Travel

We started our yearly treck up to Vermont from Florida on Thursday. It was a drive day and we were in the car all day driving up to Nashville, TN. We stopped at the TN visitor center which was on an island and had the most beautiful view.

We did a college visit, and then headed to The Hermatige - Andrew Jacksons house and did the house tour. It was hot out... and yes, I normally live inside the AC in our hot state. It was beautiful and these pretty quilts were in a shelf in one of the cabins. 

Emily had a headache (she does not drink enough liquids, this happens a lot) so stayed in the room that night after we hit Hattie B's for some Hot Chicken. Aidan and I walked over to the replica of the Parthenon they have and a beautiful park. It was well after 8, but the sun was going down and it was so nice seeing so many people out and about enjoying the park area. It was so quiet, hard to believe it was in the middle of the city.

We headed out on Saturday morning and drove up to Kentucky and The Mammoth Caves for our tour. We did the difficult one - since I wanted to see stalagmites and stalactites. It was 700 stars... teeny tiny in small spaces underground. The lighting was off so Aidan looks very bright! This was down in the caves.

We then went to Abraham Lincons birthplace. We did get our National Parks Passport stamped at the caves and here.

The spring near the tomb. The tomb held a replica of the log cabin house. The kids were crazy and RAN up those stairs! I did go up them....lets just say, I know I have thighs!

We then were headed to Ohio and stopped in Lexington Kentucky at UK for the Arboretum for a little leg stretch. Beautiful gardens.

This was the monument to a plane crash where all but 1 perished in 2006. Each bird was in memorial of a person on the flight and the family member added what they wished to each.

We stopped in Cincinnatti at Skyline Chili, and got a 5 way. It is a local thing, and their dad grew up with this. This is not what I would call chili, as it has a greek twist. It was different! We continued onto Dayton for the night. Got in about 10:30 PM to the hotel after a long day.

We did the Air Force Museum with 4 hangers full of planes and things to look at and do. Aidan could have spent a week there, but he did good and after 5-6 hours was good to go. This was a free one, as it is run by the military. I got to walk through a few Presidential planes, various cargo ones and played some friend or foe games with Emily. Then we tried shooting down targets. She was better than me! Aidan was on his own until lunch and then we stayed together. He wanted to do the simulator ride where you spin 360 degrees. We declined to go with him. He loved it and was not sick...... not my kid, obviously!

From there we headed to see the Wright Brothers bicycle shop and museum - another stamp in the book for us. This was the mural outside that I though was really neat. 

We then drove to Mansfield Ohio and had an evening in the hotel (kinda did the 15 dollar upgrade for a 2 bed suite area which was nice and big. Everyone got a bed and lots of space. It was a decompress night and morning. 

A couple more days of travel before we land in Vermont.