Kentucky Adventures! A Trip to The National Corvette Museum and Plant.

So as promised... here is the big post with LOTS of pics from our trip to Bowling, Green Kentucky last weekend. In case some of you didn't read the previous post... my in-laws, the munchkin and I took the hubby to the Corvette Museum & Plant that is up there. It was freakin awesome! There's actually so much history to the cars themselves, and to think... they almost didn't even make it to the assembly line! Corvette got its start by a man named Zora Arkus-Duntov, he is the man who saw Corvette for what it was... the American Dream Sports Car. He first joined GM in 1953 after he first saw the Motorama Corvette on display at GM's press release in New York. Most designers and engineers didn't feel that Corvette was up to snuff with Europes already very popular sports cars; namely Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche and Mercedes Bendz. Zora saw the potential in Corvette and wrote to Chevrolet's chief engineer Ed Cole and told him it would be his compliment to work on such a beautiful car, and the rest is history.

The first generation Corvette was introduced late in the 1953 model year and ended in 1962. Often referred to as the "solid-axle" models because the independent rear suspension did not debut until the 1963 Sting Ray (which also happens to be be my favorite model). There are now six generations of Corvette and our's is fourth, hence the C-4 model. Ours is also a bit special because its part of the one millionth models that were produced in 1992.

Needless to say we had a GREAT time at the museum and touring the plant, it was the coolest thing to see how its all made, from the start to nuts and bolts of the engine block to the fiberglass hoods and coupe tops. It was really nice to walk around on the factory floor and see the people who actually make the car we drive. I was very impressed by all the fine workings of the assembly productions. I was unable to take pictures, in fact we had to leave our cell phones and my purse in the car while touring the plant. Yes! GM is THAT serious about their secret productions. ;)

But here are some of the pictures I took at the museum...

Us and my in-laws in from of the museum and cafe.

Our little future vette driver ;)

This particular display I found really cool, below the mural it has a display of pictures and stories from all kinds of military members and the stories of how and why they bought their vettes, I loved the one about a Marine who bought his first vette after his last deployment to afganistan, he had it dedicated to his friend who was KIA and on the hood it has their unit insignia and his name engraved in it.

"I'll take this one mom!"

I don't think any words are more true to my hubbies heart...

Inside the Corvette Hall of Fame, they have every model ever made in here!

And since I was unable to take pics inside, here's a pic of the front of the plant. :)

On Sunday in the morning we went to the Farmers Market where I picked up some wild Kentucky honey (ya, know... the kind that still has the comb in it!) and then that afternoon we took the munchkin to see Cars 2. We would have love to adventure off into the Lost River Caves but they are currently flooded by the torrential rain that Kentucky has had in the past few weeks. Never the less the movie was AWESOME! I almost loved it more than the first movie! And afterward we also found a...

Real White Castle!!! So yeah it was a Jess & Hubbers go White Castle moment! LOL!

Valentines Day Corvette Cruise to Hammond Louisiana

Yesterday was pretty much our celebration of V-Day. Hubby, the munchkin and I took a drive to Hammond Louisiana with the corvette club that hubby belongs to. Yes, he belongs to a car club... don't laugh... I'm serious! LMAO! I told you he was uber geeky about things ;)

Anyway... we had a good time up until we didn't get out food. We went to a place called Catfish Charlies. It was a nice place on the bayou that serves catfish and seafood. Don't get me wrong, the food was good once we got it... but waiting over an hour and half for it did not keep me smiling the whole time. In all fairness we did meet two other vette clubs there. However, when people who came in and sat down after we did started eating their meals and getting done before we even had ours... got us a little steamed up. And not only did we wait FOREVER for our food we also paid a fourtune! Hubbs had the large fried shrimp dinner which consisted of 8 fried shrimp and french fries. I had the small fried shrimp dinner (can you tell we're not catfish eaters) which consisted of 4 shrimp and french fries. I ordered a side of extra fries for the kiddo because she was going to split the shrimp with her daddy and then we ordered gator bites as a appetizer which were a total of 6 gator bites. Our bill at the end of the meal came to $52.63! It was the most expensive crap restaurant we have ever ate at! I think we could have ate for cheaper at red lobster! And after waiting over an hour and half for food, you would think we would get at least the appetizer for free... but no! So needless to say that was our first and last trip to Catfish Charlies. After lunch we stopped in Slidell, LA and did our normal mall rat thing and took the kiddo to Toy-R-Us, since we don't have one within a 20 mile radius. Yes, I have to take her to either that one or the one in mobile... they have NO toy stores here in the Mississippi Gulf Coast. :( So her getting to there was pretty much a big treat.

Here's some of the pics I took from the cruise there and back.

This is our car club group that went there were about 5 vettes in front of us, 4 behind us and 6 others that went through the light already. It was pretty cool to ride down I-12 in a pack ;)

Fun Fact: County's are called Parish's down here but, only in Louisiana

The kiddo munching on a Gator Bite. Yes, that would be fried up Alligator Tail. And before you knock it... try it! Its delicious! Even my picky eater eats it!

