Author: thetinyhousetravelers

We had gotten used to there being rain several times that we were at Buffalo Trace Park but had been fairly spoiled by the mild temperatures. We knew it was supposed to cool off considerably overnight and expected a few snow flurries on Saturday morning before our drive to Tennessee. We did NOT expect it to snow steadily all morning and for snow to accumulate on the ground and the roads and our vehicles as we were trying to load up and get on the road to our next stop. Between fighting the weather outside, our inexperience with moving and our fear of repeating the mess of our last trip, and attempting to catch 7 terrified cats (Angel was scratched, bitten, and peed on) we were a little late getting on the road. The drive from Palmyra, Indiana to our next stop in Wartrace, Tennessee was supposed to take about 4 hours but with gas stops, pee breaks for the dog, and the slow going due to the snowy weather it took a bit longer – but we made it safely (just as it was starting to get dark) and were ready for our next adventure.

Thankfully, in Wartrace, it hadn’t been cold enough for the snow to stick but it had been raining/snowing all day and the ground was a muddy mess. This new spot was at a private residence that sat on 11 acres out in the middle of nowhere among the beautiful hills of Tennessee. The house sat at the top of a hill down a long, winding gravel driveway. Our spot was about halfway down the drive in a field next to a large pole barn. The barn was being turned into a dog rescue and we were there to help them in exchange for a free camping site. John had found this rescue, Better Days Dog Rescue, on TikTok and had volunteered to come and help them put up a fence on the site.

Our first night there we were once again too tired to get things set up to cook (and it was literally freezing outside and took a long while to warm up our house) so we decided to drive into nearby Shelbyville for dinner. We were delighted by all of the new food options but we were tired and hungry (we are usually too busy/nervous to eat on moving days so we hadn’t eaten anything all day) so we just ran through the drive-thru at Bojangles. During our two week stay we also got to try Highway 55, Way Back Burger, and Krystal for various meals and Angel got to shop at a Piggly Wiggly.

On Sunday morning (November 13) we drove into Shelbyville again for breakfast and tried Huddle House for the first time. Angel immediately fell in love and we ate there several more times during our two weeks in the area.  For those unfamiliar, Huddle House is very much like Waffle House (serves breakfast 24 hours a day but also has offerings for lunch and dinner, decently priced and dependable food). Angel can eat breakfast foods for every meal and was delighted by the MVP – eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, biscuits and gravy, and a waffle. After breakfast we did some shopping for groceries and a few things at Lowes that we needed for the house and ended up buying Harley a winter coat as the weather was so much colder than we were anticipating and her arthritis had been acting up. We drove around Shelbyville to get our bearings on our new surroundings and then headed home for a quiet night in watching movies and eating Chinese and Thai food from Mai House.

We spent a lot of the week just doing normal, domestic things. John worked during the day while Angel fought the never-ending battle against the mud and straw and leaves tracked into the house, bought groceries and made trips to the laundromat. We also thoroughly enjoyed just being able to open the front door and let Harley run in the fields. She sniffed every inch of those fields and protected us from so many deer. It turns out that there were American Kestrels nesting in the barn and they apparently DID NOT get approval from Harley to be there. She ran into the barn one evening and was running in circles barking frantically. We ran in to see what in the absolute hell was going on and found her chasing the birds around the entire barn and barking like a maniac. The birds were safely flying around 20 feet over her head but somehow our overweight and arthritic dog with her short stubby legs thought that she was going to catch herself a bird. I guess she was anticipating the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

Our first big adventure was on November 18^th. John took a half day from work and we drove to nearby Lynchburg, Tennessee – the home of Jack Daniels. All Jack Daniels products available around the entire world are made at the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg and it is quite obvious that Lynchburg is a company town. Prior to our tour at the distillery, we had made lunch reservations at Miss Mary Bobo’s for a classic southern meal.

Miss Mary Bobo’s is a beautiful, sprawling home that used to be a boarding house and is now a family-style restaurant serving up some of the best food imaginable. Because the meal is family-style, meals are only served at certain times and, while walk-ins may be accommodated, reservations are highly recommended. The rooms that once served as bedrooms and parlors in this beautiful home are now dining rooms with one table in each surrounded by chairs. When you arrive and check in with the hostess, you are given a card with the name of your dining room on it. At meal time, the dinner bell rings and diners are called in by table. A host or hostess employed by the restaurant meets you at the hostess stand, leads your group to the dining room, and joins you for your meal. Because each dining room holds several people, unless you have a large group there is a good chance that you will end up seated around the large, wooden table with complete strangers. The host or hostess is there to act as a guide, provide information about the building and the surrounding area, and keep the conversation flowing at the table to prevent any awkwardness. At first it may sound a bit strange but by the end of the meal, it really felt like sitting down to a meal with good friends.

The meal is brought in on large platters and placed on the table, which has a built-in lazy Susan, by servers who are all college kids working there as part of a program sponsored by Jack Daniels. Diners are not able to request items from a menu – everyone in the entire building for that meal time is served the same items (when you arrive for your visit there is a sign out front with the daily menu posted on it). Diners simply take what they want from the platters on the table and then turn the lazy Susan until each diner has had the opportunity to take what they want from every dish. If a dish is emptied (and this happened several times because the food was just soooo good), a server will bring more of whatever item is needed and will also provide drink refills during the course of the meal. On the day of our visit, the menu consisted of meat loaf, fried chicken, fried okra, coleslaw, stewed tomato casserole, corn bread, beans, collard greens, Lynchburg Candied Apples (made with Jack Daniels whiskey), and fudge pie for dessert. Drinks were water, sweet tea, and coffee. Everything was absolutely amazing. Neither of us had ever had stewed tomato casserole but it ended up being one of our favorite dishes of the meal. The fried okra was the best we have ever had and we each ate 3 pieces of chicken.

Other guests at are table included 2 older couples that were from elsewhere in Tennessee and were in-laws of each other, and another middle-aged couple from Georgia who were showing around their college student niece who was visiting from South America, and our hostess. Although they were absolute strangers, we laughed and joked and shared stories like we had all known each other for years. After the meal we ran into the older four members of our group at one of the shops in town and stopped to chat again then, too.

Miss Mary Bobo’s is located just off of the main square in Lynchburg and we had about an hour to kill before our reserved time for the distillery tour so we wandered around town, visiting several small businesses selling Jack Daniels merchandise (no alcohol though because Lynchburg is located in a dry county!!!!!) and other items like clothing, candy, leather items, and baked goods. One of the stores is actually the official gift shop of the distillery and were selling the used whiskey barrels and other souvenirs for very reasonable prices. We also walked around the old town hall building but unfortunately arrived at the historic jail just as it was closing.

The Jack Daniels Distillery is also just a short walk from the town square and is settled on a beautiful hillside. The visitor’s center is a gorgeous building where guests check in for tours and get to see a small collection of artifacts that paint a lovely picture of how the distillery was started and the impact that this business has made on this history of the Lynchburg area. A large display contains the story of Nearest Green, a former slave who taught Jack Daniels how to make whiskey and was later hired by Mr. Daniels as his head distiller, making Mr. Green quite possibly the first African-American Master Distiller in the country (cool fact – descendants of Jack Daniels and Nearest Green still work at the distillery that their ancestors founded). The building also contains a bottle shop where you can purchase a bottle of Jack and have it engraved. But wait! This is located in a dry county! How is that possible? Well, the store is called a Bottle Shop. Technically, you are buying the bottle. It just happens to be filled with Jack. And the tastings are possible because they are just at the limit of the amount that the law permits. Very sneaky, Jack Daniels.

