July adventures

I know I say this every month, but it is hard to believe [July] has come and just about gone!  This summer's July focused on two main events for Bragg Family South:  lots of swimming for Kenny and Beth with the Monticello Marlins swim club (notice Beth's form above, and Kenny's below) and some travel (more on that later).

Both Kenny and Beth did very good in their meets--they have long since gotten better at swimming than I ever was!  It is misleading, however, to show the pictures of them competing in the pool--these are big events, with hundreds of kids swimming in them, so their handful of races that lasted a minute or two paled compared to the hours spent waiting for their turns...  So, that meant hours spent socializing and playing video games, as Stephen and Kenny demonstrate below:

This summer, we tried something new:  Rich and Ann Pruden took all three kids for a week to Michigan, while Hope and I stayed in Monticello.  We met the Prudens in Kentucky, which meant we also got to spend some time exploring the central Kentucky area.  Below, we visited a small Civil War battle site (the Battle of Munfordville; note the railroad bridge in the background--an earlier version of this important crossing/rail bridge led to the engagement here):

Over the years, we've had a chance to visit many Civil War battlefields; some big, some small.  Smaller sites like Munfordville really help to keep things in perspective; although nowhere near as famous as battles like Gettysburg or Shiloh, they were just as real (and lethal) for the participants.  This particular battle, which included commands under Confederate General Braxton Bragg, resulted in hundreds of men on both sides being killed and wounded, and the eventual surrender of several thousand Union troops...Think about how that would make the news today!

We stopped at the battlefield to fill time while waiting for our main objective of the day to open--Mammoth Cave National Park.  Above, Hope helps the kids complete their activities for their Junior Ranger badges.  Below is a rather poor picture from inside the cave itself on the hour long tour we took (they do not allow flashes to be used in the cave):

We met Hope's parents around mid-day, had lunch, and then parted ways.  The kids and the Prudens headed up to Whitmore Lake, Michigan, while we head a little further east to Lexington, Kentucky, for a little bit of tourism on our part.  Hope and I went to a bourbon whiskey distillery called "Buffalo Trace":

We like their bourbon, and we also like the tours they give of the facilities--I highly recommend taking one, if you get the chance.  Making the bourbon takes years of aging the spirit in charred oak barrels, which gives it its distinctive taste and color.  Below, Hope poses near a few barrels (the distillery has THOUSANDS of these barrels aging at any one time):

I zoomed in on this barrel to show you the leakage that occurs (below).  Even though these barrels are made from oaks that are water-tight, over time a small amount finds its way out of the seams and evaporates--they call this the "angel's share"...

Of course, many of these distilleries offer tastings of their products, which can be fun:

We picked the kids up the following weekend in southern Illinois (again, about half-way between Monticello and Whitmore Lake).  Hope and I also took advantage of the trip to spend some time looking at antiques and stopping at a number of southern Illinois wineries.  This allows me to transition to a "toast" to our good friend and soon-to-be former neighbor, archeologist Jessica Howe (pictured on the left, below, with Hope and fellow archeology buff Peggy Chapman at Jessica's going away party at a friend's house):

Jessica is moving next week to northwestern Arkansas to start her PhD program in archeology at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.  Over the years we've spent a lot of time digging and visiting together, and while we're sad to see her move off, we're excited about her future, and we know we'll see her often!  This last week, there was another dig at the Taylor House, a dogtrot log cabin plantation home about 20 miles east of Monticello.  We dug here during spring break of this year, and returned to try to find the remains of a cellar.  Below, Arkansas Archeological Survey archeologist Carl Carlson-Drexler stands in the deep hole that just about got to the bottom of this cellar:

For perspective, Carl's a big guy--over 6 feet tall, and his excavation took him pretty much down that deep into the soil!  I helped out for a couple days (as much as work permitted).