Getting crafty with pumpkins

So y'all know we love a good trip to the pumpkin patch (see these posts from 2008, 2009, and 2011...how did I not blog about the 2010 trip? and how did I miss the pumpkin patch altogether in 2012??).  Anyhow, this year brought an extra special opportunity--Miss Kate's first trip to the pumpkin patch!  The places we've visited previously sort of specialize in more grown-up fun (corn mazes, etc), and I knew this year was really more of a photo-op kind of trip, so we chose the patch that I see most often in pictures on Facebook--Boyd's Orchards over in Woodford County.

From a picture taking/fall foods purchasing standpoint, it did not disappoint.

(Yes, that's a butternut squash in our cart.  It turned into a most delicious butternut squash soup later that day.) Honestly, from a 'fun to be had' standpoint, I wasn't particularly impressed.  The play area had a ton of fun looking things to do (huge slides, swings, and hay pyramids), but they charge $10 per kid and $7 per adult to get in and the adults can't even take part in the sliding fun.  Obviously we didn't pay $25 to watch other people's children play, but I'm not certain we would be up for spending that much when Kate is old enough to play there herself.

It might be worth going back for the pictures, though.

And the yummy fall food.  We ended up buying three pumpkins--one large one for the front porch and two small pie pumpkins that serve as the subject of today's post (I'm getting to that)--as well as the butternut squash and a small gourd that Kate took a liking to.  Oh, and a half dozen pumpkin donuts and a half dozen apple cider donuts.  Mmmmmm....

So anyhow, back to that craft I mentioned. We aren't typically pumpkin carvers around the MP, but I felt like we should have pictures of some sort of pumpkin related thing for Kate's first Halloween.  After a quick google search, it became clear that knives and babies don't really mix, but that water-based craft paint and babies totally do.  So I grabbed a bottle of black craft paint from my craft room, prepped one of the pie pumpkins with a contact paper stencil and let Little Miss go to town.  Dear Lord, it was a mess.  I spent more time in the bathtub cleaning her up than she spent "painting".

At least the picture turned out well, right?  Also, on the right, you'll see the pumpkin that I had a little fun with after Kate went down for her nap.  (We did buy two pumpkins, after all.)  These pumpkins will be sitting out looking seasonably festive for a couple weeks then we'll wash them down, roast them up, and enjoy some pumpkin pie!

Oh, and a little bonus craftiness--after picking out Kate's outfit for the day, I decided she looked like a little boy.  So I grabbed some purple tulle and black ribbon from the craft room and folded/stitched it together with a couple buttons to make a cute little "girl" hair bow.  Kate did a great job keeping it on her head!

Can you canoe?

Remember last August when my dreams of canoeing the Kentucky River were dashed?  Well, while J and I were in Kingsport, TN, a few weeks ago I heard about river rafting near there.  I tried to make plans, but the scheduled tours just didn't coincide with our schedule.  That idea, though, reminded me of the Kentucky River tour, and I called last week to see if they were offering it this summer.  They were!  When Allison called back to confirm our reservation, she confirmed that the lock would be open (YAY!), and then mentioned that it would be closing this week for months of construction.  Wait...we actually landed on the right side of luck this time??

So here we are, canoeing (J's first time ever), locking down, paddling past Buffalo Trace Distillery (which, of course, smelled as delicious from the river as it does the road!), swimming (me, at least...right before I stepped on an errant shell and sliced my toe open...about that luck thing...), and locking back up the river!  We joined a group of folks from Louisville, and had two tour guides. I highly recommend this tour (at least, after the lock re-opens) and you can expect to see J and me heading back to the River and over to Elkhorn Creek again soon!

Preparing to enter the lock from upstream

Buffalo Trace

Immediately after paddling into the lock from downstream; the lower door is still open behind us.

A picture of me taking a picture of the rest of our group while hanging out in the lock.  The upper door (gate?) is built on top of the damn, so water pours in under the gate while we wait.  I suspect that's part of the construction work planned.  The dark line on the wall is the water level when the upper gate is open, so we had a while to wait at this point.

Field Trip!

J and I went on a field trip to eastern Tennessee this weekend.  A good friend from DAR was married in Kingsport, TN, on Saturday and we decided to make a weekend of it.  Kingsport is about four hours south-east of Lexington.  There are a couple of ways to get there, so we tried one on the way down and another on the trip back.