Once the tour begins, visitors are taken by shuttle to the top of the hill to the Rickyard. Whiskey is filtered through charcoal and they make their own on-site using wood that has been rejected by the furniture making industry and would otherwise be waste. They burn this wood using an accelerant made from a high alcohol content byproduct of the distilling process which would also be considered waste and is illegal to sell. We also learned that because of this burning process and all of the alcohol vapors in the air, the distillery has it’s own fire unit that is fully equipped to handle any issues that may come up at their location.

The next stop on our tour was a beautiful spring hidden way back in the rocks of the hill. This spring (which naturally maintains a constant temperature of around 55 degrees and is filtered by the surrounding limestone through which it flows) is the reason that Mr. Jack Daniels originally chose this site for his operations and its water is still used today in Jack Daniels whiskey.

Located just down the hill from the spring is the original office used by Jack and his successors. The office was still in use well into the middle of the 1900’s and still holds the legendary safe that cost Jack his life (rumor says that he became angry at not being able to get the safe open one day and kicked it, breaking his toe and causing an infection that would eventually claim his life in 1911).

From the office, it is just a short walk to the actual production buildings where the mash is turned into whiskey and then goes through the mellowing process, and is then bottled and shipped around the globe. Guests can also see a few of the barrel houses in the background where the whiskey is held during the aging process.

Finally, we arrived at the tasting rooms. We had chosen the “Angel’s Share” tour (referring to the amount of liquor that is lost due to evaporation while being held in the barrels) and were given the opportunity to taste four different Jack Daniels products – the classic Jack Daniels Old No. 7 (to this day, no one knows for sure why it’s called this although there are many theories and rumors), Jack Daniels Sinatra Select (said to be a requirement of Frank Sinatra to have on stage for every performance), Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select, and Jack Daniels Single Barrel : Barrel Proof. Although we used the skills we learned at the bourbon tasting in Kentucky, we still felt like our mouths were on fire after each sample and coughed like small children who had snuck a sip from their parent’s liquor cabinet.

Despite not being big whiskey fans, we both really enjoyed the tour and had a great time learning about this iconic American brand. We also gained a new respect for the Jack Daniels brand when we learned the following:

Many years ago, Jack Daniels was bought out by a larger manufacturer but surprisingly did not go to the highest bidder. There were conditions to the sale – the new owner must promise to keep production in Lynchburg as the local economy is dependent upon it being there, the new owners may not fire any workers to replace them with their own people, and the product must continue to be made according to the high standards and the detailed process that the Jack Daniels brand was known for. The Jack Daniels company actually took a lower offer because the higher bidders would not agree to their terms. They also sell some of their mash and other byproducts to local farms and repurpose their barrels by selling them to other liquor manufacturers and selling them in the gift shop as souvenirs. How cool is that?

After being completely worn out by our last week in Atlanta (two waterfall hikes, Zoo Atlanta, and swimming with Gentle Giants), we woke up on Sunday morning (April 16) refreshed and ready for our next adventure. We had left the house hitched up to the truck and, thanks to some rainy weather, we had already packed up most of our outdoor equipment so getting ready and on the road actually went really smoothly. The drive from Bald Ridge Creek Campground to Norris Dam State Park was supposed to be just under 4 hours. Thanks to some traffic issues and road construction, we actually spent almost 6 hours on the road. Even with the traffic, the scariest part of the drive was coming up the hill from the entrance of the park to the actual campground at the top of the hill.

The road was super steep and had several tight switchback turns. It was scary enough in our car and we were really nervous about driving the truck up the hill with the house in tow. Thankfully, we didn’t meet any other cars on the way up and John was able to swing into the opposing lane and take the turns wide. People often asked us why we opted for the truck that we did – the Chevy 3500 dually. The truck is rated to pull around 36,000 lbs and the house only weighs around 14,000 so why the overkill? For the extra power on steep inclines and extra stopping power coming downhill. It was slow going but we made it to the top and found our site. The campground is set up in an oval-ish shape on top of the hill with larger sites on the inside of the ring and small sites on the outside. There are tons of trees which made backing into our spot a little tricky but John eventually got things lined up and we settled in to our home in Rocky Top, Tennessee for the next two weeks.

For those that aren’t familiar (I wasn’t really either until we started looking at staying here), there is a song from the 1960’s written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and originally recorded by the Osborne Brothers in which we learn that the singer now lives in the city but is mourning the simple life in the Tennessee hill country. The song is one of 10 state songs of Tennessee and provided a great title for the blog for this week.

The scenery here is absolutely gorgeous and our campsite, nestled among the trees, is so peaceful. Our site has electric and water hookups but no sewer. We have a portable gray water tank (for shower water and water from the sink) but the dump station here is a little tricky to get to so we have been using the public restrooms for our showers. I was a little worried but they are actually super nice. It is one building with 4 entrances, one at each corner. When you go in one of the doors, you are in a full bathroom which you have to yourself. There is a toilet, sink, and shower and there are hooks and benches for your belongings. Most shower houses at other campgrounds we have stayed at are set up kind of locker room style with multiple shower stalls in one big room. Sometimes there are doors on the stalls but usually its just a (usually gross looking) shower curtain for privacy or nothing at all. You also just have to leave your belongings in the common area and hope no one messes with them. Here, you have the entire bathroom to yourself with no worries of anyone else coming in. The building is really clean and well stocked with toilet paper – the rangers clean it every morning around 9am and empty the trash- and the water pressure is great. The hot water is so good that we often have to turn the heat down once things get flowing because it is so hot.

The outdoor amenities throughout the park are also pretty nice. Because last week was so busy for us, we mostly just hung around the house this week. There are so many hiking trails! John and Harley have explored a few but they are a little too steep for my knees so I mostly stick to walking around the paved ring at the top of the hill. There is a Canteen nearby that supposedly sells snacks, drinks, firewood, and souvenirs but they have weird hours and we have yet to catch them open. There is also a Visitor’s Center with a gift shop that has the cutest merchandise and local honey from right here in the park. There is a laundry room, conference center, cabins to rent, and basketball and tennis courts. It even looks like there might be an inground pool but it isn’t open yet for the season.

We did decide to go for a drive on Wednesday night to see the dam that the park is named for. There is a lovely lookout area up one of the hills where you can look out on the lake and the dam. The views were so pretty. I wish our campsite was closer to this area but it was only about a 5-10 minute drive for us.

We also drove to an old grist mill and threshing barn located nearby and found a small waterfall down one of the backroads just past the mill.

On the way back, we found a little brewery called Clinch River Brewing. John had been craving a cold a beer so we stopped by. We were pleasantly surprised to find that Wednesday night was Wing Night so we enjoyed some Lemony Pickett and some Kimchi wings with fries for dinner. They had a great patio area with a large pond and the weather was just perfect for enjoying our food outside.

We spent a lot of the week catching up on television shows, doing a minor projects around the house, and lounging in our hammocks. There aren’t a lot of food options nearby so we mostly cooked at home although we did go out for a few errands on Friday night and stopped at a Mexican restaurant in town called Habaneros III where John got an enormous Molcajete (a sizzling hot bowl filled with chicken, steak, chorizo, onion, cactus, and peppers). It was impressive.

On Saturday we decided we needed donuts so we drove into the nearby town of Clinton to a donut shop we had found online. We also drove on into the small downtown area and found a small art festival. One of the things we love about traveling is getting to experience our Three F’s: fairs, festivals, and farmers markets. We could see dancing, vendors tents, and food trucks so of course we had to stop by. We enjoyed a meatball sandwich, some brisket Mac & Cheese, and (MY FAVORITE!) a Pina Colada flavored Kona Ice while browsing work by local artists and craftsmen and even bought a new art print for the house which pretty much sums up our lives. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

We had big plans for Sunday (look for that in next week’s post) so we decided to take a leisurely drive through some nearby towns and then head back home for the afternoon. It’s so easy to get caught up in doing a million things during our travels that we really love the weeks where we don’t have anything scheduled and get to just recharge our minds and bodies. I know it doesn’t make for super interesting blog posts, but it definitely makes for good living.

