Duck-Pin Bowling

To close out the year, all of us, except Cookie, tried a new type of bowling for our family.  The duck-pin bowling is common in the Mid-Atlantic and was a lot of fun.  You have ten pins, but they are short and squatty.  The ball is similar to a skee-ball but a little heavier and a slight larger diameter.  You also get three balls per frame but a strike is still knocking down all pins with the first ball and a spare must be obtained with two balls.  You have the option of leaving the knocked down pins in the lane for your second and third ball.  It was wild and fun.

Ready to bowl.

There are no holes in this ball to put my fingers.

Jessica is ready to bowl.

Are we bowling or playing skee ball?

Jessica lets it roll.

With a hop and skip Jennifer lets her ball go.

Lynn appears to think the bowling bowl shrunk.

After Jessica beat Brent in game 1 there is no doubt that there was going to be a game 2.

Exhausted bowlers.

We sure hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year.

Cookie Addresses Gettysburg

Today we traveled from Annapolis, MD to Gettysburg, PA to visit the battlefield.  We were surprised how large the battlefield area is and that the town of Gettysburg is in the battlefield.  Jennifer and Jessica share our love for history and Cookie has adopted the love too.

We viewed a film, a museum and a cyclorama.

We were taking a rest when President Lincoln stopped by for a chat.

Cookie stayed in the car while we went to the visitor center, so she was eager to inspect a cannon.

We were on a tower overlooking a battlefield on the first day.  Cookie left #1 and #2 somewhere in the field.

Being from Tennessee, Cookie likes to look at the Confederate Statues with her favorite general being Robert E. Lee.

Cookie really likes to inspect the cannons.

Cookie reads the signs and explains the history to the girls.

This is the site of Pickett's final charge.

A towering view of the battlefield.

Cookie tries to keep Jessica calm on top of Little Round Rock.

Cookie explains the strategic strong hold of Little Round Top to Jennifer.

Damsels in distress at a monument on top of Little Round Top.

Born in MA Jennifer and Jessica are the only two Yankees in our family.

Wheat Field which is the site of the bloodiest battle not only at Gettysburg but the entire Civil War.

27th Birthday

Happy Birthday to our son Greg who turns 27 years old today.  Wow, we are now getting old.  Greg and Renee are living in Evansville, IN.

Greg on his 26th last year at Blackbearry Ridge.

Going to the Dogs

While at Blackbearry Ridge during the week of Thanksgiving, Brent installed a new dog door for Cookie which allows her onto the deck.   Unlike the previous smaller door, the interior closure did not have a slide to prevent unwanted critter entering the Chalet.  So, Brent made a exterior slide to prevent any unwanted entries.

The interior of the new doggie door that Cookie is trying.

The exterior of doggie door with the slide open.

The exterior slide closed on the doggie door.

Merry Christmas - 2010

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

The creation of a yule log on Christmas Eve 2010.

The tradition of opening pajamas on Christmas Eve 2010.

In front of Christmas Tree at Smithsonian - Washington D.C. - 2010

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

We spent the week of thanksgiving with the girls at Gatlinburg.  Brent made a new larger entrance for Cookie to exit onto the deck.  We also spent one (1) night at Blackbearry Ridge on December 10th.  We had planned on staying the entire weekend when we drove down to pick up the girls, but the forecast for heavy snow made us leave a day early.

This past weekend, we drove to Philadelphia (about 2 hours and $11 in tolls heading north on I-95) to see the Liberty Bell, right.  That was just an excuse for the real reason.  Jennifer has been asking Brent for several years about good cheese steak sandwiches.  So, we went to see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and Ben Franklin's grave and try an authentic Philly cheese steak.  Even Cookie put on a sweater and made the trip.

We decided to go to the most popular places, Geno's and Pats' which happen to be across the street from each other.  Brent decided it would be fun to judge the establishments, so we got two (2) sandwiches from each place and would split each for the taste test.  All the sandwiches were ordered, " Cheese whiz, wit".  These means the choice of cheese is cheese whiz and the "wit" means with onions.  After sampling both, the winner had a clear victory with a vote of 3-0-2.  Brent, Lynn and Jennifer all agreed that Pats was clearly better.  Jessica could not tell the difference between the two and Cookie thought both were great.   We have decided that history field trips taste pretty good.

Jennifer and Jessica at the Liberty Bell.  The crack was there before we arrived, I promise.

In front of Independence Hall.

Cookie viewed the Liberty Bell through the glass from outside.

Cookie was a little disappointed that Independence Hall was not open.

Cookie's favorite Founding Father is Benjamin Franklin.

Geno's.

Jennifer placing the order at Geno's.

Jessica and Jennifer looking at Pat's menu.  As you can see in the upper right, there are instructions on how to order.  Patience is not shown from either establishment at the order window.

Jennifer is the brave person stepping up to the window to order.  I hope she does not order fries at this window.

The exterior of Pat's.



Jennifer with the winning cheese steaks from Pat's.



Happy Veterans Day 2010.

Thanks to all the veterans who served and prayers to those currently serving and in harms way.

Heading to Blackbearry Ridge

We are going to Zelda on Thurday night and head over Blackbearry Ridge mid afternoon on Friday.  The twins will be meeting us there on Friday evening.  We will take pictures and upload the latest progress at Blackbearry Ridge.  I hope that we will be able to see some color in the mountains.

Its Football Time in Tennessee

We were at Blackbearry Ridge this past weekend for the labor day holiday weekend.  We met our twin daughters who attend the University of Tennessee and drove over to Gatlinburg from Knoxville.  We all went over to the campus on Saturday for the Volunteer football game.  The Vols won 50 to 0.

Jessica and Jennifer at the Vol walk

The band "Saluting the Hill" on the way to the stadium

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Heading to the stadium with 100,000 people clad in orange.

A view of Mt. LeConte from the deck of Blackbearry Ridge from this past winter.

A light snow dusting Mt. LeConte last fall.

Zelda on the Market

We just finished the inside work on our house in Kings Mountain, North Carolina and put it on the market August 15, 2010. Once sold, it will allow us to spend time at Blackbearry Ridge and work on the remodel.

We are currently commuting from Edgewater, MD. Our twin daughters are juniors at the University of Tennessee, so now our trips will be more frequent to Gatlinburg, especially during Vol football season.

Coming Soon

We will show the transformation of our home "Blackbearry Ridge" in Gatlinburg, TN as we remodel. We are situated on Mt. Harrison and have a great veiw of Mt. Le Conte and the tram goes directly over our house.

We came up with the name due to the abudance of black bears on our property. We have done some work but have primarily been working on "Zelda" the last three (3) years in Kings Mountain, NC.