To get there, we took I-75 south about an hour to Corbin, KY (birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken!), then turned southeast to the Cumberland Gap. From the Cumberland Gap we turned east into Virginia.  That part of the trip was beautiful, with rolling fields of hay and tree-covered mountains behind them.  We arrived in Kingsport just in time for the Rehearsal/Welcome Dinner.  This BBQ was held in a barn/pavillion on the grounds of the historic Allandale Mansion.  Best part?  The ice cream truck that showed up just before dinner!  The whole wedding weekend was full of sweet, personal touches like the ice cream truck--in this case, the bride's grandfather always supported dessert first, so in his memory, we all enjoyed our ice cream before the meal!  After dinner there was dancing (to Gomer and the Three Pyles) late into the night.

Saturday morning, J and I woke up late, enjoyed breakfast by the pool, and then headed out to investigate Kingsport.  Kingsport is largely an industrial town (Eastman Chemicals is located there), but they are working to become more fitness-friendly.  One part of that mission is the Greenbelt, a linear park connecting historic and scenic properties throughout town.

We wandered around one part of it for a couple miles walking across a suspension bridge over the Holston River (and back--yikes!!) and past the Netherland Inn and old Boatyards of Kingsport.

Side note--the suspension bridge was narrow and swayed horribly when you walked across it.  I insisted on going across it because I strongly believe in doing things that make me uncomfortable (remember when I did the same thing on the Navy Pier ferris wheel in Chicago?), and it definitely succeed in making me uncomfortable.  Here is a picture of my trying really hard to look calm and collected.  I wasn't.

And here's J actually looking calm and collected.  Not surprisingly, he was.

Not too much farther along the bridge after we took these pictures, a jogger came across from the other side.  Remember when I said it swayed horribly when walking on it?  Y'all.  Y'all!  He was jogging! And the bridge is really only wide enough for one person!  J was pressed against the side of the bridge, but I was barely off center of the bridge, so needless to say the jogger had to stop running and squeeze around me.  It was not a pleasant experience.

We tried to follow the Greenbelt downtown, but apparently that part of the park hasn't been completed (or marked!).  We drove downtown, where we checked out the farmers market and then  wandered over to Broad Street.  Kingsport was clearly laid out and Broad was once a thriving downtown area.  It is still active, but mostly with antique shops and law offices.  At one end of Broad is the old train station (now a bank):

At the other end, about three blocks away, is Church Circle, where four of the original churches in town (including the church that hosted the wedding) share space.  We ate lunch at TK's Big Dog, a hot dog shop that ships in dogs, buns and toppings from New York, Chicago, the west coast, Philadelphia, Boston, etc.  It was a great concept and a great meal.  We also stopped in at the Stir Fry Cafe for a tasting, but weren't terribly impressed.  Because he insists its a cool picture (he's right), here's a picture of J with the menu:

Finally, we dropped into Paper, a stationary store.  J convinced me to buy a couple rolls of paper that I fell in love with.  He thought they made good weapons, too...

The wedding and reception after were tons of fun, and I was so happy to have shared in my friend's day.  After a late night at the reception, J and I slept in and enjoyed a leisurely drive back through Tennessee and southeastern Kentucky to get home.  While not long enough to consider it a vacation, it was so nice to get out of town for a couple days and explore a new part of the country.

Toes in the sand

On our first day in Emerald Isle, J and I walked down to the ocean to dip our toes in the water.  I decided to show you just one picture of the series of a dozen or so that it took to catch the waves at just the right placement.  I've got several of the water too far out and some of the foam around our ankles, but this was the shot I was going for.

I'll share more pictures from our vacation next week!

Single Barrel Goodness

Remember the other day when I told you about our weekend?  I held back on sharing pictures so I could use one for today's post.  This one, while easily the worst quality picture, is my favorite.  On our tour, we went through the bottling facility for Buffalo Trace's small batch and single barrel bourbons.  Here, they actually opened a barrel and emptied it in front of us.  So cool!  I think these barrels were filled in 1993. 