We also celebrated the third anniversary of adopting our sweet Heraldine. We hadn’t planned to adopt her but on April 21, 2020 she entered our home and our hearts and has filled our lives with love and weirdness every since.

I apologize now for the length of this post – it’s a long one. We crammed so much into this last week that I’m surprised we managed to survive. The experiences we had were also just so amazing that I didn’t want to leave out any part of it so read on at your own risk. Maybe take a minute to grab snack. Go to the bathroom. Unless you like to read blog posts on the toilet – if so, read on. No judgement.

Our life in our tiny house is surprisingly normal. We cook meals, we sleep in our own bed each night surrounded by our animals, I grocery shop and do laundry and housework (though not as often as I should), John works his regular Monday through Friday job…we just do these things in a different city every few weeks. No big deal. One thing that is definitely different for us, though, is how we spend our holidays. When we lived in Ohio we were near friends and family and would usually have several places that we had to be for each holiday and would spend special occasions rushing from one place to the next. Easter 2023 found us in Cumming, Georgia with no family to visit yet we still spent the day driving (and hiking) all over Creation.

John, Harley and I piled into the car and drove about an hour north of our campground for a day full of adventure. Our first stop for the day was Duke’s Creek Recreation Area located in the Chattahoochee National Forest. We had heard that this was the location of an amazing waterfall (ranked one of the best waterfalls in Georgia) and that the hike was a relatively easy one – about 2 miles to the base of the falls and back on a trail classified as “Moderate”. It was a cheap $5 for a day pass and there was a ton of parking for visitors right at the trailhead about halfway up the mountain. The bathroom facility was primitive but clean and the trail was well maintained and, having multiple switch-backs across the side of the mountain, wasn’t too steep. Even without heading down the trail there were INCREDIBLE views of the surrounding mountains and valleys from an observation area just off the parking lot.

After a quick bathroom break for all three of us, we were off down the beautifully wooded trail. The first part of the trail is very gradual and is actually paved. After .1 miles, the paved path ends at a nice observation deck from which you can glimpse the top of the falls off through the trees. It was so pretty and peaceful- but we were there for the whole experience so we continued on down the remaining mile of dirt trail which grew steeper the further down you went.

Just as we were walking down the steepest part of the trail and I was beginning to have serious doubts about the return trip, we turned a corner and THERE IT WAS. We had heard the steadily increasing volume of the rushing water but still were completely blown away by the sight in front of us. The falls were absolutely stunning. We had seen the top of the falls from the observation deck earlier in the hike but I guess we didn’t grasp how tall this magnificent waterfall actually was. The waterfall was actually made up of several smaller cascades-some coming down from straight above and another coming in from the side. We were also really surprised to find a series of decks that had been built and connected by stairs so that the falls could be viewed from several different vantage points.

We spent quite a while admiring the falls, taking photos and flying the drone and finally, when we had caught our breath, we reluctantly turned back and headed up the trail. My only complaint is that I would much rather start the trek going uphill and then have the downhill portion for the return trip but I guess Mother Nature does what she wants. It was worth it even if we were huffing and puffing by the time we made it back to the car.

We drove on up to the top of the mountain and checked out a few of the lookout points before driving on to our next stop. Up until this point, John and I have joked that we will have to divorce once our travels are done and we are ready to settle down again because he loves the forest and I love the water. I think this experience may have provided us with a solution, though. As it turns out, we both love mountains. Standing on the top and looking off into the distance, all we could say was “holy shit” and “oh my god” over and over again. We seriously didn’t have the mental capacity to express how in awe we were. I won’t try to describe it here, either – I’ll let you see it for yourself.

Once we regained our senses from the gorgeous views, we decided to head for another waterfall that we had read about – Taccoa Falls- which were located on a college campus nearby. Our drive there took us through the cutest little town called Helen which is a small German town located in northern Georgia. Driving through the town brought back memories of visiting some of the Amish towns in Ohio that my great aunt and uncle had taken me to as a kid. We were feeling a bit peckish so we stopped off at a German restaurant for a giant pretzel and a sausage with sauerkraut and had a little picnic in the car before continuing the drive to Taccoa.

The college campus that was built around the waterfall was super cute and very quiet (probably partly because it was Easter Sunday) but we were too late – the falls access had been closed off for the day. We were about to turn back for home when we actually took notice of the name Taccoa. Was this Taccoa the same as the Taccoa mentioned in the first episode of our favorite mini-series, “Band of Brothers”? It was!

We drove a short distance and, for our final stop of the day, found ourselves at the gates of Camp Taccoa at Currahee- the camp used for paratrooper training for WWII. The camp is no longer in use as a military training facility but does operate as a museum and has a limited schedule for tours. By this time it was around 6pm on Easter Sunday so, of course, the camp was closed. Luckily, we were able to get a few photos through the fence (special thanks to John for laying in the dirt to snap some photos under the gate for me) and we had just enough battery on the drone for a few aerial shots. We were able to visit the memorial across the street, however, and it was so cool to be standing in this spot. If you haven’t watched “Band of Brothers” yet, we highly recommend it. Or read the book. Or go online and watch some interviews with Dick Winters. LEARN ABOUT THIS PART OF HISTORY!!!!

As we mentioned in earlier posts, we love visiting zoos. We were visiting Atlanta during Spring Break week and everything was super busy so John took a day off and we visited Zoo Atlanta on a Tuesday thinking it wouldn’t be as busy. We were wrong. It was pretty packed but we still had a nice time. While the zoo didn’t have as big of a variety as other zoos we have visited, all of the exhibits were very generously sized and well laid out. The animals all seemed incredibly well cared for and there were tons of enrichment items in several of the habitats. We got to see elephants, rhinos, gorillas, a TON of birds and more. The reptile exhibit was incredibly well done and seemed like a combination botanical garden and animal habitat all in one. AND THEY HAD PANDAS!!!!

One of my favorite things, however, was the beautiful white peacock. I don’t know if any of you have ever heard a peacock vocalize but it is not a sound that you would expect to come from such an elegant animal- it sounds like the gates of hell are opening and releasing the shrieks of a thousand angry demons into the world. And this peacock was just sitting in the exhibit, in all its regal glory, screaming its head off. While it was completely unbothered by the cries of the children that were becoming permanently scarred by its terrifying serenade, I am ashamed to admit that I found it a little funny. Just a little.

All week we had been planning to squeeze in a visit to one more waterfall but the weather turned rainy and we were afraid we weren’t going to make it. I was really bummed because I was really looking forward to this one so John decided to take a half day on Friday so we could drive out there (about 45 minutes away). We loaded Harley in the car and headed over to Amicalola Falls in Dawsonville, hoping that the weather would cooperate.

We did hit a little rain during the drive and, as we entered the park and pulled in near the trailhead, it had turned to a light sprinkle. We decided to risk it as the trail was short and we had a waterproof cover for the bag with the camera equipment. It was a good gamble! About half way down the trail the rain stopped and the sun peeked out and it stayed nice for the rest of our visit.

The first trail was only .3 miles and is actually ADA accessible. It is a little steep in places but was paved with material made from recycled tires so it was very easy to walk on and led right to a bridge across the middle of the falls. The view was incredible! You could look up and see the falls come tumbling off the cliff face above. If you looked down from the bridge, you could see the water rush by and end in the smaller cascades below.

