies

In case you can't tell by the title, this past week was pretty laidback and uneventful. That can be nice sometimes.

If you look at a map of Louisville, which the cartophile in me loves to do, it is speckled with green. Shortly after moving here, I read somewhere that the same park planner who made NYC's Central Park also created the park system of Louisville. Although we haven't visited many of them yet, just the quantity is admirable, and the quality we have seen are top notch.

And so a cool morning prompted us to visit one of these, the nearby Cherokee Park. It's a pretty large park, a little over 400 acres, surrounded by huge houses with rolling lawns that look more like country clubs. We've driven through it before, along the appropriately titled "Scenic Loop" which zig-zags through the park. But we had yet to get out on foot and enjoy its non-paved parts.

Here's a shot out the window as we drove along the Scenic Loop. It's a hilly chunk of land, parts cleared with juicy grassy slopes, others still forested.

The Scenic Loop is like the main artery, a wide one-way paved path curving through the hills, with an equally wide pedestrian lane too. Cyclists and families with baby carriages love this route.

Below is the dog fountain. I don't know if it has any special meaning, but whenever we visit, at least half the time we pass by it, there are dogs laying in it, wading around or drinking its water.

Ah, this is more like it. Trails that at times, feel like they are barely there. The one-note chirping chorus of crickets. No cicadas though, it seems like South Korea's cicadas are way tougher than the ones around here.

Its forested hills and gentle creeks made for a nice relaxing walk. And the trails twist and intersect so often that you don't have to commit to much of a trek.

One thing I've been itching to do but just haven't done is make cookies. Inspired by a free sample we tried at a grocery store, I wanted to make oatmeal coconut cookies. Instead of just finding a recipe for oatmeal coconut cookies, I fell into my typical habit of half-following, half-improvising a recipe.

But I knew if I wanted to make yummy oatmeal cookies, a good starting point would be the recipe which to me is the true form of an oatmeal cookie - Mimi's recipe. Nothing like a mother's or grandmother's recipe.

So I started with Mimi's recipe, mixing the butter, eggs and sugar together first just like she always did. Boy do those three ingredients smell like heaven. But I also did what some might consider sacrilege - cutting down the sugar, using only brown sugar, wheat flour, old fashioned oats and adding unsweetened coconut flakes. My attempt to make a *slightly* healthier, more chewy oatmeal cookie.

They turned out pretty darn tasty, although I guess I was too excited to bother taking anymore pictures. I still want to tweak the recipe some more, find a way to make them thicker and more crunchy. If I ever manage to make them and be happy with them, I'll be sure to share the recipe. Next time I might cross Mimi's recipe with an Anzac biscuit - an Australian cookie with oats, syrup and coconut.

So that was our laidback week in review. The weather is quickly changing, bringing winds and pressure-changing headaches along with it. The next few weeks are shaping up to be a bit busy for us, which hopefully means more fun things to share here!

Junk/Food Festivals

We headed back to a slightly less crowded riverside this Saturday. The biannual Fleur de Flea Market had set up shop in the same area as the Flugtag last weekend, with vendors selling handmade goods as well as repurposed junk and thrift store treasures. And further west into the downtown area, World Fest was throbbing with music, food and costumes from all over.

First thing we had to do was grab (non-breakfast eater) Isaac an appetizer, a yummy smelling pork taco.

Next up was browsing the stalls of furniture, clothes and knick-knacks, stopping for the occasional free sample.

Many cities have at least one interstate running through it, or flanking its perimeter. Oftentimes this seems to result in a litter-filled concrete mess close by the busy freeway. In Louisville, highway 64 runs east to west just beside the Ohio River. Yet instead of being an eyesore, it is incorporated into the waterside parks. Highway 64 provides a glorious shady shelter for the parked cars and pedestrians beneath, and it's here that many vendors set up for events like this week's Fleur de Flea.

Here's the view from underneath 64, picnic tables and food trucks set up in the cool shade. Relaxing under an interstate bridge and eating tacos may not sound like a nice thing at first, but it doesn't look too bad, does it?

Here's a quick shot of some flea market vendors. It's much more enjoyable to browse through junk when you're not hot.

After a little while, we walked west towards the city along the river. It was just over half a mile between the two events. The riverside was so empty along the way, less grass and more concrete.

Some striking hotels along the way.

World fest was thumping music, spicy grilled air and tents of goods and foods.

We did a quick round just to scout out all of the food options, since that's the reason we came - lunch. We ended up going Greek, always a good choice.

Lamb gyro, and there's chicken under all of that tzaziki. Greek food seems perfect for outdoor events - very filling yet somehow doesn't seem to weigh you down.

There was also an event for the hard of hearing just beside the World Fest, called the DeaFestival. The inflatable rainbow below marks the entrance to the convention center that held it. I have never been around so many non-speaking people before. Passing through this section, the volume seemed turned down, and many people stood around talking - only with their hands rather than their mouths.

With full bellies, we weren't keen to hang around much longer. We enjoyed our walk back through the city, rather than by the river, passed through the flea market once more and then returned to our car.

Some picturesque buildings and the Yum! Center where the UofL basketball team plays.

Other than this outing, we spent most of the long Labor Day weekend relaxing. Except for a bout of SUV shopping at dealerships. Not so relaxing. We learned a lot, but I think I've still got a lot more to learn before being well-informed enough to choose a family vehicle for us. I somehow failed to take pictures of the two of us again, but I will try to be better next week.