Our First Kentucky Visitor - Part 1

Hot on the heels of our first road trip from the new house, we had our first overnight visitor!  My Mom, Gwen, arrived on a Friday in mid-June, and we had a great time showing her the sights, both immediately in our new area and a bit further afield.

Selfie snack time at one of our favorite local haunts, Dreaming Creek Brewery

Before we even moved to Kentucky, Mom had been planning a summer trip north from Florida that she was calling the "Tour de Gwen" - once we were settled in, she asked if she could add us as a stop on the itinerary, and of course, we said yes!  She'd been on the road for two weeks when she got to us, visiting with loads of family and friends and having a great time doing so.  Directly before she came to Richmond, she stayed with her aunt and cousin, Mary Alice and Katherine, in Johnson City, Tennessee, about a four hour journey southeast of our new place.  The move from Arizona didn't take quite as much of my vacation time from work as I initially expected, so I was happy to take Friday off and meet Mom in Knoxville for lunch, about halfway through her drive to our house.

To ensure we could travel back from Knox together in the same vehicle, I rented a car at our local Enterprise location (I checked everything from trains to planes to buses, and this was the best option, which seemed silly...) and headed down the 75, planning to drop it off, and then make the short stroll to meet Mom at our designated lunch spot.  About halfway through my trip down, however, I noted a huge plume of dark smoke just ahead, and the southbound lanes of the freeway came to a screeching halt.  I was about the 10th car back from this disaster:

Car-B-Que!

As you might imagine, getting the emergency vehicles to the scene, putting out the inferno, cleaning everything up, and clearing the lanes took some time, but after about 45 minutes, we were on our way again.  I kept Mom updated on my progress (or lack thereof), and she killed some time strolling and window shopping in Old City while waiting for me to arrive.

On Central Street in front of Kaizen, our lunch spot

Everything was delicious, from our gyoza to bao buns to fried rice

Cool wallpaper in the Kaizen bathroom -

I told Chris he was lucky we'd already picked ours, or this might have been a contender

Post-lunch, we detoured to South Knox for a brief stop at KnoxFill, a zero waste store, so I could refill my lotion bottle, and then it was on the road north toward Kentucky!

Good place - tons of refillable options to choose from and lots of other cute things, too

Kentucky was state number six on the Tour de Gwen

The miles flew by while we chatted, and before too long, we were entering the city limits of Richmond, our new hometown!

We have our own Buc-ee's!

We made it to the house right as Chris was ending his work day, and the girls greeted their Grandma, who they hadn't seen since last summer in Oregon.

Zoe's not so sure about this lady taking all these pictures

"Grandma, this is NOT my best side!"

Bea settled in for cuddles pretty quickly, though

"But may I have a chip?"

After a dinner of sous vide pork chops with a port-cherry sauce and grilled asparagus, we watched the FSU-Tennessee baseball game until we couldn't stay up any more, then crashed out pretty hard.  The next morning, the four Olsen family members were up early (as is our normal), and Chris headed out to run errands (Lowe's, the farmer's market, etc.) while the ladies visited and got ready for our first adventure of the day - to have tea at our local tearoom, Golden Leaves.  Mom and I have enjoyed afternoon tea together many times, in many different and far flung locales, and we were excited to try a nearby spot - thankfully, we can report that it's fantastic!  The tea was piping hot, the food (small sandwiches, scones, and mini desserts) was delicious, and the service was friendly and helpful.  Golden Leaves also has a combo tea-toiletries shop on site, and we made a few purchases there before we left.

"When is Grandma going to get up?!?!?!"

Golden Leaves is inside the old Richmond Mall, which has been converted to shops like this -

some restaurants, beauty parlors, gown shops, and so on (including the local drivers' license office).

It's nice to see more businesses settling in here.

Noms!  Everything was completely delicious.

After tea, we drove through downtown Richmond, so I could show Mom the sights, including Main Street and the campus of Eastern Kentucky University (EKU).

Eastern has a really pretty campus - lots of red brick buildings and green parks

Part of Main Street, including Purdy's, our local coffee shop

We meandered back to the house, where we found Chris returned from his errands, done with his yard work for the day, and showered and changed into clean clothes - hooray!  He hopped in the car and we got back on the 75 heading south toward Berea, a neighboring city about 20 minutes away.  Berea, although being smaller than Richmond, has all sorts of cute restaurants and shops, and it's known as a major arts and crafts hub in this region.  On the Saturday we visited, several events were going on, including a classic car show and the annual L&N Railroad Day, celebrating the historic Louisville & Nashville Railroad line, which used to pass through the city.

The old railroad depot, now the town's welcome center

So many gorgeous flowers everywhere!

An antique cabin which served as a woodworking gallery

Lots of cool sculptures, too

A model railroad inside the depot

It was pretty toasty out, so we finished up in the city center and after a quick visit to the Berea Arts Center right off the freeway, it was back north to Richmond and to our local (and amazing) brewery, Dreaming Creek, for liquid refreshment (they don't have a kitchen, so you can bring your own food or buy stuff from the rotating cast of food trucks on site).  

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at home, hanging out with the doggos and enjoying homemade cocktails and pizza from Chef Chris.

The makings for Chris' famous maple syrup rye Manhattans (with black walnut bitters)

"Grandma, look at my bone!  Isn't it cool?"

Cheers to pizza!

A BBQ chicken pizza with red onion and jalapeno (on Chris' pieces)

Our neighbor Mel made the amazing BBQ chicken, and the jalapeno is from our garden

(the gorgeous tomatoes in the back are from the farmers' market - 

we have some growing in our garden, but they're not ready yet)

Bea likes to help cook...

...when she's not busy cuddling.

Tuckered out by the heat (and maybe the drinks - who can tell, really?), we hit the hay before too much longer, ready for another day of excitement in the Bluegrass State!

Coming up - we head further north into the big city of Lexington and try not to pass out on a really warm distillery tour!

Later!

Amy