Wow, it's been a while
I didn't realize almost a month had gone by since I updated anything. Part of that was because we were traveling, however.
I rushed the David Pickering interview through to get it online before we left. It wasn't great, but it was organist-level boring okay. Then Friday afternoon we packed up the car and started driving. We took the interstate down to about Perryville and then crossed the river and took 3 through Illinois and into Kentucky. There we were mostly on back roads until we were outside of Paducah, but took interstates into Nashville. We stayed outside the Grand Old Opry because those hotels were the only ones that didn't say something about bedbugs in their online reviews. We mostly took interstates the next day, veering off to stop and see the Jack Daniels distillery. It was hot that day. The best part of that tour was getting to see the cave where their spring water comes out. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees just on the outside of the cave. Back on the road and we got to Atlanta in the mid afternoon to hang out with AJ and Ami.
We had a really nice dinner with them and hung out on their 8th floor balcony. The next day we got to sleep in. We visted the Georgia Aquarium, which was excellent. The best part is the giant viewing room with the huge fish. They had some giant whale sharks and rays, and a room that felt like a movie theater-sized viewing window to watch them.
Monday we left Atlanta via non-interstate roads and headed in the direction of Gatlinburg. Outside of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park we took a road up a mountain that led us to a 15-mile unpaved trail. That was fun in the Fiat. It was on that trail we spotted our first black bear, high up on the hill. After that we drove through the park and came out in Gatlinburg. We found our charming touristy motel. The balcony in the back was suspended over one of the creeks that ran through town, so we got the sound of rushing water through our whole stay. If I remember the order of activities that week, we went white-water rafting on Tuesday, got up early for a bike ride around Cades Cove on Wednesday (where we saw more bears), and went on a hike in the mountains to a waterfall on Thursday, lots of fun stuff.
Thursday Carrie's Dad arrived in town so we met up with them for some sightseeing.
Friday we headed out up the Blue Ridge Parkway and made it to Asheville about noon. We grabbed a quick lunch and then headed over to the Biltmore Estate to check that place out. We stayed more than 5 hours touring the house and gardens, and then went down to the farm and hung out at a winery and watched a mediocre woodturner making ugly little things. That evening there was a gathering of Carrie's family at a brewery. It was a very college dude place. We stayed long enough to have one drink, say hi, and then find somewhere quiet for dinner. Saturday morning we visited downtown Asheville as well as some cool arts studios set up in old abandoned buildings. The afternoon was the rehearsal lunch for Carrie's cousin. It was at a brewery (notice a trend?) which had pretty undrinkable beer, so we had wine. The wedding was on Sunday, but not until the evening, so we started the day with a trip to the Asheville Botanical Gardens, which is mostly just a groomed park where all the native plants are labeled. It was nice, and we played Ingress there a bit. The wedding was out at a farm. There was a shuttle, but we opted to drive ourselves out there because it appeared that the shuttle would not start taking people back until 11pm, and the wedding started at 4, I think. It was the most pintresty wedding I've been to. Everything has a shtick. The wedding was nice (short), in a pretty setting, although it was right next to some randy cattle. The reception was in a barn and was very loud. With Dannye's my-wi and Carrie's iPad we were able to Skype the wedding to Grandma Norma back in Fairfax, so that was fun. I sense a business opportunity.
Monday we headed out. We got to see lots of rural Tennessee, and lots of TVA dams and people out enjoying labor day on the rivers. We arrived back in Nashville and again aimed for the Grand Old Opry, this time to a place with more comfortable beds. Tuesday we drove north into Kentucky and discovered the new Craft Distillers trail. We visted two of them. They were quite small and mostly sold moonshine, since they're not really bourbon makers. It was interesting to see. We eventually found our old path and came back up the river through Cairo and made it home that evening.
So I messed up in scheduling my subs for this trip, so I had another weekend off. The following Saturday we got up early and took the bus downtown to catch the 9:15 River Runner. A handful of people got on downtown, and then it went to Kirkwood where it seemed like hundreds of people got on. Lots of bachelorette parties and a couple of birthday parties were all headed along with us to Hermann. We met up with beebers, form1040 and Laura for a day of bad wine, fortunately better wine, St. Germaine cocktails, and people watching around town. The train back the next day was much quieter because most of the parties took the Saturday night train back into St. Louis.
Since then I've mostly been playing catch-up on practicing for the recital on the 31st, and getting the AGO convention stuff online, all of which is going slower than expected, but progressing. It will take a little break this week as zinniz is in New Orleans today for a work conference. I am flying down tomorrow to hang out there and see her when she's not working. The plan is to see Rachel over the weekend, since she lives there, now. I have to message her and see if she knows we're coming. One more Sunday off! Since my substitutes have been adequate this time, it's made me consider booking one of them for the entire month of August next year so that I can have a month to work on non-church stuff and prepare for recitals (if we have them. I haven't been told no, yet).
Speaking of church, Kad's replacement has finally been hired. It seems hard to believe that took 9 months. They hired Damen, the instrumental teacher from Grand Center Arts academy. I like him and his style a lot, so I think it was a good choice.