We stood on the bridge for a long time, just enjoying the views. We took some photos and video but things were getting crowded since the rain had stopped and we decided to move on to another viewing spot. We had the option of walking down 175 stairs to an observation deck on the lower falls or walking up over 400 stairs to the bridge over the water at the top of the cliff. Or we could hike back to the car and drive instead. Because my knees can barely handle the stairs in our tiny house, I opted for the car. John did make the climb down the 175 stairs to the lower falls and then back up again. He decided he was not interested in taking the 400+ up to the very top so, with the mist on our faces and the sound of the falls roaring in our ears, we started the short hike back to the car.

We drove to the top of the falls to the observation bridge there and got some beautiful photos of the water tumbling off the side of the cliff with the mountains and valleys in the background then drove down to the foot of the hill and hiked a trail there up towards the lower falls. Unfortunately, the trail was very steep and we were very tired so we turned back before we made it all the way to the falls but it was still a beautiful walk along the creek through the woods. The lower trail also had a man-made reflecting pond stocked with fish and we took some time to sit and admire it as well before heading home for the evening.

For our last day in Atlanta, we were finally doing the thing that brought us here in the first place- the Georgia Aquarium! When we set out from Ohio back in October, we had two things that we were dead set on doing. The first thing was spending time in New Orleans and we had done that already. The second thing was to swim with the whale sharks at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. I had logged on to the website in January to book the swim and was devastated to find that it was entirely booked for our visit. I kept checking back but nothing was available. Finally, about a month before our trip, John randomly decided to log on and found two openings for the very last day of our trip! We had started our trip to Atlanta a little stressed because we had changed our move days to Sunday but that change allowed us to be able to have this experience. It’s funny how these things work out.

We arrived at the aquarium around 1:20 (thanks to being stuck in Atlanta traffic for 45 minutes) and our swim was scheduled for 4:30 with a check-in time of 4:00. We had just over 2 and a half hours to see the exhibits. I was a little stressed but we were determined to do as much as we could. We had missed our reserved time for the dolphin show due to the late arrival but we did make it to the sea lion show and really enjoyed the performance. We managed to visit all of the exhibits, even if we were a little bit rushed.

The building is broken up into small loops off of the main hall/lobby area. One section had sharks, one was focused on rivers and had fish you would expect to see in the local waterways, while another had animals from cold-water climates (otters, penguins, puffins, etc).

Of course, we were excited to see the whale shark exhibit because that’s where we would be swimming in just a few hours! We expected to see the whale sharks (obviouslly) but were completely unprepared for the giant manta rays, enormous sea turtle, and other smaller shark species all swimming around in the giant tank as well. By the time we headed to check-in for our swim, we were both so excited we could hardly sit still.

Our experience began with a walk behind the scenes and the opportunity to take photos of the tank we would be swimming in from above. We knew how big the tank was (obviously it was big enough to house TWO whale sharks plus tons of other creatures) but seeing it from the top like that really impressed us.

After a brief safety video and talk from our guide, we were ushered to the locker rooms to change into our wetsuits and get ready for the swim. We were on the swim with 6 other guests and they had prepared lockers for each of us. We were provided with wetsuits, swim boots, gloves, masks and life vests and staff helped us to get everything on and adjusted. We were already super impressed with the program but then something truly unexpected happened. They had prescription goggles for the members of our group that wore glasses. John had expected to jump in the water and swim around not being able to see anything too clearly. His face absolutely lit up when he tried on the goggles and I think we were both about to cry when he whispered, “I can see perfectly”.

We had a little bit of drama caused by me, of course, when we got into the water. As we slid off the dock, the strap on my flotation vest that went between my legs got caught and broke meaning that it wasn’t fulling supporting me when I hit the water. I plummeted under the water and started choking as water rushed into my snorkel. Thanks to the straps under my arms, I was quickly pulled back to the surface but instead of fitting against my chest, the life vest was up around my neck choking me. The staff members quickly noticed something was wrong and held me up as we took off my broken vest and replaced it with a new one, all while I was hanging from the dock in this enormous tank. I also didn’t expect there to be a current in the tank but, with the flow from all the filtration equipment, I felt my legs being pulled under the dock while I struggled to hold on to the side. I was definitely struggling and starting to panic but John was right there holding on to me the whole time and I was surrounded by staff. Soon, they had the new vest on me and we were ready to kick off and start our swim.

It was an absolutely magical experience. The life vests and snorkels allowed us to float facedown in the water with our feet kicked out behind us. As we floated there, all kinds of animals would just swim leisurely underneath us. They are so used to divers and swimmers in the water that our presence didn’t even faze them and they just went about their business. We had been told when we got in the water not to try to touch any of the animals but that wasn’t really a problem – the animals often touched us! One of the whale sharks swam up under us so closely at one point that it’s fin hit me in the hip and hit John in a not-so-pleasant place, too. I guess that’s one experience that not a lot of people get to have.

Staff members led us on a “figure 8” of the tank, across the underwater viewing tunnel and past the large viewing window we had first seen the whale sharks through just a few hours before hand and we made sure to wave to everyone looking through the window. The swim somehow seemed to take forever but also went too quickly at the same time. Thanks to a diver with an underwater camera, we were able to purchase a video of our swim at the end and honestly the $55 for the footage was well worth it. We were also given a photo of us in our wetsuits (so sexy, I will sell you a copy if you’re interested wink wink) and a t-shirt to commemorate the experience. Honestly, I think this experience will stick with me for a LONG time to come.

We were so exhausted (and a little bit seasick from all the bobbing around in the giant tank) by the time that we left that we picked up fast food on the way home, almost fell asleep while eating dinner, and finally climbed into bed to sleep like the dead for out last night in Georgia.

Our animals are also a HUGE part of our lives and this week we celebrated Harley’s 6th Gotcha Day – the 6th anniversary of the day we brought her home from the Franklin County Dog Shelter to join our family. She got a new stuffed toy and had McDonald’s for lunch and, of course, we did a ton of snuggling, which is her favorite activity. Happy Gotcha Day, Harley Quinn!

As I mentioned before, we weren’t great at blogging during the first few months of our travels so this is the first of what will be many “catch up” posts. This covers the second part of our visit to the Louisville, KY/Palmyra, IN area which was the first stop on our adventure and mostly covers the second week of November 2022.

As travelers we like to experience as many different things as we can, however, one thing we try to hit often is the zoo. As a former zoo employee and volunteer, Angel has a definite fondness for visiting zoos, aquariums, and sanctuaries and John has a definite fondness for Angel so he goes along with it. Growing up visiting the Columbus Zoo every year has kind of spoiled us but we pretty much enjoy every zoo we visit. While Louisville is much smaller than our “hometown zoo”, we did get to see some animals that Columbus doesn’t have like meerkats and pygmy hippos. Louisville also has amazing exhibits for their polar bears and snow leopards with walkways for the animals suspended in the air above the walkways for guests. We were in the right place at the right time to watch a naughty pelican continually harass a zoo keeper while she was trying to feed the penguins as well.

On Tuesday November 8^th after John got off work, we decided to venture out and take the dog on a hike. Angel had learned that there had once been an amusement park (similar to the Buckeye Lake Park of yesteryear) inside a nearby state park that had been flooded and abandoned almost a century ago. The park was a popular recreation area until it flooded in 1937. More than 10 feet of water covered the park and because of the extensive damage, on top of the financial damage already done by the Great Depression, the park never reopened.