Thankful Thursday--September 29

Y'all know there is just one big thing for me to be thankful for this week (Okay, not true--I have lots more to be thankful for, but today, this is what is on my mind).  Today marks four years of marriage to the best husband a girl could hope for.  Happy Anniversary J!

(I couldn't pick just one picture for the whole four years, so I picked one from our wedding day and one from each of the last four anniversary picture sessions.  Enjoy!)

Winning Weekend

Some weekends are just good, and I think most of those happen in the fall.  Why?  Probably because it is my favorite season and I just enjoy it more.  I don't know.  But anyhow, I thought I'd share our weekend with y'all.

Friday night, we met friends for supper at a new TexMex place in town called Chuys.  This is a chain that started in Texas and is actually pretty good.   Now, it certainly won't replace our local Mexican place, but the chips and salsa were great (I think both were made fresh on-site). 

Saturday, J let me sleep in, then we headed out to the walking path.  The weather was beautiful and it's been entirely too long since we exercised regularly.  We got back from the walk in time for me to run over to church for a women's group movie afternoon (Thank goodness "everyone is welcome" at St. R, because I'm sure they'd have turned me away without my shower otherwise!).  We finished the day at Devine's Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch.  Now, I'd seen a few commercials for this farm, located about 45 minutes away in Mercer County, and was charmed by the idea of a nightly bonfire with s'mores.  The only problem was that, other than the corn mazes (yes, multiple mazes!), most of the activities seemed kid-focused.  Not a problem, we called our friend Becky and asked to borrow the Superkid for the evening.  We all had a fabulous time on the jumping pillow, tri-cycle race course, rubber ducky races, slides, etc.  In addition, a hayride and pumpkin (pick-your-own at a the pumpkin patch that the hay ride takes you out to) are included in the cost of admission, which isn't always the case.  The only problem with taking Superkid with us was that his bedtime corresponds with darkness, and the bonfire isn't lit until dark.  So, while I wouldn't trade getting to participate in any of the 'kid' activities, we might have to head back out there for a fire and s'mores!




The Superkid leading the way through the corn maze. Actually, according to him, the ear of corn in his left hand led us out of the maze!

 

J and me, with the Superkid, on the hay ride.

Sunday was another busy day (though not quite as busy as Saturday).  J and I each went in to work before church, then headed to Harry's for football and nachos.  I left right after nachos to head downtown for the Walk to End Alzheimers.  Two of The Girl's dad suffers from early onset Alzheimers, and one of them decided to create a team to raise money for Alzheimers research.  Several of us actually walked with her team a couple of years ago in Cincinnati.  This year, she couldn't make the Cincy walk and decided to do it in Lexington, instead.  I was so happy I could walk with her and her family again.  After the walk, I watched a little football with J, had a great trip to Michael's (between sales and coupons, I saved something like $40--more than 50%!), and spent the rest of my day curled up on the couch. 

How was your weekend?

A Sign of September

Among my favorite things about September (first day of Autumn, first day of professional football, traditional first day of school and all the awesome back to school supplies that comes with that season) is my anniversary.  One particularly nice thing (of the ten thousand particularly nice things that made up our wedding celebration/receptions) about our wedding was the blue eucalyptus wreaths that were hung on the front doors of the chapel, then again on the front doors of the Bell House, where we had our Lexington reception.  J and I kept the wreaths, and each September I hang one on the front door as a little month-long reminder of the very special day that comes at the end.  Especially now that we have a working storm door, the scent of the eucalyptus when I open the front door in the morning is still so potent--I love it!

Waaahhhh!

Okay, so let me preface this by saying that I know there are folks who have it much worse than me.  I know that there are earthquakes and hurricanes and injury and death and all sorts of awful things going on.  I'm aware of those things, and I pray that the injuries and death and damage to much of the east coast this weekend are minimal. 

All that said, I was really looking forward to sharing our plans for the weekend with you today.  Like, I was really, really excited about them. 

What plans?  I signed us up to go canoeing on the Elhorn Creek.  Visit the website for Canoe Kentucky to learn more about it, and you'll see why I was so excited.  Click on the "water conditions" link and you'll see why those hopes were dashed.  The creek is especially low, and we've not had enough rain in the last month to make it possible for small, active people to get through the route without having to get out and push their canoe 'four or five times'.  Y'all know J and I are not small (or even on the small-ish side).  I shared that with the owner and she replied that if we were hoping to just float along with the current and enjoy the creek, Saturday is not the day to do it.  Crushed.

