Two Pilots & an LSW: Kentucky

Sunday, September 26, 2021

Kentucky

Man it's been beautiful. A little cool, we ended up wearing sweaters around for a day, but perfect, magnificent Fall weather.

After lunch, Steve, Nathan, AE and I got in the Aerostar and flew down to Paducah. It was stunning pretty weather. Nathan goes down each year for his highschool reunion stuff. We got down there and walked downtown, stopped at a place called Max's, hung out, met some of his high school friends, then went over to Doe's Steakhouse, where the guys all had two pound bone-in ribeye steaks. I wasn't hungry enough for that, so for the first time I had the Mahi Mahi there. Everything was fantastic, as always, but MAN were we full.

Saturday we spent driving around and checking everything out. We drove around the lakes, stopped at a marina for lunch and carrot cake, and that evening dropped Nathan off at his official reunion while we went to a seafood place for dinner. I had the Ahi Tuna, rice, also very good. The best part was that we were outside on a patio with umbrellas and lights, and live music. The live music was an old country guy with a guitar. He had a high, nasally voice, and wasn't so great with rhythm or lyrics. And yet he kind of grew on you. He played old and new country both, and I knew every song he played, which is funny, since I don't listen to country any more. Or maybe I listen to more of it than I thought somehow. But he played as the lights came on and the skies got dark outside there on the fenced in patio while we ate a bunch of different seafood. We had oysters on the half shell, Mahi and Ahi, fried alligator bites, Steve had gumbo which he said was really good, and then he got frog legs to try them. I actually took a bite of the meat too, because I was curious, had never had them, and they were there. I can't stand eating things when I can see the shape of the creature I am gnawing on, but he just put some meat on a fork and gave it to me. It tasted like juicy chicken. It was good, but I don't want to eat them. At least now I can say I have. The guys ended with key lime pie, but I was too full for that. That night AE, Steve and I sat down in the hotel lobby and finished off our bottle of cabernet that we'd gotten at Doe's.

This morning we went to a breakfast place we loved. "Gold Rush Cafe" I believe is the name of it. Small little place downtown in an old building with an odd set-up, very quirky, and we liked it a lot. The owner had put up signs all over the place like "Today's Menu: Eat it or Leave" or "Whining Costs Extra" or "If you have suggestions, wrap them in $100 bills before you give them to us if you want us to take them seriously". I can't remember all of them, but the owner definitely has a sense of humor. And the food was fantastic. We all tried a little bit of everything. Mini waffles, bacon, real sausage patties, eggs, toast, hashbrown casserole that was cheesy and didn't have onions in it (yay!), huge fluffy biscuits and gravy, short stack. Obviously we didn't all eat all of that, but amongst us all, that's what we had. Really good. When the cook came out with our food, she figured out the other three, and then said "By process of elimination, this last one is yours, and you're gonna take it and like it." We laughed. I don't mind feisty.

The flight home was also completely uneventful, blue skies, in fact I came home VFR, with not a cloud in the sky nor a bit of airspace in the way. Listened to music, talked, and relaxed all the way home, back to reality.

My Monday has shifted again. The winds are too strong in Wisconsin for tomorrow in a T-6. So I'm doing an IPC at 8 am, a funeral at 11 am, a checkride prep flight at 3 pm, and then Tuesday and Wednesday I go to Wisconsin. I'm supposed to get my second covid shot tomorrow afternoon, but I'm a little worried it'll knock me out Tuesday when I'm supposed to be flying. I didn't have any reaction to the first one but I hear it's the second one that can get you. I'm not sure what to do because there isn't really a whole lot of days I am not supposed to be flying. I have an appointment for tomorrow at 2, and I couldn't figure out how to cancel it, so if I just don't show up I guess I could walk in when I have two known rainy days coming up? I don't know...

It was a nice weekend away, and Kaylee helped us be able to do it by spending the weekend at home so she could take care of Ann Friday, Saturday and Sunday until we got back. Three times a day, minimum. We really appreciated it.