Rocky Top

We made it to Tennessee and went over to my Aunt Val's house. She's got a great new place, which she has fixed up marvelously. She even has a pond in her backyard! The fish that lived there were all eaten by a local heron bird, se la vie.

We were able to get in early enough to just relax and talk for awhile. It was really great to just see her. She took us out to dinner at a wonderful restaurant where I got to create a meal from their sides. I ended up having some parmesan spinach, mac and cheese, squash casserole and baked potato soup. This sides meal is awesome because I got a little bit of lots of delicious things.

The dog in the picture with me is her's. The dog's name is Baby and is an adorable itty bitty Papillon. This dog is awfully sweet and dings around the house in excitement when you get home. She shows her affection licking any part of you she can reach, and she even raises her leg for you so you can scratch her tummy while she stands next to you. I am a big fan of this little Yoda dog.

We left the next morning to visit with another one of my aunts, my Aunt Nancy and my Uncle Don. We showed up at their house, had the chance to of course chat and discuss Korea, and then the day's planning commenced!

We are all not very decisive people. Aunt Nancy being the most decisive, gave us options for the day. It took a long conversation and a delicious lunch for it to be decided that going to the lake to go tubing is the best idea ever.

It was such a beautiful day on the lake. a nice breeze, good sun, and it was hot enough that you most definitely appreciate the refreshing water. It was a short matter of time before both Sean and I were out on that tube.

Before we went out we lathered up with sunscreen, put on the quick dry shirts, and Sean donned the bandit face cover (very effective in case you were wondering).

Tubing was awesome! I had so much fun!!! Sean and I struggled at first to figure out how to keep both people on the tube for any extended period of time outside of the wake. After numerous run throughs I do believe we got the hang of it.

Although Sean looks worried in this picture, he is not. The camera just caught him on the way to a smile =] We both had a great time even though my shoulders ache and ache and ache.

It was a good relaxing time out on the lake. We both just got to sit back and talk with my Aunt Nancy and my Uncle Don. It was so pleasant to just sit in the water and let my body go limp, weightless after so much stress that has passed and is yet to come. It was a beautiful day for us out on the lake, could not had asked for more.

That night my Aunt and Uncle took us out to eat in downtown. We were treated to yet another fantastic meal! I actually had some macaroni and lobster and cheese dish that was absolutely to die for. It unfortunately was very very very rich, I could almost not finish the side portion I had ordered.

After our dinner excursion we headed back to their house. On the way home we wanted to drive through University of Tenn. campus. The campus is huge and is spread out in all directions! I was not sure how I felt about that when trying to find the building where my parents spent the majority of their college lives. Surprisingly and luckily we found the building in question purely by chance!

Being by the same building as my parents went to school in, that's how they met one another, I was literally staring at the foundation to my very being. It was a bit unreal. They were doing a bagillion construction projects on campus, tearing down buildings and starting on new ones.

I of course needed to show off the stadium.

The following day we were pressed for time! We left relatively early in the morning following my aunt and uncle through the mountains. We wanted to have a bit of a scenic drive and boy did we get one, it was absolutely beautiful. Definitely worth the extra time we added to our whole journey.

We were suppose to stop at the top to stand at the state line between Tennessee and North Carolina but unfortunately we forgot. We've been listening to a really good book on tape and just kept letting our eyes enjoy the beauty around us as our minds absorbed the story.

Everything went smoothly, only hitting a bit of rain at the end of our drive. We arrived safely in South Carolina to enjoy a few days with his family.

On the Korea front: We have already received word of our plane tickets and our passports arriving in Miami with our visas stamped inside. The anticipation has really set in and I am freaking out! Sometimes I wish it was like a band-aid and I could just be overseas already. Other times I wish I had weeks more to spend with my family before the journey commences. I think what I have to understand is that a year is a year. No amount of time beforehand will ease the pain of not seeing them for 12 months but I will see them again! I need to be focused on the beauty of my adventure and, not succumb to my fears and my doubts.