The owner tried to help by suggesting we look into the Kentucky River route (in twenty feet of water, there would be no chance of anyone, even us, dragging the bottom).  I'll be honest, I was kind of 'meh' about it.  It costs more and there's no current, so we'd be working for every moment of it.  Also, this route goes through downtown Frankfort, which is great for sight-seeing, but not really the relaxing day on the creek I'd pictured in my head.

Then, I spotted the guided Kentucky River tour.  Y'all!  You get to lock through a lock built in the 1800's!  I've never even been in a 'modern' lock--this one sounds awesome!  So I called Allison back with my new plan.  Which was when I learned that there is a fundraiser Saturday night that has cancelled the guided tour.  Seriously?!?  Allison noted that we could come back any time (well, to the creek after we get some rain or to the guided tour any Friday or Saturday), but then she remembered that the lock closes after Labor Day.  So...we have four days left to actually go through the lock.  One of those days I'll be at a wedding; one of those days I'll be sailing with my youth group; one of those days I have other plans.  That leaves us with Labor Day.  We'll see.

In the mean time, I'm plan-less for Saturday.  Since I've been out of town the last few weekends, I really wanted to plan something fun for us to do, hence my crushing sadness when my 'perfect' plan went south.  I'll let you know what we end up with!

Slip Sliding Away

In Friday's post I shared my anxiety about ziplining through the Red River Gorge on Saturday.  I figure it is only fair to reward your concern (you were concerned, right?) with some pictures of the fabulous view! 

I've zipped a few times previously, all at scout camps with relatively small zip lines.  In those, you hook in, step (or sit down on and scootch) off a small platform, zip towards a tree or utility pole, then slide back and forth until gravity brings you to the middle of the line, where you unhook and climb down a ladder that it set up for you.  Those experiences have been scariest for me because you don't really test the line until after you jump off the platform and drop ten to fifteen feet.  For control-freak me, jumping into thin air and hoping the zip line catches you seems a little counter-intuitive. 

This zipline experience was more like the kind you see on  reality TV shows where there are several ziplines connected in a series.  Two of the five lines were even double zip lines so you could "race" a partner across the line!  The best part, for me, was that you were hooked into the zipline at least a couple feet before the edge of the platform and could put all of your weight onto the line before you actually left the safety of the platform.  If things were going to go horribly wrong (odds are totally in favor of nothing going wrong, by the way) the second I put my weight on the line I was still over the platform and would only drop a couple feet to safety.  Silly as it sounds, that's enough to mostly calm my nerves.

So I was still nervous enough on the first couple of lines that I forgot to take pictures, but imagine short-ish lines (150-300 feet probably) that go through trees.  Our guides joked that when the lines opened they could reach out and grab leaves as they passed through the trees.  The platforms are connected by bridges that help you climb to higher levels between each line.  Then, after the third line we climbed up a hill out of the woods to a clearing.  From the clearing we could see all the way across and around the Red River Gorge.  While it's beautiful in August, I can only imagine how pretty it's going to be this fall!

From the clearing we climbed up to a platform (another perk over my previous zip experiences--you climb steps to platforms rather than climbing straight up a pole!), which then lead us up another bridge to a higher tower.  Finally, I had the presence of mind to pull out my phone and take a picture.  Here, you can see the bridge to the higher tower and across the Gorge to our landing zone--the brown spot that you can see between the uprights of the tower.  This line (Line 4) is the longest of the lines at nearly 2,000 feet.  Clearly, we travelled well above the treetops on this one!

What I loved about Line 4 is that it was long enough to step off, realize just how fast we were going, look down and realize just how high up I was, realize I was starting to slow down, sit back and enjoy the ride, then prepare to land.  The shorter lines just don't last long enough to go through all of those emotions!  The guides told us that was one of the better ones to take pictures from, but I still wasn't confident enough to let go and grab my camera! 

Here is a picture I took after I unhooked looking back at the tower.  From here, we climbed a little higher then zipped back across the Gorge to the Cliffview Inn, which is on the right side of the picture. 

