(There seems to be a boat theme happening here but, given where we're staying, I suppose it can't be helped.)

Today we went into downtown Fairhope to just kill some time.

It's filled with loads of little specialty shops, art galleries, cafes and the like. It's quite quaint and seriously overpriced, but it was fun to wander through for a while. If you're ever in the area, though, you've got to go into Three Georges Chocolates, especially if you like malted milk balls. They're pricey but they put Whoppers to shame - [……]

Another day with no schedule and nothing important to do. I could get used to this.

This morning we were treated to breakfast at The Grand Hotel. It's been a while since I've seen a breakfast buffet that large. I tried to find a link that would give some of it's history but, alas, couldn't some up with one. In a very small nutshell it goes like this. The small hotel was first built on the site back in 1820. In 1847, the Grand Hotel was built to replace it. It quickly became famous [……]

Today we went to Mobile, AL to see the USS Alabama, a World War II battleship. While my pictures show the deck pretty well, they can't begin to convey what the below decks area is like. If you've never toured a ship from this era, I encourage you to do so.

Among other things, these ships are a study in space utilization. Rooms fit into every nook and cranny, crew members eating at tables attached to the big gun turret barbettes and bunks that hung everywhere (although most of them were [……]

This morning we awoke to breezy conditions and light rain as Frances' reach extended into Northern Alabama. Not to be discouraged, however, we got out and bravely ventured across the parking lot to the Waffle House. After a hearty breakfast we headed to one of the most popular spots in the Huntsville area. Wal-Mart. We had packed everything except umbrellas. Then we finally pointed ourselves toward the U.S. Rocket & Space Center.

We knew this was going to be cool even from the day before. I would venture [……]

We've been planning on taking a vacation for a while now and, as I usually take the week of Labor Day off from work, it seemed liked a natural fit. We were also offered a free place to stay anytime we wanted so we were all set.

But the best laid plans...

The reasons they went astray? A little thing called Hurricane Frances. Our destination? The Gulf Coast of Alabama.

We were supposed to drive down on Tuesday and stay the rest of the week on a boat on Mobile Bay but, as of Saturday and Sunday, the forecasted [……]

The Statue of Liberty reopens today - kind of. While I'm certainly glad that we will once again be able to visit this historic and beautiful monument, the experience of that visit will not be the same as it once was. It saddens me to know that my children will not be able to climb up the stairs inside and look out through the windows of the crown as I did when I was young. Every time I see a picture of Liberty Lighting The World, my mind jumps back to that [……]

A while ago Dr. Bacchus posted a short blurb about Say Anything... It was on FX's DVD on TV last night so I had to stay up late and watch it. I hadn't seen it in well over twelve years. (And wow - I had forgotten how mind-numbingly bad Corey's songs were.) Here are some of my favorite things about it.

First the quotes:

"You must chill! You must chill!" (A favorite because I did that to someone in the college Grill once. Much fun.)

"I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want [……]

Kudos to Bill Cosby for saying in no uncertain terms what white people can't say without being called everything from a Klansman to a slave owner to a Nazi and what far too many black people won't say.

Cosby was speaking at a Washington gala to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court case which declared that racial segregation in education was unconstitutional.

[aside]
While no one argues with the intent of the Brown case, it's unseen ramifications are another matter entirely. See these three articles for a better treatment of the subject than [……]

As I write this, the central Kentucky landmark known around here simply as "The Castle" is in flames and the prognosis doesn't look so good.

It has been a fixture on US60 between Lexington and Versailles for years. It was started in 1969 by Lexington home builder Rex Martin after honeymooning in Europe where he and his new bride, Caroline, fell in love with castles. Six years later, however, they divorced and The Castle was never completed.

At that time, not much was known about who owned it and why it was being built. Mystery surrounded it for [……]

Now I've gone and done it. I finished moving all of our stuff from our old farm this weekend. (OK - I still have one more shed to empty out, but...) In doing so I realized that, other than one car, I no longer own anything of significant value. That's mildly disturbing. Of course, I now have a HUGE balance in my savings account representing the equity (and slight profit :-) ) from the sale of our place but liquid assets just don't seem real somehow. I like being able to put my hands on something and know that it's [……]