Kentucky, Tennessee & a few Chicks

Spring Break week in Michigan.  It had been a long snowy winter and though my husband had travelled to warmer weather this winter due to work (San Antonio, TX and Long Beach, CA), the rest of the family was still waiting and hoping for some sun shine and thaw time!

A bucket list goal of mine, which was set after graduating from college, was to take my eventual family hiking & exploring in Kentucky and Tennessee.  After attending Outward Bound in CO shortly after graduating, I began working for an advertising company which sent me to Clarksville, TN and Hopkinsville, KY for a week at each location.  I loved the small town charm and the terrain which was so different than Oklahoma, where I'd spent all my college years and Michigan, where I was raised.  After discussing all different spring break options, including staying home, we decided that this was the year for the KY and TN adventure.  We would have loved for our college boy to join us, but he wasn't able to take the time away from school.

As we drove away from home, scattered snow flakes were falling and there were still piles of snow on the sides of our driveway.  The more miles south we travelled, the weather became warmer and we were able to take in the sights of green grass, flowering trees and blooming daffodils.  Truly a breath of fresh air.

First adventure stop... Mammoth Cave National Park.

We chose to do the Domes and Dripstones Tour.  While waiting for the shuttle to take us to the entrance to the cave, we discovered that at least half of the people there were from Michigan - on spring break.

We hiked, explored, learned new things and loved every minute of it.  We love supporting and experiencing local restaurants when we are able.  The Mellow Mushroom in Bowling Green, KY was just perfect!

Second adventure stop... The Hermitage. 

Home and Plantation on President Andrew Jackson

After walking the grounds and taking in the sights, we were able to meet a college friend and her family for dinner in Nashville.  Puckett's was the perfect place to catch up and enjoy some local fare.

On the way to Puckett's, we had just enough time to stop at Antique Archaeology.  Loved seeing some items in the shop that we had watched Mike and Frank "pick" on their show.

view from the outside of the shop...

Adventure Day 3... exploring the quaint town of Franklin, TN.

Specifically, I wanted to visit City Farmhouse, as I've been following them on facebook and pinterest.  

We were also able to visit and enjoy Scarlett Scales Antiques, the Winchester Antique Mall, Arbor Antiques, Marridee's for lunch and several other quaint shops in downtown Franklin.

Due to some family news, we cut our trip a little bit shorter than initially anticipated, but the time we spent in Kentucky and Tennessee was so therapeutic and enjoyable!  We returned home to see just a few piles of snow, but nothing like when we left.  The remaining spring break days has been spent with the girls having friends over, picking out new baby chicks to add to our flock and working on property clean up - which our sweet college boy had already made a dent in while we were gone.

Even Bobby, our bunny, has been able to enjoy some outside time in his makeshift playpen.

Thankfully, the last of the snow has melted in the past couple days and we've enjoyed temps in the 60's!  We'll enjoy it and forget about the fact that the weatherman is forecasting snow for Monday!