Celebration Day

Today was a very special day: 1st day of the "great adventure," 1st day of retirement and 39th wedding anniversary (as well as 39 years since our last trip cross country)! We really didn't set a time to be on the road, but after so many trips together, we were still on the road by 7:10 AM! It's always good to get an early start as the traffic is light and we are "raring to go!" We were kind of comparing the start of our trip 39 years ago from Long Island vs. this trip leaving from WNC. Back then we had to take the Southern State Parkway to the Goethels Bridge & then the Verrazano bridge. This time, within 45 minutes we were in Canton watching 3 hot air balloons over head! Then, of course, we were traveling through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Kind of like going from one beautiful place to another. We went through NC, Tennessee and made a short stop in Berea, Kentucky to visit the Kentucky Artisan Center. A short time later, we were in Indiana and made it to our hotel by 4 PM. Since it was our anniversary, I had done a bunch of research to find the perfect restaurant. We went to a place called Patrick's in Zionville. The street was quaint and paved with bricks and lots of restored older buildings and stores. The restaurant was celebrating Kings Day (Something about Denmark and beer) and they had entertainment and outdoor seating. Temperature was high 70's, we were surrounded by a red bud and some other flowering trees and couldn't have asked for a better setting. We enjoyed a light meal, shared a desert and had coffee. The even had a magician wandering around and entertaining us. Just a perfect ending to great first day!