Total Eclipse of the Cache - Heading Home

Last day of our adventure. Honestly, even though this was the big milestone day, geocaching was the last thing on my mind. It wasn't until TaGeez brought it up (we had some trackables to drop) that I took my mind off our recent bad news and started to search my phone for a likely cache.

I couldn't have planned it better! At the next exit was a regular cache.... the Kentucky Cache Across America.... at the National Corvette Museum! 

2000 CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF GEOCACHING!

WOW! That put me in a better place. We grabbed the cache, dropped our trackables, and had some fun posing for pictures. What a neat place!

This REALLY made me crave a hot dog! Doesn't it look like...

... the old Plochman's mustard bottles Mom used to buy?

Cheered we returned to the road and started heading North. Traffic wasn't bad, but we decided to cut through Indiana versus Ohio to avoid that Cincinnati blockage. As we were cruising along, TaGeez said to turn off the road. He thought a pleasant drive through some woods would lighten things up. He was right!

Mammoth Cave National Park is beautifully picturesque with its winding, tree-covered country roads. We did stop at the Visitor Center but didn't take time for the caves (something to do with the teaming masses of tourists, long lines, and my irrational fear of heights). 

Ghosts & Goblins Virtual GC843A

I don't, however, have a fear of cemeteries, and we crossed paths with two in the National Forest.

This sign confused me. Is this LITTLE HOPE Cemetery or LITTLE Hope Cemetery? The first sounds so bleak!

Shortly, thereafter, we crossed paths with another Virtual. This time in Louisville where we were drenched with the only rain of the trip. 

Old Rough and Ready GCG7FT

President and Mrs. Zachary Taylor are buried the Zachary Taylor Memorial Cemetery. It's a military cemetery which dead-ends (no pun intended) on this lovely memorial site to the President.

President Zachary Taylor's Final Resting Place

I don't think I've truly appreciated until this last year how many Presidents were born or buried in the Midwest. We've visited quite a few in Ohio and now Kentucky.

President Zachary Taylor's Original Resting Place

One advantage to this last minute detour Louisville is the County Clerks office is open! The lady behind the counter knew exactly what we were up to! The lobby looks much nicer on the camera than in person!

Funny thing is that one of the joys of hotel-stay is FOODPORN! 

With no cable at home, TaGeez and I like to settle into our hotel at night and flip on the Food Channel. To my joy last night they were airing Diners, Drive-ins and Dives with Guy Fieri. And, coincidences of coincidences, the first episode they aired was this little place... in LOUISVILLE... called The Irish Rover!

We had to stop and, at 2:00 in the afternoon, it wasn't busy.

OH MY GOSH!

The food was FABULOUS! We shared the Beef & Bleu (a cold beef tenderloin and bleu cheese plate), Crab Cakes, and the Country Pie (featured on the show). The Country Pie is a beef stew with large chunks of potato and carrots in a crusty bread bowl; it's topped with the best homemade mashed potatoes and cheese. 

The restaurant had character, the waiter was friendly, the food was absolutely delicious and the prices very reasonable. It'll be worth the detour on another trip!

Satisfied with our tummies and our trip, we knew we needed to get home. A long highway under clear, big blue skies. We cached at rest stops, passed a Muffler Man near Fort Wayne, and made one last stop.

Why did they build this?

One more webcam, this one near Fort Wayne, in the books. It was iffy whether we would get there (and find the spot to stand and get the VLC app to work) before the sun finally disappeared on the horizon. 

As we pulled into the driveway, friends were already posting the dates for the next Total Solar Eclipse.  This one will pass over lower Ohio in 2024. And, yes, we will be there.