Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Entertainment’ Category

Welcome to today’s edition of Book Beginnings hosted by Rose City Reader.  Today I am presenting the first lines from “The Templar Legacy” by Steve Berry:

PARIS, FRANCE

JANUARY 1308

Jacque de Molay sought death, but knew salvation would never be offered.  He was the twenty-second master of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, a religious order that had existed under God’s charge for two hundred years."

I really enjoy historical fiction and this book weaves history with a story set in the present as well.  It is full of adventure and foreign locations so I kept Google handy while I read this story so I could see the locations for myself.  It helps me set the scene in my mind.  I am excited to read the rest of the series!

When I started reading this book, the characters seemed very familiar and then I realized that I had a read one of Mr. Berry’s books in this series already.  “The Templar Legacy” is the first so I will have to re-read the other in order to continue the story.

Read Full Post »

Fall is my second favorite time of the year (after spring) and I especially love to visit orchards to get fresh picked apples to munch on.  Every year, I like to try to go to a different one and this year it was local. 

My aunt, grandmother and I visited Hinton’s Orchard in Larue County, Kentucky a short time ago and I highly recommend it. 

IMG_1347

Just look at the loaded apple trees that you pass by driving to their store:

IMG_1348

IMG_1350

Not only that, but they have pumpkins and gourds for sale:

IMG_1354

IMG_1358

When you go in the store, you are bombarded with such good smells…apples, apple cider, baked goods, jams and jellies just to name a few.  They even offer locally grown and processed meats which I love. 

IMG_1352

IMG_1355

IMG_1356

Hinton’s also has several attractions to keep the little ones entertained as well.  You can take a trip out to their pumpkin patch, walk through their corn maze or take a hayride.  It is all so much fun and I highly recommend stopping by!

IMG_1351

IMG_1353

Read Full Post »

C has been a comic book fan for years so we decided to check out a comic convention in our area.  We went to one in Lexington, KY, a couple of months ago and enjoyed it, but it was so crowded that it was almost overwhelming.

Louisville, KY hosted its own Derby City Comicon on June 29th, so we went to check it out.  It didn’t seem to be nearly as big or well attended as the one in Lexington, but it was still fun.  I am not that knowledgeable about the characters that were popular.  I was always an Archie comics fan myself and you just don’t see much of that anymore.  Hmmm, I am getting old!

It was a beautiful day to get out and do something so we were both glad that we took the time to go.  It is fun to people watch and see the different costumes that people come up with.  Here are a few of my favorite from that day:
Girlified Iron Man, Loki & Captain America from The Avengers:

IMG_3933

A Steampunk Wonder Woman costume: (I loved this one!  If you are wondering what “steampunk” is…it is a style combination of Victorian and industrial items.  Kinda weird, but way cool!  Go here for more steampunk inspiration.)

IMG_3952

A mini Darth Vader:

IMG_3965

One of the Mario Brothers:

IMG_3960

A mini (& injured) Green Lantern with his Bat Girl mom:

IMG_3954

Joker & Harley Quinn from Batman:

IMG_3907

The Riddler from Batman:

IMG_3959

Read Full Post »

What is this “High Five for Friday”, you ask?  It is another great link party that I want to try to participate in at least every other Friday if not every week.  Lauren who authors the blog, Lauren Elizabeth, hosts this neat event to showcase 5 of the favorite things that happened this week.  I think we all sometimes need reminding to enjoy the small things in life and to look on the bright side.  Hopefully this will help me do that and if you read this little speck on the interwebs, maybe it will help you, too.

 photo H54Fbutton-1_zpsa7aaa665.png

1.  Finally got to watch Oz The Great & Powerful Wednesday night and loved it!  I am a big Wizard of Oz fan so I try to catch any movie in the genre.  The actors were great and the scenery/effects were awesome!  Image courtesy of Google.

ea_ozsquareposter

2. I took advantage of an interlibrary e-book loan to read “The Templar Legacy” by Steve Berry and it is really good!

IMG_0619

3. Finally found a drugstore brand mousse with some hold.  Thanks, Tresemme!

IMG_0612

4. C & I saw this cute car on the way to lunch, but sadly it was stranded on the side of the road.

IMG_0610

5.  Finally, we are going to a Bowling Green Hot Rods baseball game this weekend.  Go, Hot Rods! I may or may not wear this stylish bucket hat to the game.  Probably not!

