Knoxville, TN

I have spent the past week in Knoxville TN for the AQS Quilt show.  The weather has been WONDERFUL!  I sure wish I could take some of this rain back to Texas with me.  But alas, back to over 100 degree temps tomorrow.  Arrived in Knoxville on Monday, promptly got the booth set up and then it was time to play with friends!  Brint Fanizza and Sebastian Rivera of  http://www.famorecutlery.com/  (AWESOME scissors!!),
Cheri Meineke-Johnson and her niece of  http://www.cheriscrystals.com/  (SUPER crystals!!) and I headed over to Pigeon Forge for some fun.  First we went to a winery and stocked up on some wonderful wines:  http://www.applebarnwines.com/

After the winery we went and road Go Karts, Bumper Cars and played at the arcade.  Yep, we were just being big kids and it was a blast!

From there we went and had Thai food.  YUM!!  Talk about a perfect day!


FAST FORWARD TO FRIDAY:
After the show was over I wanted to take Jamie Walden of http://www.colouricious.com/ (REALLY cool blocks for stamping fabric!!) for some good traditional American food.  We found a super restaurant on the river.  Calhouns on the Tennessee River has delicious BBQ ribs!  With sides of Tennessee Corn Pudding and Spinach Loraine, it was pretty cold to the perfect meal.  Oh, and for appetizers, an array of different breads.  Can you say YUM???!!!!  Ok, I'm drooling now.  =)  If you are ever in Knoxville, you HAVE to put Calhouns on your list of MUSTS.

LaJolla area. We stopped when we saw this place and got out to walk around. The temperature was only about 64 this day...in the middle of July!! It was incredible. We walked down to the lifeguard station to take care of mother nature. When we rounded the north side of the building we were pleasantly surprised at what we saw:These markers are erected in memory of members of the Armed Forces of the United States whose remains have not been recovered or identified or were buried at sea.

What a tranquil place. We were so humbled by the number of markers here at this beautiful resting place by those that made the ultimate sacrifice.