Madison, nothing but fun

Before we get into Madison, one more word from Asheville. There are two rivers running through Asheville. The longest is the French Broad. I asked a local how the City fathers came to that name? His response, "Well, there were many French settlers here in the early days and they named the river after Marie Antoinette. The locals couldn't quite wrap their minds around that and started to refer to the river as the one named after that French Broad. That stuck." Do you think he was pulling my leg?

Then I have another question. How come the worst highways in our country are toll roads? Where does that money go? They sure as heck don't go to road maintenance or improvements. Yuck, the fillings are coming out of my teeth!

We had a ball in Madison, primarily hanging out with Jennifer, Matt, Matthew and Ella. Jon taught Matthew how to drive a manual shift car. The whip lashes weren't too bad. (just kidding Matthew) We visited the University of Wisconsin and took the following photo at the student union so that George could see the new look.

 

Here is a neat photo of Jennifer and Penny. As they say, the grape seed doesn't fall far from the vine or something like that.

 

 

One of our favorite spots near Madison is the House on the Rock and we made our annual trek with Matthew and Ella, The next photo was taken in the amazing Infinity Room, Then there's a photo of Ella followed by Penny and the kids. A fun time.

 

 

 

 

And now we are in our comfortable Lake Placid summer home with comfortable days and cool nights. Ah yes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asheville NC: a fun place

Our second stop this summer is Asheville, NC. We had been to Asheville once before but only for five hours. Didn't realize how much we missed. On our first day here we took a highly recommended trolley tour around town. The driver was loaded with information and presented it well and with a good sense of humor. We then used the trolley as a taxi to revisit places we wanted to explore further. The first was the 120 year old Grove Inn and restaurant. Dr. Grove was not a doctor, rather a snake oil salesman by today's standards who sold a variety of elixirs containing quinine among other things. He made millions and made an impressive mark on Asheville's landscape. The Grove Inn was constructed in rock and has a poured cement roof. It is amazing and just as presentable and functional as our best new structures today. We had lunch on the restaurant porch. Take a look at the view.

The second day was devoted to the Biltmore estate built by George Vanderbilt and opened on Christmas day in 1895. It is the largest private home in the USA built on 125,000 acres of land. The tour is excellent and includes service areas such as the laundry and kitchen. We dined in the horse stables and then toured their winery featuring a free wine tasting intro. Picture taking is not allowed inside but I did get a photo of the façade and of a country view through a piece of porch detail.

Pretty artsy, eh?
We also spent a day in Murphy NC where we once had a second home. We still have a lot, actually one of the best view lots in western NC. Funny; it's been on the market for six years with an asking price 60% of our purchase price. We enjoyed seeing our old Murphy haunts.

Yesterday started off with a super plan. We trekked 40 miles to spend a day at an outdoor BBQ and country music festival. Sadie was looking forward to it too. One hundred yards from the entrance stood a sign, "No coolers. No dogs." That triggered a 180 turn and a 40 mile return trip to Asheville to explore the many charms of the downtown area. Asheville is a remarkable city and we think we probably had a better day than the one planned.

Tomorrow we begin a three day trip north to Madison, WI. More about that in later editions. If you are inclined to follow our travels, we plan to add to our blog every 7 to 10 days.

2014: Starting out with a great FAMILY REUNION

Our 2014 summer travels began on May 29th. It was a very different departure from past years when we had to close the house. This year we simply turned the key and locked the door to the condo. Loved the change. The boat, however, required a degree of hurricane preparation as you can see.

Arriving in the Charleston, South Carolina area our family enjoyed a week long reunion at a beach- side house in Folly Beach. All of our kids and grandchildren were there for at least part of the week and it was a grand time. Our kids (it doesn't seem right to call them kids when they are in their late 40's and early 50's), anyway our kids are wonderful parents who raised grandkids who could not make us prouder or happier. They are bright, have marvelous values and they love their grandparents. We loved this reunion. The weather was perfect. Everyone pitched in with mealtime. Lots of laughs and lots of love all week long.
The following are photos of Jennifer, Matt and their children Matthew and Ella. The Falkowskis drove all the way from their home in Madison, Wisconsin to be at the reunion.

George and Cindy with their son, Ryan live in both Islamorada, FL and Concord, NC. Ryan celebrated his 17th birthday at the reunion.

Jon was not available during this photo shoot time but Callan and Brock were there. Both finished their respective semesters with 5 A's and a B.

 

Cindy at the beach

 

Penny and Matt

 

The grandkids

Callan, Matthew, Ryan, Brock, Ella