Buildings of Import

We began the day off with breakfast in the car, a sandwich made of scrambled eggs and scrapple. It was actually really really good! We were on our way to Philly! Unfortunately stupid Pennsylvania did not give me any heads up as to when we entered it so there is no sign to announce it.

We surprisingly found parking fast and right near the visitor's center. We went in and did not even have to wait in line to get these sweet free tickets to tour independence hall.

It was awesome to again be walking around in an old city looking at the very buildings that our country sprang from. In this building some pretty important documents were signed.

In this very room men like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin sat and discussed how our country should be run. They all talked about what values should be carried into the documents and what rights citizens of our country should have. We had a really awesome tour guide who was very enthusiastic and shared a lot with us.

After the tour we waited in a line to see the liberty bell. The line was only ten minutes long before we made it inside. BUT it was apparently a record high of 105* about an hour after we waited in this line... It was so hot! But the cool kiss of the A/C as we entered the building definitely helped out. There were a bunch of people in the building to see the bell but this time instead of small safety patrol kids there was a massive group of elderly folk on a tour through the building. Instead of shoving through them without remorse, we patiently waited until they had left us enough room to reach the bell.

Once we had taken our ritual 20 shots with the current item of interest (in this case the liberty bell) we migrated next door to the Philosophical Hall. Inside we found a name tree showing the lineage of the royalty for the major powers within the last few centuries. I found my name! It's spelled a little funny but that's definitely my name. It goes without saying that Sean's was not on the list, =p

We could not resist taking yet another shot with Independence Hall but this time we wanted the very front.

We saw original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Articles of Confederation. I was obviously a bit skeptical seeing as how I had just visited the National Archives and viewed these same documents. Apparently they had a few written out at the time they were originally made. The Declaration is not signed as you can see (I saw the signed one in D.C.) and apparently this Constitution was Washington's personal one. Pretty cool stuff!

We went back to the visitor's center to collect a map of Philly and to see a bit of what they had in the visitor's center.

One of the fun things they offered was to be able to write your name with ink and a quill. I was not too good at it but I guess it's not half bad. I was relatively proud of myself.

We began our walking tour even further into Philly and our first attraction was the US Mint. We didn't go inside but a picture was necessary. We were walking awfully slow because of the heat as well, we didn't miss any of the important buildings we passed.

One of my favorite things we saw all day was a place I had actually never been before (at least I do not remember seeing it before). It was the cemetery that Benjamin Franklin was buried in. He is buried right next to his wife on the edge of the cemetery. It is a custom to drop a penny on his grave for good luck and a wish. I definitely did!

This building is the country's first bank. It is beyond awesome to have gone and stood at the front doors, the inner rooms, and by the very benches where so many important things have happened. On this trip we have seen so many, you have to constantly remind yourself that each spot cannot be taken for granted.

Yeah.. This is just a pretty sweet statue =]

So on our way out of Philly we picked up some cheese steaks "wit" (apparently this means with onions and easy cheese. The sandwiches were so good! We went with the older of the two main rivals of cheese steaks in Philly, Pat's King of Steaks.

We began our journey to Lynchburg, VA!

This was a pretty cool building I wanted show you guys that we passed when going through Baltimore. The GPS took a roundabout way to Lynchburg and we passed through some beautiful country side on our way.

The reason we were journeying to Lynchburg was to stop in and visit Sean's great-grandparents and grandparents on his daddy's side. It was a beautiful morning when we stopped to say hello and remember.

We spent the night in Lynchburg and finished the drive to Tennessee the next day. We are just moving and grooving!

Money Money Monnn-neeey! + Davy Jones

Every year since the fifth grade my childhood best friend Libby and I do what we can to visit one another. Sometimes things don't work out but this year I got to! Sean and I made our way over to her family's boathouse in Atlantic City to spend a day with her.