I rushed the David Pickering interview through to get it online before we left. It wasn't great, but it was organist-level boring okay. Then Friday afternoon we packed up the car and started driving. We took the interstate down to about Perryville and then crossed the river and took 3 through Illinois and into Kentucky. There we were mostly on back roads until we were outside of Paducah, but took interstates into Nashville. We stayed outside the Grand Old Opry because those hotels were the only ones that didn't say something about bedbugs in their online reviews. We mostly took interstates the next day, veering off to stop and see the Jack Daniels distillery. It was hot that day. The best part of that tour was getting to see the cave where their spring water comes out. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees just on the outside of the cave. Back on the road and we got to Atlanta in the mid afternoon to hang out with AJ and Ami.
We had a really nice dinner with them and hung out on their 8th floor balcony. The next day we got to sleep in. We visted the Georgia Aquarium, which was excellent. The best part is the giant viewing room with the huge fish. They had some giant whale sharks and rays, and a room that felt like a movie theater-sized viewing window to watch them.
Monday we left Atlanta via non-interstate roads and headed in the direction of Gatlinburg. Outside of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park we took a road up a mountain that led us to a 15-mile unpaved trail. That was fun in the Fiat. It was on that trail we spotted our first black bear, high up on the hill. After that we drove through the park and came out in Gatlinburg. We found our charming touristy motel. The balcony in the back was suspended over one of the creeks that ran through town, so we got the sound of rushing water through our whole stay. If I remember the order of activities that week, we went white-water rafting on Tuesday, got up early for a bike ride around Cades Cove on Wednesday (where we saw more bears), and went on a hike in the mountains to a waterfall on Thursday, lots of fun stuff.
Thursday Carrie's Dad arrived in town so we met up with them for some sightseeing.
Friday we headed out up the Blue Ridge Parkway and made it to Asheville about noon. We grabbed a quick lunch and then headed over to the Biltmore Estate to check that place out. We stayed more than 5 hours touring the house and gardens, and then went down to the farm and hung out at a winery and watched a mediocre woodturner making ugly little things. That evening there was a gathering of Carrie's family at a brewery. It was a very college dude place. We stayed long enough to have one drink, say hi, and then find somewhere quiet for dinner. Saturday morning we visited downtown Asheville as well as some cool arts studios set up in old abandoned buildings. The afternoon was the rehearsal lunch for Carrie's cousin. It was at a brewery (notice a trend?) which had pretty undrinkable beer, so we had wine. The wedding was on Sunday, but not until the evening, so we started the day with a trip to the Asheville Botanical Gardens, which is mostly just a groomed park where all the native plants are labeled. It was nice, and we played Ingress there a bit. The wedding was out at a farm. There was a shuttle, but we opted to drive ourselves out there because it appeared that the shuttle would not start taking people back until 11pm, and the wedding started at 4, I think. It was the most pintresty wedding I've been to. Everything has a shtick. The wedding was nice (short), in a pretty setting, although it was right next to some randy cattle. The reception was in a barn and was very loud. With Dannye's my-wi and Carrie's iPad we were able to Skype the wedding to Grandma Norma back in Fairfax, so that was fun. I sense a business opportunity.
Monday we headed out. We got to see lots of rural Tennessee, and lots of TVA dams and people out enjoying labor day on the rivers. We arrived back in Nashville and again aimed for the Grand Old Opry, this time to a place with more comfortable beds. Tuesday we drove north into Kentucky and discovered the new Craft Distillers trail. We visted two of them. They were quite small and mostly sold moonshine, since they're not really bourbon makers. It was interesting to see. We eventually found our old path and came back up the river through Cairo and made it home that evening.
So I messed up in scheduling my subs for this trip, so I had another weekend off. The following Saturday we got up early and took the bus downtown to catch the 9:15 River Runner. A handful of people got on downtown, and then it went to Kirkwood where it seemed like hundreds of people got on. Lots of bachelorette parties and a couple of birthday parties were all headed along with us to Hermann. We met up with beebers, form1040 and Laura for a day of bad wine, fortunately better wine, St. Germaine cocktails, and people watching around town. The train back the next day was much quieter because most of the parties took the Saturday night train back into St. Louis.
Since then I've mostly been playing catch-up on practicing for the recital on the 31st, and getting the AGO convention stuff online, all of which is going slower than expected, but progressing. It will take a little break this week as zinniz is in New Orleans today for a work conference. I am flying down tomorrow to hang out there and see her when she's not working. The plan is to see Rachel over the weekend, since she lives there, now. I have to message her and see if she knows we're coming. One more Sunday off! Since my substitutes have been adequate this time, it's made me consider booking one of them for the entire month of August next year so that I can have a month to work on non-church stuff and prepare for recitals (if we have them. I haven't been told no, yet).
Speaking of church, Kad's replacement has finally been hired. It seems hard to believe that took 9 months. They hired Damen, the instrumental teacher from Grand Center Arts academy. I like him and his style a lot, so I think it was a good choice.