Finally, this is a picture of me at the end of the course with the landing platform for Line 5 in the background. 

I seriously cannot say enough about what an amazing experience the guides at Kentucky Zipline Adventures offered us!  While the experience seemed a bit pricey (just under $100), the two hours of beautiful views, professional facilitation and camaraderie more than made up for the cost.  I am so thankful to the former co-workers who invited me along, and I'm already looking forward to going back!

Pardon me boys...

Yep, I'm back to using a song lyric as a post title.  Do you know the next line?  Well, instead of the Chattanooga Choo-choo, J and I took a trip on the Lexington choo-choo Tuesday night.  My Old Kentucky Dinner Train, which is typically based out of Bardstown, KY, did a special run out of Lexington this week, and being the train people we are (I talked about one of our past adventures here), I jumped at the chance to buy tickets.  Here we are getting ready to board:

Greetings from Hot Springs!

Y'all might remember that two days ago, I was hassling my mom about visiting Hot Springs, Arkansas. Well, after two days of slipping it into conversation at every chance, she finally relented and we stopped by on our way north today.

For those of y'all who don't know Hot Springs, there are more than forty natural springs on Hot Springs Mountain that flow out just above the city. In the early 1900's people flocked to the springs for their medicinal powers. Later, they city captured the springwater and private investors built huge bathhouses for the visitors. There is even an old hospital built in the early 1930's for military veterans healing from World War I. That area around the springs was declared a National Park in 1921--the eighteenth national park in the U.S.

The National Park Service operates one of the old bathhouses, the Fordyce, as a museum (some are still in operation as bathhouses). It is absolutely amazing, with three floors devoted to the baths and people who used them. I was most impressed by the men's bath hall. It was stunning! The hall made up the central part of the building with other rooms (each designed to meet a specific need using the spring water) surrounding it. Among those rooms was the women's bath hall. In the golden age of bathing, it was advertised as 'equal in every way' to the men's bath hall. Believe me, it wasn't.

While I don't necessarily think of Little Rock/Hot Springs as a vacation destination, you can bet I'll be after J to schedule a trip back. I'd love to stay at the Arlington (built in the golden age of bathing, it is just across the street from the last building on Bathhouse Row), eat at Al Capone's old place, 'take the waters' and enjoy a taste of early twentieth century !

Through fog, through rain...

I felt a bit like a member of the US Postal Service today. My mom and I realized last week that I had several consecutive days off this week and decided that there was just enough time to squeeze in a quick road trip to visit my grandmother (of the living room) in Texas. I left Lexington yesterday after the plumbers left and drove the four hours to my folks' in western Kentucky, then we woke up and headed out this morning.

The first leg of the trip was insanely foggy (like, the pea-soup variety of fog), but it finally cleared (mostly) by the time we passed into Tennessee. It came back a bit as we approached the Mississippi River near Dyersburg, but not nearly as thick as it had been . We crossed into Missouri briefly, then made it to Arkansas. We were most impressed to have made it to our fourth state of the day in less than two and a half hours. I guess I forgot that we'd be spending most of the trip in Arkansas.

Just over the border, about the time the rain started, we came to the town of Burdette, which is my mom's maiden name. So what do you do when you're on a road trip with limited time? You stop and visit. Burdette is 105 years old and built on what was once a cotton plantation. There is still a huge cotton farm in the fields around town. At less than one square mile, we managed to drive around, through and back around (and to make stops at two of the three businesses in town--the post office and water company; no one was in at the Burdette Farm Office) in about thirty minutes.

We got back on the interstate and realized it was lunch time, so hopped back off at the next exit to grab a bite to eat. Needless to say, we managed to over-correct the quick time we had been making and between the two side trips, lost an hour or so. The rain got heavier as we approached Memphis, and shortly after turning west on I-40 it turned into snow. Not fun, and mom probably wasn't helped by my assurances that 'we were on the edge of the system' and it'd be 'sunshine and blue skies soon'!

But! Just before we got to Little Rock, what should appear? Why, the sunshine and blue skies! I'd actually started to give up hope (oh wait, we're in Arkansas, where Hope is a place we still believe in!)...