The park once known as Rose Island is now located inside the Charlestown State Park. There is a paved trail leading down to a newly built bridge that explorers can take to cross over to the island but don’t be fooled – the trail is STEEP. While walking down the hill we passed two people stopping to take a break. They let us know that they are experienced hikers and they found it difficult. The trailhead is even marked with a warning sign that pretty much says “Don’t do it unless you are sure you can make it because we might or might not be able to come rescue you”. They aren’t kidding. But on the way down, you aren’t thinking about the trek back up so you carefully make your way to the bottom of the hill and cross the pretty bridge and begin exploring the dirt paths that make their way through the forest-covered island. The Rose Island Loop is only about half a mile all around on the actual island and it was so pretty and peaceful there. Some stone foundations of buildings and maybe fountains (?) still remain as well as a long walkway down most of the length of the island with metal arches spaced at fairly even intervals. We were even able to see the remains of what are believed to be cages that once held zoo animals just barely poking out from a cliffside. The pool has since been filled in with dirt but is very easy to pick out in the middle of the trees. The park history has been beautifully preserved in signs and displays throughout the island to really help you picture what this popular vacation spot looked like in its heyday. There were also recordings that would play when you turned hand cranks that contained actual testimonies from people who had visited the island prior to its downfall. It was strange to have the mental image of the grand hotel, dance hall, cabins and swimming pool overlaid on top of the serene surroundings of the trees and plants. We were even startled by some deer scampering off into the brush – we hadn’t even seen them until they started moving (and neither did our amazing, fearless, hyper observant guard dog – can you tell I am using sarcasm here?). The trek back up was absolutely no joke but, with several breaks along the way for the humans and the dog to catch our breath, we finally made it back to the parking area at the trailhead just as the sun was setting. Even though not much remains of the park, it was still a really fun experience and a beautiful hike – but definitely don’t attempt it if you have bad knees or bad ankles or breathing issues or are just fat and lazy like us. We made it but it was rough and we were lucky. Cue the inhaler, again.

We rewarded ourselves with Chinese food from The Rice Bowl in New Albany, Indiana on the way back to Buffalo Trace Park – shrimp shumai, tonkatsu, and beef bulgogi. I don’t know if it was the exhaustion from the hike or if the place was really just that good but when we staggered through the door of the tiny house, carryout in hand, and finally sat down to enjoy our dinner and watch some television, I truly experienced bliss.

I feel like we couldn’t say we had truly visited Kentucky without doing a Bourbon tasting so John took a half day on Wednesday (November 9) to have lunch with his friend and do a tour and tasting at Angel’s Envy. The name, while appealing for obvious reasons, was coincidental – it was the only place that had openings that worked with our schedule that was also in our area. We drove back into Louisville for lunch at Goodfella’s Pizzeria on Baxter Ave where we met John’s friend and ate the biggest breadsticks of our lives. These things were seriously as long as my arm. For $10 each we got a gi-normous slice of pizza, an insanely long breadstick, and a soda. Angel couldn’t even finish her entire meal although she somehow, miraculously, saved room for a cannoli which she reports was “disappointing and sad.”

After lunch, we drove to Angel’s Envy Distillery. The name “Angel’s Envy” refers to the “Angel’s Share” which is the portion of bourbon or whiskey that evaporates and is lost during aging in the barrels. Our guide walked us through the process and the brass machinery and the stacks of barrels were oddly beautiful. We also learned that the bourbon barrels can only be used one (a new barrel must be used each time) and once they have been used, they are repurposed by other liquor manufactures for types of alcohol that don’t have such strict rules. We were able to see the bourbon in various stages from mash to finish product. At the end of the tour, we were led into the tasting room where three different products had been set out for us to sample, along with a chocolate that compliments each product and a glass of water. We learned the proper way to “nose” the bourbon to really smell all of the different notes in each glass, how to swirl the bourbon in the glass to take note of the “legs” left on the glass, and that professional tasters will take a small sip and swish it around in their mouths to acclimate their tastebuds to the alcohol that they are about to consume. We were able to try their Bourbon finished in Port Barrels, their Rye finished in Rum Casks, and their Cask Strength Bourbon finished in Port Barrels. As we both suspected, neither of us are huge bourbon fans and both preferred the chocolates to the actual alcohol. I’m sure it was amazing Kentucky Bourbon – we are just big babies.

On our last day in the Kentuckiana area John was off work for Veteran’s Day and we took full advantage by booking up our entire day. We started with horse racing at Churchill Downs. John had been to horse races in Columbus before so had a good idea of what to expect but Angel had never been to a race before and found it all quite boring. Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, seemed a little sad and run down during our visit. We are sure that it is all done up and amazing come Derby time, but it seemed to us that it was largely in a state of disrepair. The races were exciting for the short time that they lasted but the time spent waiting between races was somewhat dull. John did bet a little bit of money on a few races and actually left with slightly more money than he put down in the first place. He was very disappointed with the pulled pork nachos from the concession stand which somehow smelled like hotdog water.

After leaving the racetrack and the disappointing nachos behind, we found the name of a well rated restaurant on Yelp and decided to give it a try. We walked into Yummy Pollo and were immediately greeted loudly and enthusiastically by the owner and by the sight and smell of a ton of small chickens roasting on a giant rotisserie. The owner held multiple conversations with each and every customer at the same time, in English and Spanish, and when it was our turn he walked us through the entire menu and his cooking process. John got a quarter chicken, white meat, with yucca fries and cilantro rice and Angel had the quarter chicken, dark, with fried rice and mashed potatoes. We were also offered two dipping sauces – one a creamy garlic and the other a cilantro jalapeno) and purchased Alfajores (traditional Peruvian dulce de leche cookie) for dessert. Everything was soooo good. The yucca fries were hot and crisp, both rice dishes were perfectly cooked and subtly seasoned, and the mashed potatoes were thick and flavorful. The sauces were good enough to drink out of the containers they came in (which we would have done had there not been other people around). Everything tasted so fresh and you could tell each dish was lovingly prepared by the very proud owner who was, quite possibly, the friendliest man on earth. If you find yourself in Louisville, you must eat here or we can no longer be friends.

We spent our last night in Louisville, Kentucky at Lights Under Louisville at the Kentucky Mega Cavern. This is an enormous underground space completely filled with holiday light displays. The entire thing is drive-thru and it took about 30 minutes to drive through. It was opening night and we were worried about large crowds so we arrived shortly before opening and got in line. The line was surprisingly short, however, due to things getting off to a late start opening, we heard it was backed up quite badly by the time the gates actually opened. The staff was friendly and efficient, though, and most of the line was gone by the time we exited and were headed back home. We have visited other drive-thru style light shows at Alum Creek Campground and at National Trails Raceway in Ohio and at Oglebay in West Virginia but this was probably the biggest light display and one of the neatest holiday light experiences we have ever done. They had displays with the Marvel and DC superheroes, Charlie Brown, The Grinch, Minions and more and had several light tunnels and a few lasers as well. The weather was pleasant so we took Harley with us and she really seemed to enjoy it – even if the workers that were inside to keep cars moving wouldn’t pet her as she hung out the window, desperate for their attention.

After a very nice ride, we returned to our house and went to bed, ready for our big move the next day. Or at least we thought we were ready. Unfortunately, we woke up to a surprise that we were definitely not ready for….but more on that next time!

