A few observations from our trip:

• Where there is roadside adult bookstore, there is a “Jesus Saves” billboard
• “Blazin’ Rectum” is probably not the best of varieties with which to market barbecue sauce
• The number of churches, Wal-Marts and fried chicken establishments increase proportionately the further south you travel.
• A dinner of French toast, fried okra and French fries really doesn’t sound so odd when you’re vegetarian, extremely hungry and Cracker Barrel is the only semi-veg-friendly restaurant around for 40 miles.
• When going on a guided two-hour, two-mile cave tour 350-feet below ground and with eight flights of stairs, position yourself in line as far away from children as possible.
• Small children should be required to wear diapers in hotel swimming pools for risk of a one-day pool closure due to an “accident.”
• Stray cats find me even when I’m on vacation.

Photo highlights of our trip follow after the jump.

Our trip began with a tour of the Shaker Village, just south of Lexington, Ky. and near Harrodsburg, the first settlement of the Bluegrass state. I’ve been intrigued by the Shakers since watching a documentary on them years ago. Although popular in the U.S. during the early- to mid-1800s, the Shakers were surprisingly progressive in terms of women’s rights. Shakerism was founded by Mother Ann Lee, who claimed to be the second coming of Christ, and both men and women were treated as equals. It’s just too bad those crazy Shakers also believed in abstinence, thus cementing their community’s eventual decline. There were at least 11 communal Shaker settlements in the U.S. and the Pleasant Hill site we toured is one of the most remarkably preserved.

After spending two days there, we headed for Mammoth Cave, Ky., the world’s longest cave system with more than 360 known miles. But before reaching the caves, we made a side-trip to Perryville, where some 60,000 Union and Confederate troops duked it out in October, 1862. Nearly 8,000 men lost their lives here and the battle, also known as the “Battle for Kentucky,” proved crucial in that it ensured Kentucky would not go to the rebels. It’s also Kentucky’s largest battlefield, a tidbit we learned after tromping around for two hours in the sticky Kentucky heat.

After arriving at Mammoth Cave, we went on a two-mile, two-hour guided tour of the cave system, which was one of, if not the most, awesome works of nature I’ve ever seen. The cave is pitch-black when the lights are turned off and only dimly-lit when on and considering that our tour included about a 100 people, I wasn’t able to get any good interior shots. I was able to snap this shot of “historic graffiti” made by candle smoke before the stampede behind me caught up.

From Mammoth Cave we headed for Nashville. We’ve visited Nashville twice before in the past few years and it’s not because we’re country music lovers (we like old country, but not this new pop-country). On one of our previous trips to Music City, we accidentally discovered the world’s most perfect pizza in an appropriately named chain called Pizza Perfect. Before we gorged ourselves on pizza, we toured the Belle Meade plantation (below), once a 5,200-acre slave-holding estate, followed by a comedy show with Michael McDonald (“Stuart” from Mad TV) later that night.

We did briefly drive through downtown Nashville and spent some time at a riverside park by the Titans stadium, but most of our brief Nashville trip was actually spent in Franklin, Tenn. about a half-hour south of Nashville. There we toured the site of the Battle of Franklin, which took place four months before the South’s surrrender at Appomatox, and the nearby Carnton plantation, which was commandeered for use as a hospital. Nearly 10,000 men died at Franklin and it was said that every room and bed in the house was in use, and dead, dying or wounded men lined the front and back yard like cordwood. Blood stains can still be seen in several rooms in the house. The McGavock family, who owned Carnton, donated two acres of their land to bury nearly 1,500 Confederate soldiers in a private cemetary there. Carrie McGavock tended the cemetery for nearly 40 years until her death in 1905.

In all, the trip was a great way to celebrate our second wedding anniversary

More photos here.

Despite Esquire magazine’s declaration in 1957 of Newport as “the most wicked city in America,” the city today is surprisingly conservative. The Committee of 500, a team of religious do-gooders, first set siege on the “Sin City” in the 1960s, declaring war on the city’s gambling, vice and prostitution bosses – for more on the city’s history, go here. By the time Brandon and I both moved here, much of the evidence of Newport’s illustrious past had disappeared, existing largely today in the memories of local old-timers who recalled the city’s heydays with equal parts nostalgia and censure.

The East Row Historic District sits comfortably at the foot of what is called Mansion Hill – the mansion in reference is the Wiedemann Hill Mansion, which was built for beer baron heir Charles Wiedemann in 1894. The area became a favorite of wealthy business owners and merchants in the late 1800s and its financial demographic hasn’t much changed since. Still considered one of the most prestigious and expensive areas of the city, stately Italianate and Queen Anne style homes mingle along tree-lined streets with many boasting impressive (and professionally designed) back-yard gardens. Here are a few highlights from them and our tour:

More photos are available on our online photo gallery here.