We arrived there late the first night but I ended up staying up late talking and talking with her. It is always really good to see her. This trip she a new little friend, Captain Davy Jones. Davy is a one eyed orange kitten who just breaks your heart with how adorable he is. She saved him and now he loves her almost as much as he loves his fish toy ;)

Let's not kid ourselves, for a good portion of the time actually spent inside the boathouse I played with the kitten. He was just so soft and cute!

We did lots of sleeping in the one day we were there and then we all got up to go to a local joint for some breakfast. I decided that I needed just about everything on the menu but especially scrapple and eggs! We had eaten scrapple at my Aunt Lucy's farm and I was craving it. The scrapple at this place was pretty tasty, a bit saltier than I would have liked. I have decided that I could become a scrapple connoisseur, and if I were one, grass-fed beef scrapple from Beechtree farm is at the top.

The day's activities were set in motion for us when Sean made mention that he wanted to try his hand at jamb;ing on the Blackjack tables... This was fine with me, my main goal for the day was to hang out with Libby and it really didn't matter what was going on around us while we did.

We headed over to the famous Trump Taj Mahal! Sean had called around and found that this casino had the cheapest minimum bet of 5 dollars. I was not planning on betting when we walked into the casino. 

We walked in and it did not take long to be impressed. There were lots of flashy lights, big chandeliers, and fancy rugs all over the place. I took a bunch of pictures but this is one of three I am proud of. This picture is Sean's first time playing blackjack! There are only two of these pictures because a poop face security guy yelled at me about taking pictures. Everyone's cards are showing anyways, I don't really know what his deal was.

After three or four rounds of watching the game I was hooked. I had figured out how to bet and how to ask for a hit or a pass. So I decided to sit down at the table. I didn't know all of the ways to bet because the gentlemen in the two seats next to me taught me a thing or two. They helped me figure out hat a soft 17 was, what doubling down meant, and when a risk was a risk or not.

For it being our first times I do not think we all did that bad. I was the only one who ended up in the black at the end of the day but no one lost more money than they came in ok to spend. I will have you know thought that I am now a professional blackjack player, I tripled my 20 that I walked in with =]

After the casino we went back to the boathouse to find the menu for sushi. Yum! We called in our order and headed over to pick it up. Libby had said we were going to have sushi and take it to the beach. In my head that meant we would have a blanket and be sitting in the sand. Nope. What she meant is that she has this super awesome pass that let's her drive right on the beach!

We drove her car out quite a ways through the sand and the washed up seaweed. The ocean flew by us as the land view become more marshy. It was such a beautiful day and such a pleasant surprise to be driving on the beach!

We sat in the comfort of her car as we ate sushi on the beach. The marsh bugs/ flies were out with a vengeance so we chose to not eat outside. When we had finished we walked around just for a bit. The sand there is different than in South Florida. Down south the sand is grainy and are relatively big pieces. In Jersey the sand is so fine and smooth, it dusts your feet as you walk through it.

It was truly a wonderful day playing with my childhood best friend. She showed us a good time in her summer city and, Sean and I, really enjoyed it. I would like to take the time to reiterate something about good friends and how when you meet up with them, even years of not seeing one another, you pick up right where you left off... I could not be more thankful for this. Cannot wait until next year to see her again!

NYC Round 2! Round 2! Round 2!

We left my Aunt Lucy's at an ungodly hour and made our way back to Newark Penn Station. We felt like professionals as we whipped out the metro card we already had preloaded and road the Path into the city.

We had had our Visa numbers for a few days now, we had the paperwork we were pretty sure we needed (we could not get a straight answer from any of the websites), and now we were on an adventure to find the consulate. The consulate was surprisingly say to find and they let us right on up! I guess for some reason I thought they would need a secret password or some sign of alliance from us before they would let us into their consulate but they didn't... I guess that's a good thing because I didn't have a secret password.

