Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, KY, November 2015

From Lexington in Kentucky, on to Nashville, KY. This is the home of country music and the center of country music is the Grand Ole Opry. Fortunately for us, at this time of the year it is at the Ryman Auditorium. I have always wanted to visit the Ryman and also the Grand Ole Opry. Having them together was a bonus. We are not really country music fans, but to be able to see some of the very best performers in the field was a high point. 

The Ryman Auditorium was a baptist hall originally. Every seat has excellent site line to the stage, which is very close. You sit on the original pews, so bring your own cushions.

The Grand Ole Opry started as a radio show in the 1920s. It still has this flavor.

Visiting Bourbon Distillery and Winery, Lexington, KY, November 2015

What could be better than visiting a bourbon distillery and a winery on the same day? Buffalo Trace is at Frankfort, KY, west of Lexington and on the bourbon trail. Our first visit to a bourbon distillery -- there is a free tour, followed by a tasting. We're not really bourbon drinkers (or any spirit, for that matter) but this was high quality booze in an ancient facility. A very enjoyable couple of hours. 

And then to Lovers Leap winery in Lawrenceburg, on the way back to Lexington. Reasonably good wines -- with grapes we do not see elsewhere. Most are 

Barrels of bourbon being aged

Old fashioned bottling line for high end bourbon

The Buffalo statue at the visitors' center

One of the many 19th century warehouses on the property

Grapes after harvest

The rolling country at Lovers' Leap

Canoeing, Lexington, November

From Sutton, due West to Lexington in Kentucky, We urban boondocked on the driveway of our friends Dan and Jan. Dan and I went out on a cool morning in a canoe on the lake at the end of the garden of their house. We saw several different birds including blue herons and coots.

Dan and the canoe

Lake at dawn

Dan porting from one lake to the next

 

Moving West, November

From Pennsylvania, we started to move West. We stayed in Sutton, West Virginia for a few days -- just relaxing. I rode my bike for the first time in a few weeks, coming back after injury (I broke my large toe).

We ate one quite good meal at the only local restaurant of any quality, the Cafe Cimino Country Inn, in a large Victorian mansion.

It was great to just relax for a few days.

Fishing on the Chesapeake Bay, November 2015

After New York, we visited with our friends Skip and Lorna in Pennsylvania. On a perfect and warm day, Skip and I went fishing on Chesapeake Bay. Skip caught a good size fish -- me, nothing! But what could be more enjoyable than fishing on a lovely day on a sheltered anchorage. My first fishing in 15 years at least.  

Cap'n Skip at the helm

Getting organized

As I say, a good size fish

The High Line, NYC, October 2015Th

We have been to the High Line in New York City on several occasions. We always enjoy walking on this elevated park, running on the old elevated railway in Chelsea. Today, it was just magic with the Fall/Autumn colours.

The Standard Hotel

The way the original line has been integrated is just great.

Looking towards the IAC Building from Frank Gehry

Some of the original line, where the "new" line starts.

UN Building, New York, October 2015

We had lunch with our old friend of forty years, Barbara, who works for the Canadian Foreign Ministry next to the UN Building in NYC. A perfect Fall/Autumn day in NYC. 

The auditorium, now under renovation.

Looking down at the Roosevelt Memorial in the East River, Brooklyn beyond