Riding the Bourbon Trail

I don't drink, and if I do I don't drink a lot. However, I like bourbon. The hubs and I had a great time riding the bourbon trail a few years back! 

Wild Turkey

Makers Mark... you can dip your own bottle!

Heaven Hill

Jim Beam

Evan Williams

A Year in Kentucky

While the hubs was in school, we lived in a small town in Kentucky for a year. It was quiet, it was slow, and ti was nice to have that right after we got out of the Marine Corps. It was rough at times. Hubs went to school in Nashville and drove back and forth every weekend to be with us. I worked at a factory and started working 12 hour shifts, usually 7 days straight on overnights. Finding time to see my hubs, kids, and do anything was a challenge, but we got through it. We visited Mammoth Cave, the Louisville Zoo, the Louisville Slugger Museum, and the Railpark Museum!

USS North Carolina and USS Alabama

Y'all, I seriously love history. I love military history. So when I have the chance to go on a battleship I am going to jump on it. We have been to 2 now, the USS North Carolina and the USS Alabama. Seriously, I love them.

Fun in South Carolina

South Carolina brings back so many memories for me, not all of them pleasant. Going through boot camp there with the sand and the fleas is still enough to make me shudder. But outside of the Marines, there were some fun to be had! We would go see family every couple months so we got to do a lot. We took my Emmett to Parris Island, Huntington Beach Lighthouse, the tourist trap South of the Border, Myrtle Beach for our last Marine Corps Birthday ball, Old Sheldon Church, and the farmers market down the street from the family in the fall. It is such a beautiful old place!

Life in North Carolina

Once we left Japan, we lived in North Carolina for a little while. Now, I don't like North Carolina the way I liked Japan, but it had its perks. They had an aquarium close enough to us that we could go when we wanted. The beach was about 20 minutes away. There is a ton of history. As it will become apparent, I love history, especially old forts, museums, dusty libraries, and the like. Tryon Palace, Fort Macon, the birthplace of Pepsi, maritime museum, and the beach was just some of the wonderful things we did! 

The marks left from a cannon ball rolling down the steps. 

The only wine we will drink! 

Albino turtle from the aquarium. 

2 of the artifacts on display at the Maritime Museum. 

My sweet Silas at 4 days old at the pumpkin patch.

My Emmett watching the show.

Birth place of Pepsi

Tryon palace 

Hiroshima

Hands down, Hiroshima is one of the most sobering places I have been. To see the A-Bomb building which was the only building left after the atomic bomb was dropped. Just to see it and the museum made me cry more than once. I know Emmett was too small to remember it, but it is something that he will never forget.

The Cherry Blossoms

Y'all. I spent 2 years in Japan and only saw the cherry blossoms once. You might wonder what in the world is wrong with me and trust me I ask myself that all the time. I can't even describe the beauty that is cherry blossoms and no picture can do them justice!

Safari Land

Safari Land was another one of those places where you just can't miss. You drive through the park in your car while all sorts of animals walked around. At one point I looked over and was about 5 feet away from a rather large tiger! We got to pet an elephant and kangaroos. 

Meet MiMi! 

Miya Jima Island

Miya Jima is a little island that is full of food, fun, and deer. In order to get there you had to take a ferry across. On the way you could see the cormorants in the water, the Torii gate, amd when it was warm people kayaking. Now back to the deer. There are so many wild roaming deer there! You had to be really careful or else they would try and steal your food, which we learned the hard way they like fries and ice cream. There was also cute little aquarium where the tops of most of the tanks were at eye level so you could look over into the tank. We spent a lot of time here too. We did go to one festival called Walk on Fire and it was so neat to see and participate in. People would wright their prayers on a thin piece of wood, which they then threw into the fire. The priests were also blessing items that people would bring up and my husband stood in line for ages waiting to get his sunglasses (of all things!) blessed. He then lost them later!

Funny story about this one! My brother in law got me a picture frame for Christmas last year and the stock picture in it looked so familiar. To the point that I HAD TO KNOW where it came from. As it turns out, it was almost this exact picture. For a moment I thought someone ripped off my picture and sold it to World Market! 

Here I am walking through fire! The small rock I stepped on once I got done walking hurt more than the ashes!