Now for those who are looking to get their passport stamped as well I highly suggest attempting to get someone on the phone from your consulate or embassy. For the east coast there is one in Atlanta, D.C., and NYC. I went into the consulate because (as previously stated) I got too many answers that did not correlate. At the end of the day I needed to fill out their application, give them a picture, and my passport. I paid for a return envelope there. The entire process was done in less than ten minutes!

On the way to our next attraction we found a "Goodburger"! I couldn't resist having a picture of it.

The Empire State building is huge! It looms above you, and makes it difficult to fully appreciate how tall it is from the ground. Sean had never been at the top of a tall building so we decided to go al out and ride the elevator all the way up. It had been quite sometime since I had been to the top either.

As you can see I needed to get the full experience of visiting the Empire State building. I went to both the 86th floor and the 102nd floor. The 86th floor is open to the outside and you can be outside looking around really high up. The 102nd is closed in and has big windows you can use to observe the puny humans down below.

Classic Empire State seen below, located on the 86th floor. Again on our trip we were surrounded at this tourist attraction by mostly foreign tourists. It was strange to mill about amongst them, being the minority as an American.

Of course upon finding these long distance viewer things/ metal gigantic binoculars I needed to use one. That being said I only had one quarter instead of the two that I needed to get the contraption working. I shamelessly dumped my backpack out in hopes of finding one but alas it was not to be.

I considered attempting to bum a quarter off of someone but I was stopped for two reasons, 1) I did want to feel imposing or intruding to a stranger 2) and most importantly I did want someone to think "oh hey, I want to use the viewing thing too!". Instead I went down to the 80th floor to get change I wasn't suppose to be able to get from a very nice cashier. You think the stupid building would have implemented at least some sort of way for its needy tourists to acquire quarters!

On the ride up to the 102nd floor from the 86th, the elevator had sweet metal gates that shut on the inside.

The view from the very top was incredibly high but it gave you a different feeling to be viewing it from behind glass. It was still beautiful and definitely showed how high it was.

The Empire State building was definitely worth it and the lines to do it were not as bad as I thought they would be at 11:00 in the morning.

Our next stop was the WTC memorial. I was intrigued to see what had been done in the memorial and how it had been set up. On the way there we passed by the firehouse that had sat literally right next to the towers. They had a bronze wall memorial to honor those who had perished and those who serve.

We of course had snagged tickets online(they were free) beforehand so we didn't have any problem getting in. They checked your tickets and your bags about seven times before you are actually allowed to make it into the plaza memorial area.

Once you get in there are two huge square waterfalls (as seen below) that stand where the buildings stood. When you are right up next to them it is difficult to hear the city around you. It felt really good to stand near the sound of running water, calming.

While standing in the memorial area the new Freedom towers are in clear sight. They reach for the sun in their shiny casing, reflecting the clouds as they roll across the bright blue of the sky. The memorial is not what I thought it would be. I thought the area would be more serene. More welcoming to its visitors. The benches are all blocky and provide no support. The waterfalls were an awesome idea with the names bordering their edges but I felt like the memorial should have been closer to a small park not just a flat space to map sure you can fit in all of the tourists.

I had a dinner date with my Uncle and his family so we left the city after a quick lunch at an Irish Pub. On our way from Penn Station to his house we stopped by the Statue of Liberty. The statue happens to be outrageously close to Jersey and yet it is considered New York... A bit confusing but it was cool to see the statue kind of up close.

The view from where we were looking at the statue also gave us a clear view of the NYC skyline. The city had treated us well on our sporadic journeys into it and I was sorry to see it go so soon. I think another part of that is that I knew NYC was our halfway point and I was sad to see it go.

Sean got to go to the movies while I spent a little bit of time with my adorable cousins. It was wonderful to see them for however short of a time. My aunt made delicious afghan food and I dutifully answered their questions about Korea as best as possible.

