Louisville: May 24-28th. "Caves, Kayaking... and a weddin'!"

We were planning to meet our dear friends PJ & SS in  Louisville Friday night, so we tried to leave Nashville at a decent hour. Since we were headin' to a weddin' and KG loves the last minute better than all the other minutes, we did have to do some Goodwill shopping before setting off.

With traffic, it seemed we would be about a half hour behind our friends arrival time and could still meet up for dinner. What we didn't realize was: for reasons that make no sense to anyone, Louisville is in a different time zone than Nashville. Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana are crazy and can't agree which time zone they are in from one side of their state to the next. We simply can't keep up. So, our "half hour behind ya!" turned into "uh... an hour AND a half behind ya." So much for dinner. So we met up for drinks instead, at a bar inside a fancy hotel -- where Fitzgerald used to hang and based the hotel in Gatsby off of. Also, I hear someone else famous and cool liked it. It was alright.

 The dears offered us to share their hotel for the night, but what with the fluffy companion we took our leave and headed to (you guessed it) Walmart. Before parting, we made plans to meet there the next morning and carpool to the Mammoth Caves (back towards Nashville, where the time zone, though we'd remain in Kentucky, would change again).

We wake up in the familiar yet new surroundings of the local lot, and PJ & SS soon arrived... the three of us hopped in and set out for the time traveling cave adventure.

The stop of the expressway is instantly familiar from the day before -- there is a giant dinosaur statue advertising "Dinosaur World", which inspired a short rap of the same name by KG that he had insisted we sing together more times than you'd think. This is the picture I'd snapped from the road on the way from Nashville:

Oh, you want to know the words to the dino number?
Sure. You may need a lesson or two to get the beat down right, however: "Dinosaur world, Dinosaur world.. haven't y'all heard 'bout Dinosaur World? That's where dinosaurs they rule the world. That's where dinosaurs they rule the world." Deceptively simple.

We weren't sure if/how long we'd each be able to explore the cave -- once again the adorable burden holding us back. But! The caves provide a very decent kennel, which consists of outdoor gated rooms sectioned off for each individual dog. And only $3! Although the convenient digs for the dog which we saw as more than adequate, he saw as a new and unjust form of torture (as displayed by his screams of horror when we left, which we also heard an hour or so later from far away as we returned).

We opted for the shorter & cheaper self guided journey and after a surprisingly cheap and decent meal at the hotel we parted ways as PJ & SS went for the guide. The area of the cave we were allowed to explore was quite limited, but very interesting and well worth $4. There are over 600 miles of cave they say, much of it still left to be explored! I hear there are "bottomless" pits though, so don't get to spunky about spelunking.

These are the best shots we could manage (I need a real camera, but they break so darn much! I'm going to splurge for a nice 'un one of these days).

Yoshi was ecstatic to see us again when we opened his padlock with our key -- "You have the key -- to my heart!" He said. (No, he didn't.)

We all headed back to Louisville -- the lovebirds were to be hitched that very night, after all!

What with the time travel etc, we arrived to our hotel (yes, we were to ditch the van for one night to be fancy wedding go-ers with a hotel) and we all beautified around each other like maniacs for our hour of prep time. But we ended up looking alright, ya?
(SS gets credit for KG's combed looking hair-do)

 It was a LOVELY marriage ceremony, all around. Horse pastures (with "real horse" effect!) in the hills behind them, birds singing, lovely weather, beautiful people, etc etc. And delicious drinks and eats after.
And then "cutting a rug" as the kids might say. And boy, was our "rug" "cut" to "shreds".

It was a good night. K slept a couple of hours before rising to walk the dog -- apparently across the bridge all the way into Indiana. That boy loves walking & bridges, so although PJ & SS did not believe his story upon waking, I knew he spoke the truth.

We all headed to a recommended brunch spot (a love all 4 of us commonly hold dear), Hillbilly Tea. It was a YES!

They had "hooch" drinks, their own version of alcoholic tea beverages. Quite nice. To add to the magical quality of the dining experience, when SS handed over his credit card -- the waiter ended up realizing they had the same last name! The relative name game ensued, and the waiter even called his Grandmother. Second Cousins!!



From their we explored Bardstown road, where the hip kids play. We got some coffee and then some beer on patios (vacation life is good) and wandered to and fro with the pooch -- even found a record store we could bring him in.


After our pleasant afternoon exploring the city, we checked out the nation's top rated drag show late that night (K got picked on.. poor fella) and parted ways to sleep with the beast in a comfortable residential area nearby, where neither of us felt that usual nagging paranoia about "the fuzz".

The next morning we were lucky enough to steal some of the newlyweds time and dined at the Panera patio before the two lovers had to head out.

(After the brief photo shoot below outside Panera) we set off for one of the famed distillery tours... Jim Beam.

It was too hot that day to leave the little burden in the car, so KG kindly offered to miss the tour. The boys and I tried not to have too much fun without them (but K was able to join us for the brief tasting after, which if he liked bourbon at all would have been the best part).

pre tour power nap

Our dear friends had to head back to the windy city after that and we arranged to meet our next couch surfing host. He was a 58 year old man who had done some traveling solo and was an extremely avid kayaker. This was our first couch surfing experience we did not contact individuals requesting hosts, we had up a general ad about ourselves and he contacted us. We had written about our inflatable kayak being strapped to our roof and he said he would like to take us for a paddle the next day. We talked with him late into the night and then set up a tent in his yard (although he did offer an air mattress, but when the tent is a feasible option it's pretty fun). The next morning he made us a delicious breakfast and after more chatting we headed to the river. After appeasing us by not trying for the first leg of the trip, he steadied his pace (apparently still only a fraction of the speed he is normally at) and we were always a mile or so behind. The older gent put us to shame for the next 6 hours. Around hour 3, he asked if we were tired or wanted to go further to see a waterfall.... not wanting to sound like pansies, we non nonchalantly shrugged our shoulders and mumbled something like "well, either way, I mean I guess it's up to you, what do you think, are you tired?" He wasn't. So, although we were tired in our little pumped up boat and were trailing far behind his real deal unit, we didn't regret the journey. The waterfall was loverly. On our paddle back from the waterfall we were extra hungry and extra tired, and kept calling out "Pull us! Please, just pull us!" to our superspeed paddle companion, as a funny joke to ourselves... since he was far too far to catch the hilarity.

 It was a pleasant (and exhausting) ordeal.
After a shower and a chat K & I went to the other nice restaurant area... tried a Filipino spot but unfortunately all dishes at this particular spot are ultra spicy (to my dismay upon ordering a mild noodle vegetable stir fry) unlike our favorite digs to eat in Chicago (Isla Pilipina, highly recommend). I was still famished, as we didn't realize our kayak excursion would be 6 hours and had not sufficiently fed ourselves.. so I got a bagel nearby, which was also not the most delicious but what can ya do. We watched Breaking Bad in our tent (ah modern urban camping) and packed up for a whirlwind 24 hours in The Chi before a whirlwind 24 hours in South Bend before a relaxing week in the Mitten (where it all began. My life, I mean.)