Not Being Able to Sleep as We Get Older?

As I have become older, I have found it harder to sleep late in the mornings. This may be due to me falling asleep around 9:00PM in the evenings. In any event, I get plenty of sleep and I am also able to see the sunrise in the mornings.

This morning I stepped out my front door and took this photo of the sun rising over the trees across Montague Road. The sunrise was especially beautiful this morning. This picture does not do it justice. What a nice way to start the day. 

Terry is Seventy

I don't have the birth dates of all our classmates, just those who choose to post their age on Facebook. However, I have it on good authority that one of our dear friends celebrated his big one last week. 

Happy Birthday Terry!  Hope you see many more to come. 

I now live just across the creek (less than a mile) from Terry, but I see him only a couple of times a year. Even though we are now retired, it seems that our lives are busier than ever. 

If any of you would like to give me your birth date, I will gladly post it on this blog. 

The Hermitage

We finally got a chance to do the Hermitage tour this trip to Nashville. The Hermitage is the home of seventh US president Andrew Jackson. It is well preserved and sit on about a thousand acre tract of land about 20 minutes (4 hour carriage ride in his day) from downtown Nashville.

Jackson is better known as "Old Hickory" and the general who defeated the British in New Orleans during the War of 1812. 

View of the front of the house. No pictures are allowed inside the house. 

The back of the Hermitage taken from wife Rachael's garden. 

The original house before the mansion was built is located a short distance from the mansion and is on the walking tour. 

The final resting place for Jackson and his wife are located in one corner of the garden located next to the mansion. Lots of early US history here and well worth the trip if you are in the area. 

Levi's First Birthday Party

Levi had his first birthday party Sunday afternoon. I know it is not a big event to other people, but it is to his grandparents. It is still amazing how much he has changed in one year. He is now standing on his own and will be walking anyday now. His first word was "dog". 

Chocolate/raspberry cake from Sweet 16th next door voted best bakery in Nashville. 

Blowing out the candle. 

The first sweet treat ever. 

It was a rainy week in Nashville, but we got lucky for the party and the kids were able to play outside. 

Levi's Dedication

One year old Levi had his dedication today at the Eastwood Christian Church in Nashville. Later in the day he is to have his first birthday party.

Matt, Lindsay and Levi at the front of the church. 

Rev. Jay Hartley performing the ceremony. The christening gown was made by Matt's grandmother.  Now I am by no means a seamstress, but I can tell you that this gown is a work of art. All hand stitched, it must have taken many, many hours to make. It has been used many times for these occasions including Matt's dedication and maybe all of his cousins and nephews. 

I know it looks a little feminine for a boy, but picture will be priceless when he becomes an adult. 

Visiting Our Nashville Family

Our youngest grandson turns one year old on October 14. This time we decided to fly to Nashville rather than making the 10 hr drive. On this trip we plan to attend young Levi's christening and his very first birthday party. We also hope to get in a little sightseeing and maybe some music on honky tonk row.

Our oldest daughter Kristen and Becky's sister Janis will be coming out for the weekend. 

A visit to East Nashville would not be complete without a stop at the Sweet 16th bakery literally 300 ft from Matt and Lindsay's front door.  Sweet 16th has great breakfast and lunch items as well as delicious sweets. I didn't get there until almost 1:00pm and they were almost sold out. 

Sweet 16th has been featured in Southern Living twice. It is not a big place but a great place to satisfy your craving for a sweet treat. 

Lindsay dropped me off at the Olive and Sinclare chocolate factory on her way to the grocery store this afternoon. We passed a filming crew for the series "Nashville" about six blocks from her house so I took a picture as we drove by. There must have been 15 production vehicles and 75 people in the crew. 

 

I don't watch the program, but Becky swore that she recognized one of the stars. He is the guy on the left in the white shirt with his back to the camera. If any of you watch "Nashville", you may recognize this house in one of the future episodes. 

2014 North Carolina Seafood Festival

It gets bigger every year. Unfortunately, that means more traffic and a larger crowd. We were able to drive down Bridges Street and across to the port terminal where we parked without a lot of difficulty. If you were coming into town on Highway 70, it was a different story.

Once we parked at the terminal (free), it was a short walk to the trolley where they would carry you on a short ride to the festival. 

In addition to all the food, rides and entertainment, there was a tall ship docked at the terminal. The El Galeon Andalucia, a replica of a late 16^th century Spanish galleon, was open for public tours Saturday and Sunday.  The ship is 170 feet long, weighs almost 500 tons and is the only galleon class vessel sailing the world today. Morehead City is the fourth official port-of-call in the Sail to Sunny tour of the East Coast. 

This was an impressive ship. We got an up close look at it from both the water and the dock though we did not go aboard. The pictures do not do it justice. 

Ruddy Duck (my favorite) had a tent on the sidewalk where they served gumbo and fish (wahoo) taco's. I got the taco's and boy were they good. 

There were lots of rides and Evans Street looked like the midway at the state fair. 

I think I will skip the fair this year. 

Finally Caught a Fish

This year has been very bad for my fishing.  Hardly caught anything all year. I'm not sure if it is me or that there are no fish to be caught. I have a small fishing boat and am only able to fish the sounds and rivers unless the weather is good in which case I may go a few miles out into the ocean or up to Cape Lookout.

Well, I finally caught some fish on Friday when I was invited to go with a friend offshore. We didn't really mop up, but we did catch fish. The weather was overcast in the morning, but cleared up in the afternoon. The ocean was 1 to 2 feet and the wind was 5 knots...almost perfect. The boat ride was worth the trip even if we had not caught any fish. 

The sun rising over Cape Lookout. 

Caught seven mahi of average size. The largest was about 36 inches.

We only had to go about 60 miles offshore and burn 400 gallons of diesel at $5 per gallon. Not a bad deal when you consider that we caught about $100 dollars worth of fish. As mentioned earlier, it was all about the boat ride!  The fish was just a bonus.