The Heat won! We listened to part of the game on the way to our next destination, Libby's Boathouse =D

I Want To Be a Farmer When I Grow Up

After my Broadway experience we drove out to my Aunt Lucy's farm in Hopewell, NJ. We got there extraordinarily late but she was awake to tuck us into bed.

We got up the next morning and found Uncle Charlie working outside. After saying hello we all came inside and he cooked us a delicious breakfast of Scrapple and Eggs! Yum! The scrapple we ate was made from the grass fed cows they raise on their farm. 

After a very delicious breakfast we headed back outside to visit with the new dairy farm calf additions, as well as visit with Mundy (Mon-dee) the lamb. The dairy farm calves were doing ok, only a couple were having a bit of a diarrhea problem. They were all awfully cute =]

After playing with the calves we went in to the barn and let Mondy come out and have her bottle. Sean tried to give her the bottle but she was too aggressive and thwarted his attempt at feeding her. Uncle Charlie took over and look at that lamb drink! She rapidly devoured her bottle and immediately wanted more.

We kept going through the barn and we got to meet the two Irish Dexters on the farm. They were pretty  with their horns and black hair. Phoebe the cattle dog was of course very interested in saying good morning and doing a little bit of ritual antagonizing.

My Aunt Lucy and Uncle Charlie's farm is called "Beechtree Farm". In the picture with my Uncle Charlie below we are standing in front of the famous Beech tree. Apparently Uncle Charlie has transplanted the tree a couple of times as he moved around before this farm.

After a yummy breakfast and quick tour of the barn, Sean and I are off to the nearby Farmer's Market. Aunt Lucy has been there for most of the morning and she needs a restock on some of her meats. We loud up a box of frozen meat to bring her and head on out.

The Farmer's Market was right around the corner and we get there in time. We bring her the box of meat and she thanks us by sending us off to buy ourselves some Belgian Waffles! Mmmmm they were so good. Aunt Lucy's was covered in strawberries while Sean and I had our waffles covered in this paste similar to nutella, "Speculoos". The paste's taste originates from a cookie that has windmills on it. I have never had this cookie but my waffle tasted delicious covered in this cookie paste.

We switched from helping with the booth to exploring the little farmer's market. On one of our explorations we went over to where they were showcasing animals for adoption. We found this little guy playing over there. Adorable. Enough said. (On a side note, Sean's dislike for cats apparently does not apply for any cat he meets =p )

After the Farmer's MArket we headed back to the farm and waited for Aunt Lucy to finish running a few errands. We had not gone to say hi to the second group of cattle yet so we headed in their direction.

The first one we noticed was the big bull. Sean guesstimated his wight to be around 1000 lbs... I knew he was closer to a ton. As we were loudly discussing this the bull noticed us.

He was said "Hey guys, yeah you over there" We said "Oh hi" He said "The real question is..."

"If I wanted to be on your side one the gate right now does it matter if I am 1000 or 2000 lbs?" We said  nothing and began backing away slowly.

The bull was really an impressive creature. He was so intimidating! But I did secretly want him to come over to us, just not at a dead run.

After we met with that bull, Aunt Lucy came home and showed us the goats! We met with Bentley (the billy goat seen below) and his harem. This goat had a beard the size of my forearm and horns big enough to go right through me. But he was a sweetie, very docile and well mannered.

We were all suppose to go out that night to an art festival so we only had another hour or so to hang out with the animals. This was Sean's first time around big animals so we decided to groom the horses. Acorn and Poker are the two horses on the farm. We didn't have enough time to be completely thorough but we did give them a quick curry comb, brush, and comes out there manes. After that we picked their hooves.

This was Sean's first time and he was so brave! It can be quite intimidating to be around creatures so large and powerful.

We all got cleaned up and presentable. I was so happy because it looked like Sean was hitting it off with some of my most favorite people in the world.