See! It even looks like a little chicken nugget. It tastes kinda like chicken too but with just a little difference... its like that one time where mom slipped you liver on your plate for dinner and called it steak?... yeah, kinda like that but better. Its really a delicacy both in Louisiana and Mississippi. The ones we had yesterday were good but small. :(

Hanging out in a rocking chair on the back porch over looking the bayou.... ahhh... I love it down here.

I saved the best for last... Only in Louisiana can you get alcoholic beverage to go! Yes, that sign does indeed say Daiquiris Drive Thru! For just $6.00 you can get a 32 oz (7-11 Slurpy size) daiquiri to go! They come in a variety of flavors like wild cherry, pina colada, grape, watermelon and of course strawberry. Fun Fact # 2: You CAN actually drink while driving in both Louisiana and Mississippi you just CANT be over the legal limit and intoxicated. Not that I by any means promote drinking and driving I just find it interesting... and wonder statically how many accidents were cause because Cletus spilled his beer at a red light LOL! ;)

Random Weekend

Sorry I've been a little MIA for the last few days, I've not been THAT busy I just don't have much to blog about. I just figure why bore you with mundane details right? So here's the cliff notes version. I am loving that we have had such a long weekend, Hubs has been off of work since Thursday! Woohoo! It would have been nice to go some where and enjoy it a little bit more but we'll be doing plenty of that next week when my in-laws arrive on Wednesday.

So far Thursday we spent re-doing the weather stripping on the vette which took about all afternoon. You have to take the door panels of to get to all of it so its kinda a pain in the ass, but with the two of us it wasn't too bad. We went to Chili's so Hubs could get his free Veteran's day meal. I was expecting it to be insane but we only actually ended up waiting about 15 mins... I was shocked, seeing how we live in a military town. I think it was the cheapest meal we've ever eaten as a family, in fact my meal was the most expensive at a whopping $7.99. Even the munchkin just wanted cheese fries! I think our total came to about $12.00 including drinks.

Friday was the corvette club meeting (Hubs is the secretary and web designer, so we usually kinda sorta have to go) and then we went to dinner with the club at El Rancho's... My FAVORITE local Mexican restaurant. Our poor waiter... I don't think he had ever handled a group as big as ours.... in the end he was so confused as to who ordered the chimichanga or the quesodilla. LOL! Followed by a walk around Wal-Mart (not my favorite but it was close) I dunno about you guys but I feel like I HAVE to walk around a bit after I eat... it just hurts if I don't. It feels like everything is just stuck right there in middle of my stomach and will take forever to digest, so I make it a point to walk around somewhere... which is usually a store and leads to impulsive buys like a CUTE new nail polish called Sunset Strip by Hard Candy and looks very fall festive on my pretty little piggies and some hair dye. Yup its been dyed yet again... I don't think I've actually seen my natural color in YEARS like were talking a good 12 years at least. I do know that if I did grow it all out Id probably be waaaaaaay gray, its just in my genes on dad's side. :P So anyway its a dark blond with platinum high lights and the bottom around my nape is black (like it has been dipped in tar) sounds weird but I actually like it.

Saturday was pay day and with no surprise grocery shopping day. We bought the Turkey and the Ham for Thanksgiving. I bought both meats in case the Airman we are having over don't end up liking Turkey there is always Ham. Its no strange thing to me to have both, I grew up that way. My dad is NOT a turkey eater so mom always ended up making both. I have to say I love the commissary, the older retired spouses always crack me up...

As for today its laundry day and Christmas shopping day. I'm probably going to head out and finish up getting stuff for the munchkin. On the list is the Leapster Explorer (that's her big gift this year), Some accessories for her Batcave that she will be getting, The Crayola color dome, and probably one or 2 other random NON GIRLY toys LOL. She is such her mothers daughter.

Hope you all are having a fabulous weekend (hope I didn't bore you too much) and I shall post more soon. I will have another craft project post soon (as I finish it). Its for Thanksgiving so I'm trying to finish it up ASAP. lol. I leave you with a pretty sunset that was taken by me on Thursday at the beach which is about 2 blocks from our house.

So here's the big post of things that have been going on lately...

*Warning pic heavy* it was just that much fun ;)

My parents arrived last Friday (the 3rd) and stayed with us till this past Saturday. The kiddo was ecstatic to see her Omi & Papap. She doesn't get to see them too often because its a 12 hr drive home and for the 3 of us to fly would be ridiculous, so we make do with summer vacations, and long holidays when the hubs can take leave. So in the week they were here we tried to make it as fun as possible. We hung out at the beach, won some and lost some at the casinos, got fed at the shed (our favorite local BBQ hideout) took a trip to New Orleans and went bowling (which was my highlight of the time spent together).