April 6, 2023

This was kind of a weird week because, for the first time, we moved on a Sunday instead of a Saturday. Ever since our fist move from Johnstown we have chosen to leave early in the day on a Saturday morning. Most full time RVers will travel long distances – sometimes driving for 8-10 hours per day for several days in a row. We decided early on that that method wasn’t for us. Because we do travel separately (John drives the truck and pulls the house and I drive the Kia) we can’t trade off and we find that we do get tired of driving after about 3 hours. We also have the animals to think of so trips longer than about 3 or 4 hours start to make things difficult in terms of bathroom breaks for all of us and in just general comfort for everyone so we prefer shorter trips of 2 to 2 ½ hours but can stretch to 4 hours if we really want to hit a certain destination.  We also like to travel on Saturdays because, as previously mentioned, John works a regular job Monday through Friday. Moving on Saturdays allows us to get where we are going (allowing extra time for any unforeseen issues which we seem to have EVERY TIME WE MOVE) and gives us an extra day to settle in before  he has to jump back into a schedule. Every time we move the house, we have to tear down and secure everything in John’s “office” – his three computer monitors, desk, keyboard, and chair – and then set them up again when we reach our new destination. We also have to reestablish our internet setup and connections and make sure that we have sufficient internet speeds for him to work (and hopefully play PlayStation in the evenings online because I need my alone time!!!). Ideally, everything goes well on move day and we can spend our Sunday sightseeing or doing something fun but, if not, we have that extra day to sort out any issues and recover a little bit. Because I was absolutely NOT leaving the Macon area without visiting the Fried Green Tomatoes and Walking Dead sites we decided to push our departure to Sunday so we could have that extra day to make sure I got my Bucket List items checked off.

We have heard horror stories about the Atlanta area traffic from almost everyone we know who has ever driven through this area but we were still extremely unprepared. Thankfully, nothing crazy happened to the house, car or truck on the way here but our two and a half hour expected drive time turned into about 4 hours thanks to construction and traffic accidents on the outerbelt surrounding the city. If we had just been driving a car, we could have left the highway and taken back roads around. Because we were towing our house (which measures at 13’6’’ tall) we have to follow routes that can accommodate semitrucks to make sure we don’t smack into anything or get stuck on any tight corners. Traffic was bumper to bumper yet drivers were still managing to cut us off and drive very aggressively. Usually, my drive is simple – I follow the big blue box. John leads the way with the house using our special GPS designed for semis and RVs and I just drive behind and make sure nothing blows out of the truck or falls off the house. Because so many cars just started merging in, I got separated from John a few times but was able to keep him in my sight so I didn’t panic too much (even though Harley definitely expressed her concern at being separated from “dad” by whining loudly in my ear) and we eventually caught back up to him. We were doing fine until John realized that we were about to miss our exit. He was able to quickly change lanes and get over but another vehicle sped up and blocked me from getting over behind him. He went on up the exit ramp while I was stuck on the highway. This was our first time ever being completely separated. I knew in my brain that I could just pull up the campground address on my GPS and meet him there (which is what we decided to do) but my heart started pounding and I felt a little panicky. The GPS directions and the actual lanes on the highway DID NOT match up thanks to recent construction but I was finally able to get to the campground about 10 minutes after John had checked in. The nicest lady on Earth greeted Harley and me and  directed us to our site just in time to see John backing the house in.

On move days, we are often a little stressed and nervous and this leads to bad eating habits on these days. John typically doesn’t eat prior to the move and I usually eat junk food in the car on the drive so this usually ends with us getting hangry as we are getting settled because we haven’t had an actual meal yet for the day. We always go out to eat once we get the house levelled and the animals checked on. This lets us get out of the house, finally get a meal, and scope out the surrounding area. Because of the traffic delays, it was around 5pm when we finally headed into the town of Cumming to find some food. We were actually pretty lucky this time, though – instead of just blindly driving around until we found something that we both agreed on, John actually had a destination in mind. In a weird coincidence that we didn’t realize until a few weeks ago – John has been to Cumming, Georgia before! About 2 years ago, he came to a class here to learn to build tiny houses! This was about a year after COVID showed up so we decided that I would stay home with the dog since I didn’t want to be in a strange city by myself during the hours of the class in the midst of a pandemic so John made this trip by himself. While here, he went out to dinner with another member of the class at an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ restaurant called “Q”. He said that the entire time he was there eating he kept thinking, “Man, I wish I could share this with Angel”. Combine this with the fact that it is all you can eat and we were in. For $36 we got salad, all the meat items we wanted (including bulgogi, shrimp, pork belly, chicken, and even fried gyoza), plus all the little extras like rice, bean sprouts, pickled radish, kimchi, and various sauces. And the coolest part – a robot showed us to our table!

Thankfully, after the craziness of move day, the rest of the week was pretty chill. The campground is really lovely – we are staying at Bald Ridge Creek Campground on the shores of beautiful Lake Lanier. Our campsite is number 80  and it is in the perfect location – trees behind us, the lake across the road, and the bathhouse just a few sites away (we can and usually do shower in our own bathroom in the house but we like being by the shelters just in case we run into any problems and in case of bad weather). The dumpster and the dump station (no sewer hookups at this park) are at the end of our lane and the swimming beach is just around the corner. The weirdest thing about this campground is that there is a curfew! We have been in campgrounds before that were gated but we have always been given a code so that we can come and go as we please. At Bald Ridge Creek, the gates close each night at 10:30pm and they don’t open again until 7:00am. There is a camp host on duty that can open the gates in case of emergency but otherwise there is no coming and going after 10:30.

We have really enjoyed the peace and quiet of this park (and the friendliness of our fellow campers) and have spent a few evenings outside around the fire or lounging in our hammocks. Harley has loved having a such a large site to be able to sniff and roll around and the cats have been spending their days in the windows watching the birds and squirrels in the woods.

The drawback to this campsite is that we have terrible cell reception. Because we run our wifi (which John needs to be able to work) through our phones, we have also had terrible internet service. We previously have been fine with either Verizon or TMobile internet (except for our time in Memphis) but we couldn’t get either to work and our solution in Memphis, which was to rent a workspace for John, really isn’t an option here. We had considered Starlink before but ruled it out due to expense – it’s $150 per month plus about $650 up front in equipment costs. This service uses satellite technology for internet so it requires either being mounted on the roof or being on the ground in an area with unobstructed views of the sky. We had never thought it would be beneficial for us because we like to camp in the woods and that makes it hard to have clear views of the sky. After some research, though, John decided it was worth a try. Thankfully, we were able to find someone nearby selling their equipment so we got it for $400 and it works great. We have been able to work, play video games and stream our television shows with minimal disruptions. Our cellphones still don’t work in the house because the Starlink doesn’t help with cell service but at least we have internet.

We ventured out a few times for food and shopping during the week but nothing too crazy. There are a lot of nice shopping and dining areas in Cumming and in surrounding towns so we have just about any store or type of cuisine we could need within about a 30 to 45 minute drive of our house.

On Saturday, we decided to be adventurous. This was made considerably more difficult by the fact that it was only about 40 degrees outside with a heavy, constant rain. We already had plans for the following weekend so  this was our only opportunity to knock out a few of the things on our Atlanta Bucket List. We decided that, because of the weather, it would be a great day to visit the World of Coca-Cola. I am a HUGE Coke drinker and couldn’t wait to sample all the different global flavors that they offer guests a taste of and I dragged John along for the ride. In a stroke of absolute insanity, we decided to combine our Coca-Cola adventure with a visit to Centennial Olympic park and SkyView Atlanta because they are within a few blocks of each other. Most of our travels so far have been during the winter months and we have grown accustomed to having most places to ourselves and not waiting in any lines. We forgot that this was Spring Break Week and did not get our World of Coca-Cola tickets until we were almost there on the drive in. When I pulled up the website, it said that everything was sold out until 3:45. It was currently just before noon. We bought tickets for the 3:45 entry and decided to use the time we were waiting to visit Centennial Olympic Park.

