Super 8 La Grange Ky LaGrange

Couldn't sleep so off we went at 3:45AM- heading South. Set our New talking Garmin GPS system for Taylorsville State Park near Taylorsville, KY. The GPS chatters away telling you how far, where to turn and if you make a mistake her favorite word is "recalculating". I say 'she' because the Garmin uses a soothing female voice. I suppose Garmin does that so when their information is incorrect it helps keep one calm.

We nicknamed the GPS ...

... the trams around the city.

Monday - day trip to Sintra

Tuesday - roam around the city some more then fly to Terceira, Azores (4 hours ahead of Louisville time).

I'll be in the Azores from 9/8 through 9/17 for work. Only thing on the agenda (other than my pesky job) for right now is a half day whale watching tour on ...

A short walk from the hotel lead us to the Louisville Convention Center and my first Kentucky Starbucks. I made it a mocha since it doubled as my breakfast. I asked the barista if they carried city mugs and he replied with a slight southern tang, "Nope. Small market."

Right.

... s. He built an actual hotel in 1835 that was visited and praised by Charles Dickens, Jefferson Davis and 3 presidents. According to my informational magazine in the hotel (the one I'm reading in the photo...) army guys Sherman and Grant plotted a battle together in the hotel. That hotel burned to the ground and was replaced in 1869, only to be torn down in 1921. Al J ...

... as that's all i plan on taking aside from my laptop/electronic backpack...Chad in general is anxious and nervous...kind of endearing...he's never been out of the country (not even Mexico and Canada, which in my book don't count anyway)...watching his eyes open to the world...the varying languages, cultures, real European food and the history or art is what I think will be most entertaining this time around....though ...

Thunder Over Louisville. What is this you may ask? The biggest party in Kentucky. Technically speaking, Thunder is an all day event... Starting as early as 4 AM and ending when ever the traffic clears enough for you to get home.

People go crazy for Thunder. They get there super early in the morning or even camp out the night before on the great lawn to get the best seats for the show. By the show, I mean, the biggest annual fireworks display in the world that is themed and lasts for ...

... WV lies right on the border with Kentucky. Charleston is built on the Kanawha River at the base of the mountains. We saw barges piled high with coal ready to go down the river and trains with empty coal cars heading down toward the river. It also has a beautiful gold domed capital building that really stands out in the midst of the other buildings of the city. We crossed the Kanawha River four times while going through Charleston so it is a ...

... a week. But if you go after 8PM be prepared to wait at least 10 minutes to get a table. It's totally worth it between the food, hookah, and atmosphere.

Wicks Pizza: Louisville's best pizza place. L-ville has a lot of pizzaria's. But wicks is the best. Nice big portions, with amazing ingredients. Plus, reasonably priced! I highly suggest it.

... any particular destination in mind, which is the best kind of trail when you're a kid whose choices for the day are either wandering aimlessly through the woods or helping your grandma snap string beans and pick bunches of okra. I've never cared for okra, so off into the woods I went with relatively cavalier disregard for the fact that a good many of those caves in which I would poke played host to packs of wild dogs. Consider for a moment that the tame dog, Annie, once showed up on ...

... friends. They joined two friends from school - Danny and Robby (now known as Dan and Rob, of course) - in forming our first real gang. We spent most of our time exploring the woods, because the expansion butted against the big woods - infinite and dark and completely unscathed by development. One had but to step a few feet beyond the line of trees to become completely lost in time and place. Sometimes doubly so in place, but in time we managed to chart our way through the trees ...