We stopped for the night south of Little Rock and have another 150 miles to go tomorrow. I'm trying to convince mom that we should take a side trip to the diamond park nearby (finders keepers!!) tomorrow before we set out. Seeing as she nixed a side trip to Hot Springs earlier today, I'm not expecting to win that battle, either.

See you tomorrow!

Cats! Cats! Cats!

Proof that a good time (and Mingua Beef Jerkey!) was had by all! The partner who gave J the tickets has awesome seats, and I love when we get to use them! And, we got there early, so we had plenty of time to enjoy some Cattlemen's Association cheesesteaks before the game got started!

C-A-T-S

Confession: I did not grow up in a sports-minded family.

Now, mind you, this wasn't actually a problem until I was ten and realized that I had just been transplanted into a community that almost scheduled days off for the State Basketball Tournament because the girls team at the high school (yes, "the" high school, as in, the only high school in the county that every other school fed into) had already won a couple tournaments that decade and regularly made it to the tournament. Oh, and this community is in Kentucky, home to the phenomenon that is UK basketball.

To say I was out of place would be a serious understatement.

Fast forward to 2002, when I moved to Lexington to attend grad school at UK. I made it to several football games, but still maintained a safe distance from Rupp Arena.

Fast forward again to 2005, when I realized that my new boyfriend J (later to become the hubs) was a huge UK fan. Like, 'super-grumpy if his team lost; super-grumpy if couldn't watch a game on TV; all plans were cancelled if he got his hand on a ticket' kind of fan. That first basketball season was interesting, to say the least.

Fast forward to today. There has been a lot of compromise, and to be honest, it's probably a 70-30 kind of compromise where J gets the short end of the stick. It's hard to live here without following the team just a little, and it is impossible not to get a little excited when you are one of 20K+ people all cheering for the Blue and White. But he has definitely come farther--not every game has to be watched, among other things. We do try to get to a game every season (well, J still tries harder; I usually get to share the tickets once), and tonight is that night for us!

Wish me luck as I fight rush hour to get downtown (with most of those 20K+ fans) in time for the game!

By pilgrim foot and knee!

Note: I returned Sunday afternoon from the NSDAR 2010 Schools Tour. I blogged daily about the trip on the KSDAR website, and decided to cross-post them here, too, just in case any non-KSDAR folks were interested in hearing about the trip. This is the tenth and final post of the trip, but you can read all of the posts in chronological order here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here!

Day Ten, October 17, 2010--Home!

Greetings!

Well, 1,550 miles and nine days after leaving Washington, DC, we arrived in Abingdon, VA, this morning for a farewell brunch at the Martha Washington Inn. The brunch was absolutely amazing, and it was so nice to sit down one last time with the amazing women I have met or gotten to know better this week.

Our leaders, both at the National level and across the states, are an incredibly diverse group of women who all hold our mission of commitment to Historic Preservation, Education, and Patriotism dear to their hearts. While our State Themes and Projects are varied, I learned this week that our hearts are not. As Daughters, we are all united in our love for the children served through the various programs of our DAR Schools.

Our National Schools Chairman shared an interesting analogy with us on the bus the other day. She said that knowing about our DAR schools is like being a grandparent—you can be told how great it is, but until you experience it for yourself, you cannot really know. Our schools are a bit of the same—it takes visiting the schools to really know them. I hope that I have been, and will continue to be able to share with you a bit of my experience, but I urge you each to consider making your own trips to our schools. While our trip was planned, the staff at each school stressed that we (all of the Daughters) are welcome any time!

As I noted at the beginning of this trip, I am available at any time to answer questions you might have. If I didn’t learn the answer this week, odds are our State Schools Chairman already knows it! Call, email, or catch me at the Fall Festival or Fall Board of Management next week!

Title: America, the Beautiful

Till paths be wrought through wilds of thought

Note: I returned Sunday afternoon from the NSDAR 2010 Schools Tour. I blogged daily about the trip on the KSDAR website, and decided to cross-post them here, too, just in case any non-KSDAR folks were interested in hearing about the trip. Read all of the posts in chronological order here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here!

Day Nine, October 16, 2010--The Biltmore Estate

Greetings!

The school visits part of our tour has come to an end, but our tour chairmen planned a day of fun for us on our trek back to Washington, D.C. with a stop at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.