I think they got 3 feet from the door when she had to have her picture taken with them. ;)



Dad taking a ride with the hubs up to hooters for dinner, it was his first time in the vette.


We stopped by the Katrina memorial and I took a pic of my favorite tree. This particularly cool tree was carved from a tree that was damaged by hurricane Katrina, the artwork was done with a chain saw and sculpted by Marlin Miller of Fort Walton Beach, FL. There are tons of these kind of sculptures up and down Hwy. 90 but this one is by far my favorite.
Getting Fed at the Shed... no really, that's their slogan ;)


Isn't this ceiling awesome! This place is literally a bunch of sheds put together... think of it as the redneck BBQ club. lol!
Where we had breakfast... the sign says it all! YUM!


OMG! These are sooooo yummy! Just don't wear black while eating them ;)

Followed by this for lunch... just kidding! LOL!

The Rev. Zombies Voodoo Shop, this place is a must see just to say you've seen it!


I love signs... if you haven't noticed by now.

The kiddo and her Omi hanging out the French Market. Vive La Seafood!!!


And then my favorite... Bowling! This was so awesome, I felt like a little kid again. I haven't gone bowling in FOREVER! It was fun and hilarious!


It was her first time bowling and she had so much fun... and almost gave us a serious run for our money lol.


The clown shoes have become fluorescent over the years... LOL!

Weekend Recap

Friday was work on the vette day. Ok yeah ALL day. I didn’t work on it, the husband did. For me it was just alot of running back and forth between home and the base auto hobby shop. I did go with some friends and the munchkin up to the Marina on Saturday before her game. I have to say I was pretty disappointed in the game. She played lousey but that’s because it was her usually scheduled nap time, she had no lunch, it was 94 degrees out at 11am and she played with twins that she doesn’t know. She doesn’t know them because their mom NEVER brings them to practice! Yet, somehow she still manages to weasel her way into getting them to play in the games. “The Kick” our official rule book for the league, clearly states that if you don’t come to at least 1 practice a week you don’t get to play in the games. I don’t think its fair that she just shows up and expects her kids to play. She literally shows up, drops them off and then either goes in her car to sit or leaves. At half time her kids were looking for her to give them a drink, and she was no where in site! So yeah its been getting under my skin and pissing me off… I am 2 breaths away from saying something to the soccer league director. I hate to be that way but its unfair :P

Saturday night we also went out with our friends (and their kids) who live down the street. We all went and saw Shrek The Final Chapter which was really cute and the kids loved. My personal fave in all the Shrek movies is puss in boots and in this one hes REALLY fat which is awesome! Reminds me of my old cat Stimpy! LOL

Oh how I miss that cat! LOL He was so awesomely FAT! LOL

Sunday we went to a crawfish boil at one of the civilian instructors that the hubs works with, it was good they had crawfish boil and hot dogs for the kids and finger foods. I know why now they call them “mud bugs” LOL! They look disgusting before they are cooked! Imagine… the cockroach of the sea! LOL!

Then on our way home I spotted this…

That there would be the “World’s Largest Rocking Chair” no, Im not kidding and my first “roadside attraction”… next up, “Worlds biggest ball of twine” !!! LOL!

Day Trip to New Orleans!

He had today off, I had today off and then munchkin had school… so we took the opportunity to take a day trip to New Orleans!! Its only about an hour and thirty five min. drive from home, but since we took the vette we made it in probably an hour, Hahaha! It was an awesome day the vette drove perfectly and we had so much fun just the 2 of us walking around the French Quarter. We had Beignets for breakfast at Cafe Beignet on Bourbon St. which were Oooooh Soooo Yummy!!! Then walked Bourbon to Canal to Royal and then St. Peters. We visited Rev. Zombies house of Voodoo and checked out Preservation Hall, where New Awlins Jazz music was born! After the walking around the French Quarter we headed up a few streets to St. Louise Cemetery No. 1 where I was looking to find Marie Laveau’s The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans grave, but no such luck. The cemetery is huge and we also were running out of time before we needed to head back. I’ll see if I can find the GPS coordinates for next time. I would have also loved to take one of Bloody Marys tours but alas there just wasnt enough time. New Orleans is too cool for just a few hours. I cant wait to go back!

I did end up getting a few trinkets from our trip some postcards a voodoo doll and a gris gris bag from Rev. Zombies.

I just love that the hubby and I got the chance to do this together. I had so much fun just being with him. He is awesomest!

Driving in to New Orleans and then looking to find parking thats not gonna cost us $25.00!!! Waaaaay to rip off the tourists! LOL

Everything was decorated in Mardi Gras colors! It was beautiful!

Interesting History.

The famous water meters that people end up stealing and selling to tourists.

Cafe Beignet at Music Park on Bourbon St.

Oooooh so yummy!

My fav. shop so far…

Preservation Hall is amazing!

World famous Rue Royale!!! I loved the art galleries on this street. I found George Rodrigue Blue Dog gallery!!!