Friends and a Conference - Wednesday. 28 May 2025 - Louisville to Mars

It was a pretty uneventful trip back home with a quick gas stop and to pick up some snacks for the car. 

Headed to the ACS post office box before stopping to pick up Five Guys for dinner. Got everything unpacked, settled down with dinner and to catch up on some DVRed shows. 

Pirates were on late, but another great win out in the desert. 10-1 over the Snakes.

 

Friends and a Conference - Tuesday, 27 May 2025 - Louisville to Frankfort to Louisille

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Despite having lived in Kentucky for 5 years and visited so many times after, we had never toured the capitol at Frankfort. Barbara booked a trolley type tour around the city and then a tour of the capitol itself for the afternoon. So off we went. 

We were the only ones on the morning tour and it was nice, but the guide couldn't figure out the microphone and so we missed a lot of the commentary. But we did get a good sense of the city and some of its sights. 

Kentucky's Governor's Mansion

We had some time before the afternoon tour and so decided on a cute little restaurant right up the street from the Visitor's Center. The service was a bit slow, but the food made up for it. I had a wedge salad and Earle a flatbread.

Then up to the Capitol Building. We were very fortunate to get to tour the building since it was going to be closed in the next week for major renovations. Charles' handicap pass enabled us to park very close to the accessible entrance since it had started to rain a bit more. 

The building is beautiful and is supposedly the 2nd most stunning state capitol (PA is first) with some areas already under going renovation. The rotunda is reminiscent of the Washington Capitol with statues and dome. 

A quilt in the visitor's lobby

Abraham Lincoln

Henry Clay

 

Alben Barkley

Ephraim McDowell

Unfortunately, Governor Beshear had just left the building when we had arrived. 

The Kentucky First Ladies miniatures were interesting.

Our guide was excellent as we then headed up to the State Reception room and Judicial area

The Legislative Floor was in the process of being renovated so a lot was removed.

Before leaving the grounds we stopped at the floral clock and a view of the outside of the building.

 

Since we were so close we then opted to go to Rebecca Ruth's for some sustenance for some in the group. We had toured there a number of years ago so Earle and Charles just bought chocolates. 

 Then headed back to Louisville after a really fun day. Mark was waiting at the house when we got back and it was so good to talk with him. It is hard to believe that our children are now 46 years old. How we have loved watching them grow up and become such wonderful adults. 

Since we had had such a substantial lunch, we opted to eat leftovers. There was all sorts of food in the refrigerator and with a glass of wine, made a great dinner.

Got things packed and ready to go for the morning and then a bit of TV before all of us dosed in and out of couch napping!

Listened to some of the Pirates game before falling asleep and was so surprised that they staged a major comeback against the Diamondbacks 9-6. 

Friends and a Conference - Monday, 26 May 2025 - Louisville

Today was Labor Day and a leisure morning. We tossed around some ideas as to how to spend the day. Since Earle was having some gastro-intestinal issues we decided to stick close to the house and have Lois and Gerald, friends from northern KY come down for a visit. 

 

Barbara and I headed out to Kroger to get fix-ins for a picnic - potato salad, coleslaw, beans, and of course hot dogs for Charles. Back home to get it all set up - beans in the oven and the other foods plated for a buffet. 

 

It was great to see Lois and Gerald since we hadn't since we traveled to Australia with them in 2019. Lois brought a photo book that she had printed and it was great to relive those memories. Such a nice visit. They left about 7 and we pondered what to do about dinner 

 

We decided that tonight would be the night for Shalimar. Since we all love Indian food, it is always on the menu for whenever we get together.  Cocktails, some wings, and, of course Lamb Vindaloo for me. 

 

 

Back home and watched a bit more of White Collar before heading up to bed. 

Friends and a Conference - Sunday, 25 May 2025 - Louisville

 In addition to needing a night in a hotel without sharing a bed/bedroom was an early morning session at the conference. However, it was canceled so that the first session of the day ended up being at 9:30.

It was a great night's sleep and I felt so well-rested. I had some time before the session to put my bag and other miscellaneous stuff in the car. Again, I think I retraced my steps about 3 times before finding the proper exit to the garage where I was parked. 