We started our day in Clemson, South Carolina, and settled into our bus ride with many questions about the schools we visited this week. Luckily, the President General, National Schools Chairman, and a representative from the Development Office were all on our bus for the second half of the tour, so we were able to ask our questions in a great forum! The Schools Chair was a particularly good sport, as we grilled her on everything from funding to paint!

We arrived at the Biltmore just before lunch and proceeded to the Deerpark Inn on the grounds for a wonderful buffet meal, complete with bread pudding for dessert. Our Kentucky VPG and I noted that it could only be improved with some good Kentucky Bourbon sauce!

We then took the next two hours to tour the main house, which was a treat for me, as I have never been there. The staff started decorating for Christmas last week, so we were able to see those decorations in a few of the rooms. The house will be in full Christmas décor between early November and early January for holiday tours.

After we left the Biltmore, we enjoyed driving through more of North Carolina and a brief visit to Tennessee and then Virginia, where we have stopped in Bristol for the evening. The trees in this part of the world have really started to put on their autumn show and we found ourselves exclaiming at their beauty as we climbed back into the mountains. After a wonderful dinner provided by the hotel, I got in a quick exercise session with the other “Healthy Heart DARlings” and am ready to call it a night! Home tomorrow!!

Title: America, the Beautiful

From Sea to Shining Sea!

Note: I returned Sunday afternoon from the NSDAR 2010 Schools Tour. I blogged daily about the trip on the KSDAR website, and decided to cross-post them here, too, just in case any non-KSDAR folks were interested in hearing about the trip. Read all of the posts in chronological order here, here, here, here, here, here, and here!

Day 8, October 15, 2010--Tamassee DAR School

Greetings!

Today we visited our fifth and final school of the 2010 NSDAR Schools Tour (the sixth DAR School—The Hillside—is located in New England, and is not on the tour). While the stories and backgrounds of the Crossnore students tugged my heart, and the KDS children completely charmed me with their affection for the DAR, it is the Tamassee students with whom I have fallen in love.

We arrived at Tamassee to a series of yellow, red, and blue balloons (the symbol of the DAR Schools committee during the Wright administration). We immediately collected a bag lunch and went to assigned cottages to eat our lunches and tour the cottages with the children. There are currently 40 students in pre-K through high school living in five cottages at Tamassee. I went to the California-Pouch Cottage, which is home to eight little boys aged 5-13. The oldest was away from a home visit, but the others were eager to talk and share their home (and “pet” lizard) with me.

For the last two years, the National Junior Committee has provided Wal-Mart Gift Cards to each child at Tamassee as a part of our gift to the schools through the Helen Pouch Memorial Fund. I was entrusted with the gift cards for the boys at California-Pouch, and enjoyed visiting with each boy, talking about Helen Pouch and the DAR, and then of course, seeing the excitement when they opened the cards! Some of the little boys lived in the cottage last year and remembered their trip to Wal-Mart. They eagerly shared their memories with the newer boys, and I loved watching their reactions!

After I left the boys cottage, I visited two other cottages—the New York Cottage for little girls and the Florida Cottage for middle school aged girls. I met the high school aged children later in the day as they served as Pages and Flag Bearers during the Dedication Ceremony. The entire Tamassee campus reminded me of a small village reminiscent of Norman Rockwell. Given their backgrounds, I am happy that we as DAR members can provide this experience for these children.

During the Dedication ceremony, we heard from two graduates of the program. These young women were truly amazing, having drawn on their positive experience at Tamassee to attend college and find careers in helping industries—one is an elementary school teacher and the other is a social worker for the South Carolina Department of Social Services.

After a wonderful barbecue dinner catered by an area restaurant, and a brief musical program conducted by two students, we called it an “early” night and traveled to Clemson, SC for the evening. In the morning, we will leave for Asheville, North Carolina, and a tour of the Biltmore!

Title: America, the Beautiful

And Crown thy Good with Brotherhood

Note: I returned Sunday afternoon from the NSDAR 2010 Schools Tour. I blogged daily about the trip on the KSDAR website, and decided to cross-post them here, too, just in case any non-KSDAR folks were interested in hearing about the trip. Read all of the posts in chronological order here, here, here, here, here, and here!

Day 7, October 14, 2010--Berry College

Greetings!

