First stop was Louisville, KY where we enjoyed visits to the Louisville Slugger museum/factory and Churchill Downs. They were great experiences and I would recommend them both. While at Churchill Downs, Milton Toby was signing his Cañonero II book. The book looked interesting, but I initially decided not to spend the money. Then I found out Cañonero II won the Kentucky Derby the year I was born (1971) and decided it was a sign. So I ran back (with Drew's encouragement), purchased the book, and got Milton to sign it for me. Pretty cool.
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| Churchill Downs |
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| Churchill Downs from across the track |
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| Me at the museum |
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| Hot Brown sandwich |
Next stop was Cincinnati where we met family (Stacy and Sharon) for lunch at the Haufbrauhaus in Newport, KYand I went to a concert with some friends (Joe and Jason) at Bogart's. I'll do a separate post for the concert later. As always we had some great beer and food at the Haufbrauhaus. Below is the famous suspension bridge which was built in the 1800s. Gorgeous bridge and it boggles my mind how they built that back then.
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| Covington-Cincinnati Suspension Bridge |
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| Family time at Haufbrauhaus! |
Next stop was Cleveland, OH where the our main goal was to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We were only there in the afternoon and unfortunately the Hall of Fame was closing early for a special event so we only had an hour and a half which is not nearly enough time to see the place. I really enjoyed what I did get to see and would love to visit again and spend more time there.
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| Rock & Roll Hall of Fame |
Nest stop was to visit Diane's family in Vermont but we passed by Buffalo on the way from Cleveland so we just couldn't resist a stop at the home of the original buffalo wings, The Anchor Bar. The place has some major character (kind of reminded me of Vortex in Atlanta) and of course had great wings. Emily even stepped up to the medium heat and Diane dived in and got her fingers dirty too (a rare event for Diane in public)!
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| Drew at Anchor bar |
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| The Anchor Bar |
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| Hot wings at the Anchor Bar |
We had a great time in VT visiting with family and friends. We always eat and drink well at Diane's parents. Had some good Scotch as always and enjoyed some fine VT beers while grilling out. In addition we got to spend quite a bit of time with Diane's sister (Ellen) and my niece and nephew (Sarah and David). David and I talked quite a bit about music which was fun. I'm hoping some of his good taste in rock will rub off on Drew :). We also got to spend an afternoon with my main man Mark in Burlington which is always great. We had some brick oven flat bread pizza and again...some good local beer.
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| Drew and Emily with grandma and grandpa |
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| Family at the Maple Syrup Museum |
After Vermont, it was on to NH to see my side of the family. We stayed with my brother Brad as usual. We had a great time with the folks, brothers (Brad and Crae) and their extended families. When Crae would bring his family over, we had 8 kids, a dog, and a cat running around the house. It was nuts! Besides seeing family, the main thing the kids wanted to do in NH was go to the beach which we did twice. The first time we went it rained the whole time but that didn't stop the kids from swimming and having fun. I just waited in the car :). The second day was much nice but still on the cool side. I did my obligatory ocean swim though and Diane even stayed in longer than me!
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| Beach time with cousins |
The last stop on our way home was in Baltimore to see some more of my extended family. We stayed with my Cousin Diane and Harlene who took great care of us. Good beverages and Berger cookies were waiting for our arrival. More cousins and aunts came over for a nice big lunch. It got to see Danielle and Heather and their kids Henrieta and Luke in addition to my Aunts. My dad passed away recently and it was extra special for me to see all these guys, especially my Aunt Gloria and Aunt Jean who are both in there 80s! I spent an hour with Aunt Jean just going through old photos. She didn't think they were special but I thought it was great.
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| Emily at the Orioles game |
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| Drew and I at Orioles game |
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| Family time with Harlene and Diane |
In the evening, we went with Diane and Harlene to see a Orioles game at Camden Yards. Diane managed to get a couple of tickets through a friend which allowed Drew and I to sit in a suite. It was awesome - we had our own bathroom and great food (e.g., crab cakes and Maryland crab soup) were just right outside out door! The O's beat the Angels 4-3 and there were some great defensive plays. I forgot how much fun it can be to go to the game.
The next day we drove the final 12 hours home. It was a busy but great vacation. A great combination of family and visiting new places. Time to recover......till next time.
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