The comfort of old friends

As Kelvin and I conclude our vacation, I must say that I feel relaxed. I feel rested enough that I am waking early in the morning without feeling the need to sleep in.  We have done some good sightseeing, stateside for once, but have really enjoyed just "chilling" on this vacation and visiting with old (and great) friends.

We enjoyed hanging out with the Kitsteiner kids in Tennessee.

reading with Abigail and Hannah

(trying to keep the lollipop off the couch!)

blogging with Scrubs!

On our way back to VA, we were able to stop by St. Mary's Convent in Oak Ridge where Kelsey (now Sister Joan of Arc), another friend from Rochester who shared an amazing trip to Africa in 2007, is a nun!  I hadn't seen her since about 2007 for multiple reasons--distance, their relative seclusion, etc, and it was so wonderful to catch up with her in our allotted hour (which had to be cleared by her superior Sister!)! She is teaching religion at a school in Knoxville and preparing for her "final vows".

 

Once back in NoVA, we had dinner with Erin and TJ at Medium Rare, a restaurant in Capitol Hill.

 They are new parens to Ellie, now 8.5 months old, and it was great to get their input on parenthood!

Kelvin's med school roommate, Nithin, drove down from Pittsburgh to spend a couple of nights with us, relaxing and watching football :)

 

We also enjoyed playing with my parents' dogs Duncan (14) and Remy (2.5), who liked to sit by the door and monitor the neigborhood.

Good times!!!  Not sure when we'll next be on the East Coast, but we sure got a lot of "visitin'" in !!! 

(The Battle of) Franklin

On Wednesday, Kelvin and I visited Franklin, TN, which is between Spring Hill and Nashville and is a city full of Civil War history.

We learned about the 5-hour November 30, 1864 "Battle of Franklin" which saw about 60,000 Confederate and Union troops clash and which, quite bloodily, ended with about 10,000 casualties.

We were able to visit a few historic houses/grounds from the era, the first of which was Carter House.

 

Original bullet holes!

Surgical instruments

We then headed to the Carnton Plantation, home of the McGavocks, which was used as a Confederate Hospital at the time of the battle.  I am hoping to (sometime soon) read a book Widow of the South by Robert Hicks which is a work of historical fiction set on this Plantation!

We took a tour of the Plantation House, which had some original furniture from the Civil War era as well as original bloodstains on the floor from its time as the makeshift hospital.

love these southern porches!

 

The gardens and landscaping were gorgeous :)

We were able to download a "Voices of Franklin" app which filled in some of the personal history of the sites.

Many of the bodies of Confederate soldiers were reburied in this cemetery on the family land.

We wandered around the quaint downtown main street area of Franklin before heading back to the Kits' place. Franklin showed us Civil War history on a smaller scale than did Gettysburg, which we visited last winter, and was a fun way to spend a beautiful day outside!

Jackson's Mansion and The Music City

Wendi has already done a great post on our time at The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's home in Nashville (with witnessing what she does everyday with her four kids, I don't know HOW she finds the time or energy!!!).  But since not everyone knows the great blogger-that-started-it-all, here is my own posting, albeit with the same photos, a day later :)

I admit that my prior knowledge of the 7th president and proponent of white male rights was a bit lacking,  but I got a lot out of our visit. I am ashamed to say that I haven't been to my home state, Virginia's, presidential homes of Washington (Mt. Vernon) and Jefferson (Monticello) but may have to go now :)

It was a gorgeous (fall-ish-but-more-summer-like) day for us to wander the grounds and buildings, including the mansion, slave houses, and more. The audioguides were great, which even the kids (ages 3-6) enjoyed!

The tomb where Andrew (and I think his wife, Rachel) are buried.

We got to see a cotton field up close!

Cotton-pickin!

Since we were in The Music City, country music's capital, Kelvin and I paid a visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame/Museum. I would say that I'm certainly more of a country fan than is Kelvin, but I think he enjoyed it, too.

They had a special exhibit on the ageless Kenny Rogers :)

We learned that California (specifically Bakersfield area) had a country music revival after the Dust Bowl prompted a large westward migration.

Downtown Nashville

Nashville's Centennial Park has, strangely, an exact replica of Athens' Parthenon. And, since Kelvin has never been to Greece, he wanted to take some photos by this next-best-thing :)

We are having fun times and nice weather in Nashville!

Views of the Smokies

Kelvin and I headed west on another roadtrip from Virginia to see the Kitsteiners in Tennessee, a state new to us both.

On the way to Great Smoky Mountain National Park, we swung by Dolly Parton's hometown, Sevierville, and took an obligatory photo by the statue.

We discovered that Great Smoky Mountain National Park is THE most visited National Park in the U.S. !!! It certainly was scenic (and, as a bonus, it had free entry which we were so not used to!)

At Newfound Gap, straddling the TN/NC state line.

Views of the Smoky Mountains, which were named for their bluish haze by the Cherokee Indians

 We enjoyed a short hike to Laurel Falls.

We made it to the Kits' house in the afternoon and have really enjoyed hanging out with the kiddos and exploring the Nashville area today (pics/posts to follow soon.  Or see Wendi's awesome blog :)).