What a wonderful day at Berry College—the First DAR Approved School!

We arrived at Berry in time for lunch, held in their newly renovated student center. While at lunch, we heard from staff about the four pronged opportunities for work study at Berry. These include traditional work study, an entrepreneurial program for students, the Gates of Opportunity Scholars program, and the Berea College Student Enterprises.

After lunch, we left for a tour of the campus. Our bus tour was guided by the interim director of Oak Hill and the Martha Berry Museum. A Berry grad as well, she was most informative and provided a great tour. As my first truly guided campus tour of the week, I took many notes and learned so much about the college!

Following our tour, we moved on to Oak Hill Mansion and the Martha Berry Museum. We were then treated to dinner under the oaks on the Oak Hill grounds. Following dinner, we had a wonderful program presented by “Teddy Roosevelt”. This weekend, Berry College will celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of Roosevelt’s visit to Berry, and he was on hand early to speak to our group, too!

I feel as though I should be telling you so much more about our day, particularly the student work opportunities and the campus at Berry, as well as the other schools. I expect that my first project upon returning home will be to start work on a program about our DAR Schools! Tomorrow, we head to South Carolina, and our sixth (and final) school on the tour—Tamassee DAR School!

Title: America, the Beautiful

God shed his grace on thee

Note: These posts are cross-posted from another blog where I am blogging daily about the NSDAR 2010 Schools Tour. I was slow to realize that non-KSDAR folks might be interested to learn more about my trip, or the DAR, so I am cross-posting here, too. Read the previous posts in chronological order here, here, here, here, and here.

Day Five, October 13, 2010: Kate Duncan Smith DAR School, Grant, AL

Greetings!

Our day at Kate Duncan Smith DAR School started early and ended late, so I am afraid that this post is late in getting written. I did outline my thoughts last night, but saved the typing for Thursday morning as we drive to Rome, GA!

The day started with an almost parade-like atmosphere as our two tour busses left the hotel in Guntersville with a line of cars behind us and a police escort! Along the way we picked up the Illinois and Indiana busses from their hotel, and at one point, we came across another tour bus that looked as though it had been pulled over to wait for us! The ballet of tour busses on a two lane road with several local police, county sheriff, and we think even a state police car was rather comical! By the time we reached Grant, where KDS is located, there were six tour busses, countless cars, and numerous police officers all parading through the main street of town and onto the KDS campus. The banks and other businesses with marquees all had signs welcoming the DAR, and as we entered the campus, we were greeted by the high school band and all of the nearly 1,300 students waving flags and signs! While I had heard about KDS Dedication day, I was not prepared for the reception. This community truly has the DAR Spirit!

We spent about half an hour greeting the students, and then moved into the high school gym for the Dedication Day program. More than 300 DAR’s were seated on the floor, and the bleachers were filled with the students from Kindergarten through Twelfth grade. Older students served as pages and aides lining the center aisle, and other students carried in flags during the processional. The elementary students sang two songs for us (including “DAR, Oh How We Love You” which the high school Senior sitting next to me still remembered the words to, even though it has been eight years since she sang it at Dedication Day!), and our President General gave an inspiring talk about S.O.A.R.ing with Education.

After the Dedication Day ceremony, we moved on to the cafeteria for the famous KDS Basket Lunch, where members of the community brought in a huge amount of food to supplement the entrée baked by the school. Then we were turned loose to tour the campus, visit classrooms, and shop at the craft show. As you travel into Guntersville, and then on up to Grant, you don’t really realize that you are in the mountains, but the scenic overlook from the campus quickly reminds you the KDS truly is the Gem of Gunter Mountain.

We ended the day with a wonderful dinner, made most entertaining by the President General’s challenge to raise $3,500 by the end of the evening to tile the entrance to the Seimes Thompson Building. Thanks to a rousing round of bidding to don a skirt (I wish I had pictures to share!), as well as generous tipping of our celebrity waiters (school faculty and students), we raised more than $4,500! The evening ended with music provided by the high school choir, choral ensemble, and FFA String Band—a wonderful way to end a wonderful day. While I am learning that every school we support is different, I think that KDS, and by extension, the DAR, ranks at the top for integration in the community!

Title: America the Beautiful