IMG_0618

Read Full Post »

A few more shots from the first Kentucky Green Living Fair held on March 30th:

IMG_2417IMG_2428IMG_2435IMG_2445IMG_2454IMG_2482IMG_2455IMG_2500IMG_2539IMG_2564IMG_2566IMG_2574IMG_2577IMG_2580

Read Full Post »

My last fair post…fun sights at the Kentucky State Fair

IMG_8213

IMG_8217

IMG_8239

IMG_8257

IMG_8410

IMG_8472

IMG_8522

IMG_8533

IMG_8643

IMG_8665

IMG_8713

IMG_8728

IMG_8806

Read Full Post »

Fun in Newport, KY…

IMG_5443

IMG_5444

IMG_5446

IMG_5448 - Copy

IMG_5457

IMG_6250

IMG_6439

Read Full Post »

Today’s thoughts are a continuation of the last post about C & my weekend trip to Nashville.  Let’s see…we covered our reason for going (to see the awesome Broadway show, Wicked) and we covered the local restaurant we tried and LOVED, 417 Union.  Today, I wanted to show you some of the local “flavor” of Nash-vegas, the nightlife!

On our way to the show, we drove down Broadway in search of dinner.  We had allowed ourselves 2 hours to eat before showtime, but it wasn’t enough.  I guess I just wasn’t thinking clearly…downtown Nashville + beautiful autumn Saturday night = HUGE CROWDS!  The restaurant we had planned on going to called The Big River Grille had lines down the street and most of the other eateries had the same kind of crowds.  We ended up grabbing a snack at TPAC’s café before the show instead.  It was a giant brownie and a bottle of water.  It was good and I am glad of it since that was our dinner.  The photos below show some of the early evening scenes on Broadway.

DSC00837

DSC00839

DSC00845

When Wicked was over, we made our way back to Broadway heading to our hotel.  It was around 11:00pm and it was a different scene then.  The nightlife crowd was out and about and people were cruising the streets looking for fun or, like us, cruising the streets just to see what we could see!

DSC00851

DSC00854

DSC00857

DSC00863

The next morning we made our way to the Opryland Hotel.  Now, if you have never been there and you are ever in Nashville, it is a must-see!  C & I stayed there on our honeymoon with a garden view room which has a little balcony attached.  It was beautiful.  The hotel suffered major damage last year due to flooding and re-opened last Thanksgiving weekend.  I wanted to go see if there were a lot of changes.  There really wasn’t.  The builders just restored it back to its previous opulence, but most of the gardens still looked the same.  Still beautiful, and still well worth the time to go through them.

DSC00964

DSC00970

DSC00972

DSC00975

DSC00982

We really enjoyed our weekend and can’t wait to go back!

Read Full Post »

I hope you have enjoyed the last few week’s worth of Thoughtful Thursday posts which detailed C & my 10th anniversary vacation to Virginia Beach.  This post highlights the neat little restaurants we visited while on the road.  I had done quite a bit of research on local Virginia Beach restaurants because I wanted us to get a local taste of the place.  Thanks to sites like Tripadvisor, Urbanspoon, Google, and Yahoo travel, I found several local hot spots to try.

On Tuesday of our trip, which was our official anniversary, we ate at two local restaurants which had gotten really good reviews.  These eateries are in side-by-side houses and are owned by the same people.  One serves breakfast and lunch while the other serves dinner and late night eats.

We ate at Doc Taylor’s for lunch and it was so good!!  Here is the exterior…

This is the only advertising that you will see so you have to know where they are. 

DSC06883

DSC06887

I think the interior probably looks a lot like it did when someone lived there.  The ambience was great!

DSC06892

C ordered the Philly cheesesteak with fries and I got the OBX shredded BBQ sandwich with fries and the absolutely best Cole slaw I have ever had!  If you are ever in the Virginia Beach area, go to Doc Taylor’s!  It was awesome!