Centennial Olympic Park was built for the 1996 Olympic Summer Games which were held here in Atlanta. Residents and visitors visited the park during the games for the Festival of the American South and other celebratory events. On July 27, 1996 a bomb was detonated at this park. The blast killed one person and injured over 100 others. The bomber, Eric Rudolph, went on to plant two more bombs in Georgia and one in Alabama over the next few years until he was arrested in 2003. Unfortunately, during this time law enforcement became focused on Richard Jewell, a man that was working at the park doing security at the time of the explosion. The scrutiny from law enforcement and the media ended up destroying the man’s life. He experienced some relief with the arrest of the actual bomber but the damage had been done. Richard Jewell passed away in 2007 and there is a monument to him in the park as well as tributes to the athletes who competed in these games, the people who made the Olympic events in Atlanta possible, and the victims of the bombing. I highly recommend researching this man and the bombing investigation.

Walking through a giant park in the rain was probably not the best choice we could have made but it was still a good time. The park was lovely and, probably because of the terrible weather, we mostly had the entire place to ourselves. We walked the length of the park to SkyView Atlanta,  a 20 story tall Ferris Wheel that offers great views of the Atlanta skyline and of Centennial Olympic Park. We paid around $20 each for 4 trips around the big wheel but were not able to see much out the windows because of the rain. We also had issues with our gondola windows steaming up because of the cold weather outside but, while we didn’t get the amazing views, we did get a break from the rain.

After our wet walk in the park, we headed back to the car and drove to the Sweet Auburn Market (also known as the Municipal Market). This is an indoor market with various food stalls and market vendors selling produce, baked goods, candy and more. We had just eaten breakfast about an hour prior but still enjoyed a meat pie from Afrodish and picked up a few dessert items for later – some macarons, pralines, and popcorn!

We headed back across town to the World of Coca-Cola around 3:00pm. By the time we parked and walked to the entrance, it was almost time to go in. We had hoped that admissions would slow down by the time we got there but there was a huge (and very disorderly) line to get in. Much to the dismay of the staff, we skipped the souvenir photo opportunity and headed in. A large number of people are allowed in in groups and are herded into a standing room theater where staff members decked out in the Coke version of Willy Wonka’s outfit play a little trivia game and give a brief history. The room is filled with Coke memorabilia spanning years and continents and staff do a good job of pointing out some of the stranger artifacts as well as some of the oldest pieces in the collection.

The next stop is a movie theater for a brief film This film has no education value and instead focuses on the many ways that Coke is a part of life’s celebrations. John and I both agreed that this was a very cultish experience and just felt like a feel-good PR piece – which was completely unnecessary because we had already paid admission to get in! We didn’t need any further convincing of how amazing Coca-Cola is and it actually kind of made me question what exactly I had paid $20 per person for. Usually I pay money to be able to skip the ads and just enjoy the main content.

Following the video, the screen was lifted to reveal the entrance to the actual World of Coca-Cola. It looked like a large portion of the building was under construction but they did have little tables set up in the lobby area for the “Scent Discovery Lab” which is an exhibit where guests smell different samples of things and try to guess the scents. John doesn’t have a great sense of smell but I was able to get all 6 scents presented on one set of tables. The other table was a little trickier as everything just smelled like disinfectant thanks to the staff member heavily spraying sanitizer on the samples. It was greatly appreciated for the sake of germs but kind of took away from the experience a little. Perhaps an odorless cleaner would have been best.

We went into the few exhibit spaces that were open which included the “Secret Formula Vault” where, supposedly, the magical formula for Coca-Cola is kept under constant guard in a high tech safe. The exhibit shares a little about the history of the brand and it’s creation as you wander through. The last section reveals an enormous locked safe with very theatrical lighting and an employee taunting guests with lines like “You didn’t actually think we were going to show you the secret formula, did you?” and just laughing maniacally. While we didn’t expect to actually see the formula, I did expect it to be a little bit more like a museum and less like a hokey carnival sideshow. Honestly, at this point I felt like we had paid to just watch commercials and be made fun of for coming in the first place.

The redeeming part of the trip came as we walked up the stairs to the second floor of the building and entered the sampling area. True, we were promised samples of over 100 different Coca-Cola brand beverages from around the world and it seemed like half of them were out of order, it was still a neat experience to dry these different products. We did try every single item that was available to us with the exception of the Italian drink Beverly. We had previously sampled this product at Epcot in Walt Disney World and it was so terrible that we did NOT need to subject our taste buds to that torture a second time. Some drinks were really interesting and pleasant and others were just terrible (mostly the sparking waters-we were tempted to spit several out Ted Lasso style but managed to keep ourselves under control). One of our favorites was BonBon Anglais from Madagascar which tasted like banana candy-John that it tasted like Runts candy but it made me think of a banana Laffy Taffy. One of the more interesting flavors was a Sour Plum flavored Fanta from China that tasted like barbeque sauce. It wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination but it was very off-putting to be drinking it instead of eating it on chicken. I have seen many recipes that call for marinating meat in soda prior to cooking and this would be absolutely ideal for that.

After drinking so much sugar that we could hear our own heartbeats thudding in our ears, we pried our feet free from the sticky floor and exited through the gift shop. There was an amazing variety of souvenirs including t-shirts, hats, pajama onesies, stuffed animals, Funko Pops, drink bottles and basically anything else you could imagine but we managed to escape with only the purchase of a souvenir sticker to add to our collection and a fairly pronounced case of indigestion as we waddled back to the car.

Traffic was terrible, yet again, but we eventually made it home, stripped out of our wet clothes, and slipped into sugar comas until our next adventure.

Our next adventure in Louisville was visiting the Troll Pub Under the Bridge for dinner. We found this listed on a “Top Things to do in Louisville” article and Angel immediately became intrigued. The Troll Pub is an underground bar in a building literally under one of the many bridges that crosses from Louisville, Kentucky to Indiana.

On the way into Louisville for dinner, we stopped in New Albany, Indiana to check out a few stores we had read about online – The Odd Shop, Earth’s Art, and Raven’s Roost Boutique. Unfortunately, The Odd Shop was closed but we did enjoy shopping in Raven’s Roost and Earth’s Art (a store FULL of fossils and crystals) and although we didn’t buy anything because living in a tiny house isn’t exactly conducive to buying many things, it was definitely a struggle to not purchase EVERYTHING. The town was a little run down and quiet but still fun to walk around for a while. 

The Troll Pub sits in the basement of a beautiful old building across from one of the sporting arenas. Once you see Louie the Troll on the corner of 2^nd and Washington, head down the stairs to enter the pub. The building used to house the Gault Hotel from 1834 until it was destroyed by fire in 1865. At that time, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad built their headquarters on the site and occupied the building until 1907. The area then became known as Whiskey Row as several distilleries set up shop on the street. In 1937, the Ohio River overran its banks and flooded the area, ending the use of the space. In the 1970’s when the building became an artist colony, the space that is now the Troll Pub was filled with dirt and concrete. Finally, in 2010, an investor began converting the space into what it is today and the Troll Pub Under the Bridge opened in 2011.

The pub is deceptively large with many rooms – getting to the restroom was kind of like walking through an urban/industrial maze. We ordered the Fried Chicken and Waffle Sandwich and the Kentucky Hot Brown (an open faced turkey sandwich with bacon, tomato and Mornay sauce that originated in Louisville at the Brown Hotel). We also had the Troll’s Drunken Cheesecake for dessert – a slice of cheesecake with a chocolate and caramel drizzle and served with a shot of bourbon. The food was really good and our waiter was AMAZING. He was so friendly and helpful and had a ton of great information about the history of the surrounding area and nearby attractions.

On the way into Louisville for dinner, we stopped in New Albany, Indiana to check out a few stores we had read about online – The Odd Shop, Earth’s Art, and Raven’s Roost Boutique. Unfortunately, The Odd Shop was closed but we did enjoy shopping in Raven’s Roost and Earth’s Art (a store FULL of fossils and crystals) and although we didn’t buy anything because living in a tiny house isn’t exactly conducive to buying many things, it was definitely a struggle to not purchase EVERYTHING. The town was a little run down and quiet but still fun to walk around for a while. 