Headed to the convention center and picked up a muffin and coffee for breakfast. Unfortunately, the little snack place did not have cooks working this weekend and so not hot food was available. 

The first session was another on DNA, one of the main reasons for attending the concert. 

It was an interesting enough presentation, but really didn't give me any new information. It was cut a bit short because there were some real technical difficulties in getting the slide deck to appear. Sometimes presenters should really have multiple ways in which their lectures are saved. 

Back down to the vendor area where I finally bit the bullet and enrolled in the Unlocking Genealogy course of reading German script. It was a hefty cost, but I have been so frustrated by not being able to decipher the script, that this was my last resort. I also bought Katherine's book, The Magic of German Church Records. 

The next session was very interesting in that the subject was something I have dabbled in and searched, but have not used extensively. 

LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson is an excellent presenter both articulate and knowledgeable. 

Grabbed some  lunch before the afternoon's sessions and checked in with Barbara who said that Earle had been helping Charles do some outside work. 

The afternoon's session was a double one on using AI for genealogy. I had not dabbled much in AI and so it was a real eye-opener. The mother-daughter team did an excellent job of presenting the uses and giving examples. During the break, I played around with it and created a flyer for the ACS LaFayette program. I was impressed. 

 I sat next to a very nice woman who was from Asheville, NC and we got to talking about the devastation from Helene. She was effusive in her praise of the work that FEMA has done and is still doing there. 

Headed to the car and actually found it on the first try and back to Barbara and Charles' place. 

 We ordered take out from an Italian restaurant and had a baked spaghetti, lasagna, salad enough for a major crowd. 

Inspired by dinner, we then watched Nonas, a nice entertaining movie about the grandmothers who are chefs at a NYC restaurant. 

Checked in on the Pirates and saw they lost a close one - 6-5 to the Brewers. 

 

Friends and a Conference - Saturday, 24 May 2025 - Louisville

I was up and out of the house by 8:00 this morning. It was and easy drive to the Galt House, but parking was a definite challenge. It was easy enough to get into the garage and to the main hotel. I couldn't check in until after noon, so I got a coffee and then headed to the first session at 9:30. 

I was so hoping that this was going to give me some insight into the new way Chronicling America was changing their portal. Unfortunately, it didn't and it was a very short lecture that ended after about 45 minutes. 

I had some time to then wander around the vendor exhibits. There wasn't anything in particular for which I was looking, but did have a time to see some genealogy acquaintances. It was nice to have a brief conversation with them. 

The next session was at 11:15 and one that I had really been looking forward to. Blaine is an incredible genetic genealogist and his presentations never disappoint. 

Before his presentation we had an opportunity to chat about the goings on in the North Country since he had gone to a neighboring district to Sackets and we had some mutual funds. Both of us expressed frustration as to what was happening in the country. It was a phenomenal lecture that answered an number of questions about the client project that I am trying to complete. His mantra: it is a long and tedious process. 

I had not signed up for any of the lunches so I went to the reception area and checked in. Trying to navigate to the parking lot was indeed an issue. There were so many different levels and lots to choose from, but eventually, after about a half hour, I managed.

Got to the room and it was lovely, although no view. Unpacked the toiletries and such and was able to put my feet up for a bit and then headed back to the convention center where I picked up a salad for lunch and had a chance to chat with a friend from Chambersburg and her husband. 

The afternoon session started at 2:30 with a presentation by Judy, another friend. We had some time to chat before her lecture about our cat experiences and that was fun. 

It was a fascinating case study and one that I resolved to watch again.

The next session was of particular interest considering I have struggled learning the German script. Kathleen is an excellent presenter and it was an informative presentation. 

It was back to the hotel a bit after 5. I read a little bit before getting a Lyft to the Brown Hotel for dinner. When we lived in Louisville, it was such a treat to go to the Brown for a Hot Brown. 

Had a well needed cocktail (The Lily) and a delicious dinner of a Caesar salad with anchovies, the Hot Brown. It really is a beautiful spot. 

Back to the hotel and reading for a while before bed. 

Another nail biter win for the Buccos 2-1 over the Brewers.