Walt Disney World was great!

Karen and I had a blast. I have not even cleaned up our nearly 400 photos, but I hope to cut them down to a manageable number tomorrow night.

The International Food and Wine Festival was great. After I go through our notes, I will let you know what foods we liked best.

I took a surfing lesson and it was great and I have pictures to prove that I got up on the board at least long enough for Karen to get a picture.

Karen and I road on Segways while at Epcot.

I'll post more soon including photos.

Excitement Builds for Our Trip to DisneyWorld

Karen and I are getting excited about our vacation. It is just around the corner. At the last minute, we almost changed our hotel from the Carribean Bearch to the Swan or Dolphin to be closer to Epcot. But, we didn't.

We signed up the Disney Dining Experience which will give us a 20% discount at many restaurants through DisneyWorld.

I hope to be posting pictures here throughout our vacation.

the Tomato Head

the Tomato HeadKaren and I enjoyed the Tomato Head in Knoxville, TN. The Tomato Head has been featured on the Travel Channel and is local favorite. We had the Number 3 pizza which was great!

After dinner, we stayed in the area to watch an outside showing of the “Maltese Falcon“. The city of Knoxville shows movies in the park in front of the Tomato Head every weekend.

Unclaimed Baggage

Karen and I hit the Unclaimed Baggage on our way to Knoxville. And, I think we did minor damage to our wallet on this trip.

Karen bagged a bunch of cloths and hazards chemical glove. Don't ask me about the gloves. I don't know of any hazards chemicals at our house.

I picked up another digital camera battery, because we go through them like candy.

And, would you know we actually bought a piece of luggage! Who would have thought!

Ready to head off to the Knoxville Brewers' Jam

Karen and I are ready to head off to the beer festival. The weather is looking great. The GPS is loaded with directions and restaurants to try.

We'll be hitting the Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro, Alabama on the way to the jam. You just never know what you'll find there. We picked up a $50 digital camera so that we could have a small camera that we wouldn't worry about as much as our good camera.

This beer festival has a flat cost of $20 which is great. Many festivals charge per beer. Check back here for a report on the festival.

Free The Hops on top of Liberty House

Free The Hops

Karen and I went to our first beer tasting put on by Free The Hops. In a single word, wow!

Img 9830We met a lot of new people.

Img 9822We met a lot of new beers, too!

Img 9817 We all have Danner Kline to thanks for heading Free The Hops.

Everyone was enjoying themselves.

The service was great and always with a smile.


Another happy customer!


You will find more pictures here.

Killing time at Metro Bistro & Market

Karen and I had time to kill and we were getting hungry as we drove around Birmingham, Alabama. We have already driven by the Liberty House which will be hosting the Free The Hops party later tonight. So, we decided to find something nearby and we had been looking for the Purple Onion, but the one that our GPS found had been closed down.

Metro BistroKaren at Metro BistroWe decided to give The Metro Bistro & Market a try. We both had great sandwishes. Karen had a turkey while I had a B.L.T. Everyone was getting hungry smelling the bacon cook.

Once the staff determined we were from out of town, they filled us in on the local scene. We talked with the bartender and the cook, Josh and Mike respectively, about the Free The Hops, brewing beer, and our favorite Hefeweizen.

Alexander family reunion was great!

Alexander Family ReunionEveryone had fun and the food was great. After eating to the point of needing to pop, everyone headed over to where the Alexander homestead had been many years ago. You can see signs of where the cellar and corn crib was on the land. The old spring is still flowing, but it has gone undergrond for the most part.

We even got a group picture to boot.

Alexander Family Reunion

Karen and I will be heading to the reunion for her mother's side of the family. Karen sent out invitations to everyone to encourage a good turnout.

I think the weather is going to be great. Karen's co-worker, Larry Woellhart, smoked us a pork butt which should be super. Larry is known for his ability to smoke anything from catfish to pork butt to walnuts.