After dinner at the Troll Pub we decided to explore downtown Louisville a bit to help digest the insane amount of food. We happened by the 21C Museum Hotel – a hotel with a museum in the lobby and a giant golden Statue of David out front in all his shiny, naked glory. It was evening time and we were surprised to find the museum still open and even more surprised to find out that it was free once we walked in. We got to see an amazing variety of art including crochet pieces, paintings, sculptures, mixed media and even a cool digital exhibit that put your image on the wall under a cascade of letters that collected on your body to spell out words and messages.

November 3^rd is National Sandwich Day and we decided to celebrate by trying Which ‘Wich for the first time. A large part of traveling to new places is trying different foods that we don’t have back at home in Ohio. On this trip, we also got to try Zaxby’s and several small local restaurants and restaurant chains.

One of those new places we got to try was one of the El Nopal locations when we went to dinner with one of my best friends from high school and his son on our first Friday night in town. They had moved to the Louisville area several years ago and were a big factor in the decision to make this one of the stops on our travels. We ordered the Fajitas for two for John and I to share and THEY WERE THE BIGGEST ORDER OF FAJITAS I HAVE EVER SEEN. We both ate our fill for dinner that night and had leftovers to eat for another meal over the weekend. It was insane and very reasonably priced and we got to enjoy hanging out with our friend who we haven’t seen in a LONG time.

On Saturday, we decided to make a day of exploring Southern Indiana- specifically the small town of Corydon. Corydon, Indiana actually served as the state capitol of Indiana before it was moved to Indianapolis in 1825. We walked around the little town square on which still stands the first State Capitol Building and stopped in a few small stores, including Butt Drugs. Aside from having a really great name, Butt Drugs is a pharmacy that also has an adorable old fashioned soda fountain inside. We enjoyed a Shirley Temple (made with ice cream so it was super smooth and amazing) and a Strawberry Phosphates (strawberry fizzy drink) while shopping. We also stopped into a little jewelry store called Capitol Jewelers that I must take a moment and praise right now.

Before we had left Ohio (like two weeks exactly before) I snapped the chain on my necklace. This necklace is very special to me (Angel) as I inherited it from my Great Aunt Roseanne after she passed away. The necklace is a simple gold chain holding a diamond “Journey” pendant from Kay Jewelers. I took my broken necklace to the Kay location at the Polaris Mall in Columbus and, while they didn’t have a chain that I wanted in stock, they promised they would order it and rush it so I could have it before leaving town. Fast forward to two days prior to moving when I called THEM to check on my order and was informed by the first associate I spoke to that they had no record of any order for me in the system but that she would speak to the person that helped me and have them get back to me. When the second associate returned my call, she let me know that the chain I wanted was unavailable so the order was canceled. I had explained my situation and my attachment to this necklace to them and was assured they would take care of me and they never even bothered to follow up with me (I think they honestly just forgot about me). So anyway, we decided to look at the available chains at Capitol Jewelers and I told my story to the two ladies who were working that morning. We didn’t find a chain in stock at the length I wanted but they offered to order it. I told them I was only in town one more week before moving on to our next stop and they promised they would have it for me. I was very skeptical as I had heard all of this before but they actually came through! My necklace came in the following week and was actually a touch too long so they cut it down for me right there the same day and I was wearing it again that afternoon. If you happen to be in the area- give them your business!!!

Anyway, we had brunch reservations at 1816 Modern Kitchen so we walked over there after the jewelry store for brunch. This was a cute little farm-to-table spot that was highly rated online. After some confusion over the lunch menu vs the dinner menu (apparently they don’t offer their lunch menu on the weekends and instead just serve the dinner menu all day) we ordered the Fried Green Tomatoes as an appetizer and the General Tso Pork Belly and Not Ya Momma’s Meatloaf for our entrees. The tomatoes were HEAVENLY but the pork belly as a little tough and the meatloaf was dry. The rice that came with the pork belly was amazing though and I was tempted to lick the plate clean to get every last bit.

We definitely needed some exercise after lunch so we drove to the nearby Indiana Caverns. It turns out Southern Indiana is full of caverns and caves! We got on the very next tour departing and were soon being led down some very steep ramps and an insane amount of stairs into the ground. The caverns were very humid but a comfortable temperature. These caverns are relatively new, having only been opened to the pubic in 2013. This cave is largely undisturbed and you can still see remains of several animals laying exactly as they were discovered, perfectly preserved in the mud that fills the cave. Our guide pointed out amazing rock formations and remains as we walked deeper and deeper into the cave system. At times, the ceilings were so low that even Angel (5’3’’) had to duck so you can imagine John crab-walking his way through the passageways. This system also contains an underground stream which widens enough for them to run boats through a portion.

On the boat ride at the very back of the cave, the guide turns off the lights and it is absolute and total darkness. No light finds its way into the cave – which I kind of expected- but the thing that surprised us the most was the absence of sound when the guide asked everyone to be silent for a moment and then killed the boat’s motor. Because of the dampness of the walls and the stillness of the water – there is NO SOUND there at all. The silence is actually deafening. We were told that there were not even bats this deep in the cave because their echolocation does not work there. That doesn’t mean that there was no life, however. Our guide did point out the pure white, blind creatures that live in the water – salamanders, and crayfish. With this cave system, there is only one tour entrance and it is the same as the exit. This means that once we reached the deepest point of the tour, we had to turn around and walk back. Back through the narrow, low passages. Back through the super cool rock formations. And back up all of those stairs and steep inclines we had used to get down there. On top of being out of shape, the moisture of the cave also made breathing difficult and Angel ended up having to use her inhaler once we got back home. She maintains that it was totally worth it, though.

On Sunday, we woke up and decided that we hadn’t done enough walking on Saturday so we headed back to Louisville. On the way, we stopped for breakfast at Wild Eggs in New Albany. The place was PACKED. We had made a reservation and even with that we had about a half an hour wait for our table. They were incredibly short staffed and the kitchen was backed up and we think our original server quit in the middle of taking care of us (not because of us, though, we were understanding and nice) because we never saw her again and a new server introduced herself to us and took over partway through our meal. The Wild Mushroom and Garlic Scramble and the Kalamity Katie’s Border Benedict were really good – but the blueberry muffins took the cake. They were so soft and delicious and actually chockfull of real, juicy blueberries. This is a local chain so check them out if you happen across a location – hopefully your service experience will be better than ours but you won’t regret the food.

After fueling up for the day, we drove the short distance to the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum. Neither of us are super into baseball but we both played baseball/softball as kids and John has a love of woodworking and we decided that Louisville Slugger was just such a famous American brand that we had to check it out. All of the Louisville Slugger bats are made there in Louisville, Kentucky – from the bats that you can purchase at your local sporting goods stores to the ones used by your favorite Major League player- using wood from Pennsylvania.

It was a very interesting experience to see how those trees are turned into those iconic bats. John enjoyed seeing the wood in its various stages and watching the giant lathes and other machines at work. We got to hold a few billets and a few specialty bats and got to take home a small souvenir bat at the end of the tour. The museum was also more interesting than I expected. They had artifacts from some of the greats including Shoeless Joe Jackson and Joltin Joe DiMaggio. They even had a few things about the All American Girls Professional Baseball League and an exhibit that showed you what it was like to face down a 90mph fastball.

These couple of days were on the exhausting side of tiring so I think that is enough for today. Next time we will show our trip to the Louisville Zoo, an abandoned island park, a high end distillery tour, and more next post. Hope to see you there.