Being out on the farm felt so good. I always enjoy myself when I am out visiting this little safe haven. I am glad I had he chance to share it with Sean. I know I am lucky that my mom's best friend is my Aunt Lucy.

Aunt Lucy took the picture below.

I think the world is so beautiful in many different ways. But there's something about an open field and a skyline empty of buildings that has always brought me the most joy.

Here's a picture of us at the Art All Night art festival. The whole building was filled with people and art displays. It was different from the Coconut Grove art festival but nonetheless it was interesting to see some of the art people had created.

The next day Mundie the lamb was all over the place. She absolutely loved to hang out with the people and the dogs. She likes to think she is a dog herself! Her wool is so soft and springy, it was fun to have her prancing around and joyfully running with the dogs as we did things around the farm.

Sean and I spent our morning working in the horse pasture. The pasture needed a little bit of loving and we had volunteered to help out with it. After a couple hours of attempting to dig out the muddy parts we moved on to a different project.

It was time to ride the horses! We brought out Poker and gave him some quick loving with a brush.  We began to saddle him and managed to do so with only minimal snags along the way.

Aunt Lucy was there to help and when we were done she showed us how Poker knows how to "park out". He knew exactly what she wanted and barely put up a fuss.

It was good to be back on a horse again, however out of practice he and I both were. I will have a horse one day... I think I enjoy the intermittent encounters with them too often not to eventually have one of my own and be able to enjoy them all of the time.

Sean got to ride a horse for the first time! He was awfully scared but he did so so so well! He says he likes it so perhaps we will go again. I thought it was cute that he was a little scared because as you can see in the picture below his feet weren't all that far off of the ground! =p I thank you again Poker and Aunt Lucy for letting us go riding.

We had a phenomenal home cooked meal with some awesome new friends. We all got together and had a really enjoyable time. Delicious food and great people, there's no better combination.

On the last day we were at Aunt Lucy's we became professional cattle wranglers. Yes, that's right, Professional Cattle Wranglers. It was vaccination time on the farm and a group of up and coming vet technicians had come over to help out.

The wrangling was left up to Gus, Sean, myself, and a new friend, Jess. Gus was the only one of us who had done it before but we all acted like we'd been doing it our whole lives. I armed myself with a decent sized branch and began rounding up the herd.

We had to move the cattle from the big field to smaller alley-like field to the small pen where we could corral them into the metal squeeze. Making lots of noise, getting big, and shear will power kept these gigantic animals headed in the right direction. Every now and again a cow would get a little crazy and it was time for us to be the ones running but for the most part it went smoothly.

The hardest part of the entire thing were the calves. These guys were awfully cute and the size of great danes but they could run and kick and fight as hard as anything I have seen in my life! One escaped into the vaccinated pen from the unvaccinated pen so I took it upon myself to capture this fugitive. After fifteen minutes of running in circles I finally got fed up and literally launched myself at the rambunctious sneak of a calf.

Flying through the air I realized too late that this was perhaps not the right way to go about doing things. But committed I was so when I made contact with the calf I was on a mission. The slippery animal wiggled and bucked its way mostly out of my grasp but in the end I had a back leg and it was mine! Although it drug me around for a bit I refused to let my one handed grip go. Backup finally arrived and helped me carry the calf back to where it needed to be.

I was grinning ear to ear proud of my catch. I was pulling mulch out of my underwear for the next twenty minutes after being dragged around but it was alright because I had not been out done by a cow.

Disclosure: The picture above contains cute animals. Do not be fooled by their apparent docile nature, I repeat DO NOT BE FOOLED.

The farm was beautiful and our stay was amazing! The trip was as always too short but I know there will always be a next time and I look forward to it. Sean and I both wish Beechtree Farm the best of luck on their adventures and growth.

Korea Adventure Update: On the last night there we printed the documents we needed to get our visa stamped! The day after we left we were going to be in New York City again and the consulate was on our list of places to go.