In celebration of our 15th wedding anniversary we left the kids behind for a 5-day trip to the Italian Cinque Terre on the Ligurian coast. The plan was to eat, hike, relax, and enjoy a true vacation.
Monterosso was our home base
From there footpaths connected the five villages of the Cinque Terre
Corniglia is perched on a clifftop
We took the stairs for a man and a woman that led to the place where you point at the water
Yikes it was a lot of steps!
We passed terraced vineyards for local wine
that we consumed by the liter at enotecas and restaurants
with antipasti
and all manner of
delicious
pasta
that were not shared with the house pets
On our way home we stayed overnight in Florence to see some of the Renaissance art
On Good Friday, the BPO played Mahler's 2nd Symphony, "the Resurrection". As usual the cello section was particularly outstanding. It was an awesome performance, as evidenced by a gushing review by the Boston Globe.
Easter weekend was gorgeous for playing outside
Grandma Lu came over for Easter lunch
Patriot's Day we fulfilled our civic duty by getting up before dawn to watch the battle reenactment in Lexington Center.
and then it was off to KenTennessee to see 2 National Parks and other sites. First stop, Mammoth Cave.
It really is Mammoth. Recent explorations have connected nearby cave systems and increased the total size to over 400 miles, at least twice as big as the next largest cave system.
We opted for the easy "Frozen Niagara" tour
As amazing as the cave itself was our guide, Jerry Bransford. He is a direct descendant of the slaves who were the original guides from the mid 1800s. Here he's showing us how a single candle could serve as illumination for an entire tour. His famly history is recounted in a NYT article.
You'll have to believe me that the Frozen Niagara flowstone formation was an impressive sight
The cavern roofs were beautiful, but the scurrying cave crickets freaked out the girls
After leaving we had to decontaminate to prevent spread of white nose syndrome, a fungus that has ravaged bat populations in the Eastern US
This could be one of our road trips some day, but we'll wait for the White House to change occupants before returning. It's actually a map of the Lincoln family migrations over the generations, from the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace NHP.
Of course we had to play with Abe's logs
Inside the original Lincoln Memorial there was a replica of the log cabin
Heading east, we passed through Somerset, KY, birthplace of Grandpa Mike and resting place of great grandma Aggie and great grandpa Homer Losey
C'mon Tessie, it's springtime
the girls are tree climbers
Heading southeast to the Cumberland Gap we found the Misty Mountains
At the Gap, we dressed up like pioneers
and drove to the overlook. Beyond the Cumberland River creating a channel through the mountains, the area in the background is actually a giant meteorite impact crater from the Paleozoic Era.
Great Smoky Mountain National Park is home to a tremendously diverse ecosystem. After searching unsuccessfully off the trails for salamanders, this guy showed up at the visitor center
It's a five-lined skink
That's a bear trap
Now, the only National Park in the east of the Mississippi in the continental US that we haven't been to is Acadia, the closest one to our home
There it is, the fabulous Sunsphere from the Knoxville 1982 World's Fair. Unlike Bart and Milhouse, we didn't make a stop for the wigs
Caroline showed her control of lightning at the Oak Ridge Museum of Science and Energy
One section of the Manhattan Project NHP was at the museum. The girls pretended to operate the calutrons, which were uranium-235 separating devices staffed by women.
Nuclear weapons are awful things and yet one can argue that their creation has allowed the current Pax Americana enjoyed by Americans over the last 50 years
Big South Fork? Do Tennesseers have a monument dedicated to their favorite utensil?
No, they meant Big South Fork of the Cumberland River. Due to heavy rain we stayed away from the scary swollen river. At the visitor center, they didn't mind the girls playing with the stuffed animals
Thanks Ollie the Otter
We'll skip the Stones River National Battlefield pix, because it was not unlike other Civil War battlefields where thousands of poor soldiers lost their lives. But afterwards, we found a great boot outlet and all girls walked out better booted than they entered. Remember, disparaging the boot is a bootable offense.
T-minus 2 weeks until kitties come!
Paul Revere arrived in Lexington around midnight of April 19th, 1775 and put the militia on alert. Here, at dawn, the scouts warn Captain Parker and his men of the arriving troops.
Even with their overfed paunches, the lines of redcoats marching in are an imposing sight
The Sing soundtrack was background music for our road trip. Tessie couldn't believe the potty mouths of the bunnies during auditions
