Mark and I needed a vacation! We looked at going to Florida, Washington D.C, California... but we decided on the oh-so-popular summer destination of Cincinnati, OH! I'm sure you are wondering why in the world we decided on Cincinnati as our summer vacation destination of choice... We've got a friend that moved up there not too long ago for a job. He will only be up there until next year and we decided that if we were ever going to see Cincinnati, we needed to do it when a friend lived there! It also helped that he had tickets to the Cincinnati Reds vs. Braves baseball games. Mark loves to go watch baseball games at different fields.
The trip began last Thursday night and consisted of stops in Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, Fort Knox, and (finally) Cincinnati! Because this is the most random of roadtrips, I will let the pictures help with my story.
First Stop... Bowling Green, KY!
We decided to stop here for the night to break the trip up. We stayed at Mark's hotel of choice... or actually the hotel we got to stay at for free because of Mark's double black platinum elite status. The La Quinta Inn! (It was actually really nice!)
The next day we were off to Elizabethtown, KY to visit a friend Mark met through his Fort Knox job. BUT we couldn't leave Bowling Green without making a stop by the Corvette Museum!
I think the Impala with the 20 inch blades adds a nice touch.(We didn't actually stop there... we just drove by for a photo op)
On to Elizabethtown, KY! While doing his big job in Fort Knox, Mark made friends with the sod guy so we stopped by his farm to say hi and pick up some cow (we haven't had to buy beef in months!). His farm is just how I pictured a farm in Kentucky to be... rolling hills and all!
Next stop... Fort Knox!
Mark wanted to check on the job and take some pictures so we swung through the base to take a look. I got to see the big Gold Depository but was told that I was NOT ALLOWED to take a picture of it or I'd be arrested (that's what Mark said). So, the big tank at the entrance will have to do.Finally, we headed to Cincinnati!!!
Our friend lives in a really neat part of town. You can walk everywhere, including the baseball stadium. After we got there we headed out to the stadium to see the first of 3 games between the Reds and the Braves.
Not that you can tell, but I'm pretty sure that's Chipper Jones on 2nd base... and the Braves won!!Mark got his picture with some Reds...
Leigh and I spent most of the game chatting it up (I'm not a big baseball fan).
And we got to see some really cool fireworks (it was probably the BEST fireworks show I've every seen!).
After the baseball game we headed home to find an unusual party going on at our friend's complex. (This is where the story gets REALLY weird!)
We had noticed a sign on the door of the complex saying that the pool area was going to be used for a party that night... something called "Holi-Dooley". It said that anyone was invited so we decided to crash it! Let's just say... it was the most unusual party I've EVER crashed! The party was celebrating every holiday of the year... New Year's, 4th of July, Cinco de Mayo, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas... ALL of them! Everyone was dressed up for one of the holidays. There were pilgrims and indians, Uncle Sam, a parrot, and a bunch of people running around with sombreros and mustaches (I'm assuming for Cinco De Mayo). They had green beer for St. Paddy's Day, an easter egg hunt for Easter... it was definitely interesting! Let's just get to the pictures for this one...
Since we didn't have a costume, Dooley (the one hosting the party) furnished some nice sombreros that we turned into cowboy hats.
During the Easter Egg Hunt, someone thought they broke their leg, so the ambulance was called.
Then Mark decided it would be a brilliant idea to drive the ambulance around the neighborhood while they were working on the injured...
(He really didn't drive it around, but it made for a great photo op).There were Halloween decorations... 
Christmas portrait opportunities...
But the most random even of the Holi-Dooley was the stick horse race (and I'm not making this stuff up, folks - it really happened).
Stick Horse Race - Holi-Dooley from Leslie Marshall on Vimeo.
At the end of the evening, we were starving so we headed to Pompilios. This restaurant is famous because a few of the scenes from Rain Man were filmed there!
This phone is supposedly the pay phone that Tom Cruise talked on in the movie!
The next day we hung out, had breakfast/lunch, had dinner and then headed back to Bowling Green. Bowling Green is the half-way point, so we thought it would make it easier to split the trip up. Monday morning we woke up and made the final leg of our journey home, but not before stopping at my favorite morning spot... Sonic!
We had a great time, but it was good to get back to my baby!!! I'm ready to plan another Random Roadtrip!!
2 comments:
Great blog- loved all the pictures. It looks like you guys had a fantastic time. I think we should plan our own "Holi-Dooley".
That IS a totally random road trip. Never with the Holi-Dooley party - very original and so fun! And girl, I can tell you have lived in Scottsboro for over a year. I totally thought you were going to say Starbucks when you mentioned your favorite morning place! Glad you guys had a good time on your get away!
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