Another Saturday morning blog update. I didn't post anything during the last week because we were visiting my husband's family for the Thanksgiving holiday. My mother-in-law does not have Internet access. She lives in Owensboro, Kentucky which is where my husband grew up. Since he's been retired this year he's made multiple trips to Owensboro and done multiple tasks around her house. This was supposed to be a fun trip but somehow he still had a list of to-do items. We compromised by doing one or two projects in the morning and going out in the afternoon and/or evening. His Mom stayed home cooking for us which is why my husband is downstairs on the treadmill right now and I'm eating a piece of pumpkin pie while I write this.

    I'll recap the fun things we did. We visited the International Bluegrass Music Museum which chronicles the rise of Bluegrass music from its invention by Bill Monroe in Rosine, Kentucky to the international following it has today. All along the way you can listen to music created by famous Bluegrass artists such as BIll Monroe's "classic" band which also included Earl Scruggs and Lester Flat (best known for "The Ballad of Jed Clampett").

    We visited the Owensboro Museum of Science and History. This museum occupies the Anderson building that was once the premier department store of downtown Owensboro. All my husband could recognize of the store were the elevators. The museum has an extensive kids area with interactive science exhibits. We were more interested in the Owensboro historic photo collection, the Wendell Ford exhibit and the racing exhibit. Owensboro has a rich racing history with a long streak of local boys running in NASCAR including the Waltrips, the Greens and Jeremy Mayfield. They also have a history of hydroplane racing on the Ohio river.

    The Wendell Ford exhibit was the nicest of the museum and included a biography of the long-time US Senator from Owensboro with a replica of his senate office. My husband had a special interest because his uncle was Wendell's barber and they had a tradition of cutting Wendell's hair the night before an election as a good luck charm. It must have worked because Wendell never lost an election. A replica barber shop including memorabilia of his late-uncle is part of this exhibit.

    One day we drove to Evansville, Indiana (less than an hour away) for shopping (of course) but we also drove through downtown where there is a nice river walk, a casino and a World War II era LST. LST's were used to transport and land men and equipment on the beaches in both Europe and the Pacific. My late father-in-law served on an LST during the war. Unfortunately it was not open for tours that day so we could only look at it from the parking lot. We ate lunch at a an old German restaurant (pictured) in a quaint area of town. The food was excellent and the atmosphere authentic.  

    Besides visiting with family, we also hooked up with a couple of his high school buddies and attended a Kentucky Weslyan basketball game. They are a NCAA Division II school and, although the school is very small, they have an enviable streak of championships. They look to have a good team this year as well.

   Happy Thanksgiving!