Celebrating

Yesterday was my birthday! I turned 54 years old and love this phase of life. All my kids are doing pretty good and are married to wonderful people; I have three beautiful grandkids; lots of friends who care enough about me to take a moment to remember my special day and I still get a tingle when my husband walks in the room and he says it's reciprocal. :) I'm one very blessed woman.

The weather was forecasted to be fabulously spring-like, so we made plans with Ray & Judy to attend the Appalachian Festival in Cincinnati. Where we are in KY is just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati so it would be an easy drive. And, for once, the forecast was right – it was a perfect day to be outside!

We met at Ray & Judy's about 9:30am; hopped into their truck and made our way to Cracker Barrel for a late breakfast. You know that is the most important meal of the day! Of course, it was a good meal and none of us left hungry. Ray & Judy even picked up the tab as a present to me. Wasn't that nice! :)

Bellies filled, Ray drove us over the river, but not through the woods, to Coney Island.

No, we hadn't taken a wrong turn and ended up in New York. This Coney Island is in Cincinnati and was fashioned after that one in NYC. Ray share some of his memories of going there as a kid. He used to ride a ferry across the river from Newport, KY.

The Appalachian Festival is an annual event that celebrates all things Appalachian. Makes sense, huh? ;) There were various crafters, living historians,

Native Americans, musicians,

and lots of people. Yesterday was “frugal Friday” so admission was half price. Yay! Senior citizens paid just $2 for admission and the rest of us paid $4. That's a deal. And even being a year older than I was the day before, I still didn't qualify as a senior!

The four of us spent about four hours wandering through the park. There were signs throughout telling of the various floods the park had survived. The worst was in 1937 when the park was submerged in 28 feet of water! Can you imagine? The park has a rich history that you can read about here.

Thankfully, there was no sign of rain yesterday! We had beautiful blue skies and sunshine all day. We saw a genuine covered wagon that had been in the owner's family and actually made a trip out west. It was much smaller than the ones on TV!

There was a weaver selling her products that she'd spun on a nearly 200 year old loom.

We had a great time!

Before going to dinner out at The Greyhound Tavern, a popular local restaurant, we drove through a DeVou Park, a beautiful park near Newport, KY. From one of the overlooks, we could see Cincinnati. It was lovely.

 

And we ended our day back at Ray & Judy's where we had ice cream and cookies for dessert and chatted for another couple of hours.

I had a wonderful day celebrating my birthday.

Today we've just hung out at home. Not sure what the next couple of days will bring, but I know we'll see Ray & Judy once more before leaving on Tuesday.

Until the next time . . .