DSC06899

DSC06898

For our anniversary dinner that night, we went to Doc Taylor’s sister restaurant, Tautog’s.  This was a Tuesday evening and the place was packed.  We had to wait about 45 minutes to get a table.  We were seated in the screened-in porch back to back with many other diners.  The food here was good but a little too pricey for what you get.  I think they should at least throw in a salad or bread to go with the main entrée.  C had their Steak au Poivre with roasted potatoes and I had the Wesley’s World Famous crab cakes with roasted potatoes.  Good, but expensive.

DSC07150

DSC07158

DSC07159

The next day we headed into Norfolk for some sightseeing and to go to a little drive-in/diner called Doumar’s that I had heard about on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives from the Food Network.  This place was famous for their homemade ice cream cones, so we absolutely had to try them.  This was a neat little joint that was full of locals there for lunch.  I think that is always a good sign!

DSC07700

DSC07710

DSC07711

C had a cheeseburger with fries and I had their shredded BBQ sandwich with slaw and fries.  The food was great and the best was yet to come.  C & I both ordered a chocolate ice cream cone and it was soooo good!!!!

DSC07701

Here I am trying not to lose a bite.

DSC07703

DSC07705

After a full day of touring, we made it back to our hotel room to decide where to eat supper.  I wanted something quick and close because I wanted to head to the beach before sunset.  We found a little pizza place just a block or two from our hotel called The Pi-zzeria (as in Pi, or 3.14).  Kind of cute, isn’t it?  The brick oven gave this pizza a great thin crispy crust and the cheese and homemade sauce were good, too.

DSC07954

DSC07958

DSC07961

On our way home through Virginia, we stopped in Staunton to pick up some supplies and decided to eat there.  C has a neat app on his smartphone called Where.  You can pick what you are looking for, such as a restaurant, gas station, hotel or store and it will search from your current location.  One of the eateries listed was Five Guys Burgers and Fries.  I had read about this place but there aren’t any close to where we live so we decided to check it out.

You order at their front counter and then take a seat to wait for your number to be called.  They have peanuts in the shell you can snack on while you wait, but don’t eat too many because you get huge portions.  I ordered a regular burger and fries and I got a double patty hamburger with enough fries for 3 servings.  If I ever get to eat there again, I will definitely order the “little burger”.  The food was really good though!

DSC08402

This is ONE serving of fries!!  Oh my!

DSC08403

As we headed home through West Virginia on Friday morning, we had a late breakfast at Tudor’s Biscuit World.  I had gotten a tip about this restaurant from someone I had met through work and was eager to try it.  I think I was expecting something like Cracker Barrel so I was a little disappointed.  The Tudor’s we stopped at was in a truck stop/mini mart kind of store, but it was busy.  The prices were extremely reasonable and the biscuits were huge, but I have had better.  It was ok, but not great.

DSC08406

DSC08408

I hope everyone has enjoyed these glimpses into our first trip to the ocean and all of the sites and tastes along the way!

Read Full Post »

Our virtual vacation is starting to wind down…”today” is the day we leave the beach and start toward home.  Sigh!  I knew I would like the ocean, but it was even better and more awe-inspiring that I could have imagined.  I would love to go back sometime!

We spend a couple of hours on the beach that morning just soaking it up a little longer.

DSC07989

DSC07994

DSC08003

DSC08010

We left Virginia Beach and headed toward Colonial Williamsburg.  Since we only planned on staying a couple of hours at Williamsburg, we didn’t buy tickets that would have given us access to the interiors of some of the buildings and the storytellers, but we still enjoyed it.  If you are a history buff and have a full day to spend there, then the tickets are probably worth the money, but it worked out perfectly for us to just walk the streets and sight-see instead.  A lot of the houses along the paths are private residences anyway and you won’t have access to them even with a ticket.  Here are a few photos of the sights at Colonial Williamsburg…

DSC08142

DSC08166

DSC08202

DSC08211

DSC08220

DSC08225

DSC08230

DSC08252

DSC08378

That afternoon we drove to West Virginia and spent the night.  Friday morning we headed toward Kentucky.

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »