Auf Wiedersehen Mick . . .

Today we said auf wiedersehen to our German friend Mick.  The group of exchange students left bright and early for Atlanta and from there they were to travel home to Germany.  While he was only here about two or so weeks, it certainly was action packed.

Some of the places he visited here with the Fife clan or with his group included: Mammoth Cave, the Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science, Lincoln's Birthplace and Boyhood Home, the Bardstown Civil War Museum, Old Talbott Tavern, the Louisville Slugger Museum, the Kentucky Derby Museum, the Corvette Plant, CNN, Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site, the World of Coca-Cola, and Mane and Pa's in Capitol Hill, Ky.

While at Mane and Pa's we had Mick "cooter up" in full uniform and go through some basic drills and such.

I think he really enjoyed it, as you might can guess Germany is a tad bit more strict with their gun laws.

This was the first time Mick held a gun, let alone fire one (albeit just powder).

I also want to share with you a couple of our favorite questions that were posed to Mick while he visited Malcolm's school (now remember, these kids are in high school).  One asked him if Germany was a part of the United States, and another asked him if they drove here or flew.

Mick was telling Malc about the nearby Roman ruins and the abundance of half-timbered buildings in his region of Germany . . . as if he needed any other incentives to want to travel to Europe!  

Guard d̶u̶t̶y̶ doodie . . .

We went to Evansville specifically to visit Angel Mounds, but it was closed . . . I assume because it was election day.  It would have been nice if that had posted that on the webpage!

Fife Family Fish Fulfilled Weekend

The Fife clan converged on Louisville for our first mega (to be annual) Fish Fulfilled weekend.  The goal being eating as much fish as we can in one weekend.  This year we hit Check's Cafe in the Germantown - Schnitzelburg neighborhood, Suburban Fish Fry in the south-end near the racetrack, Mike Linnig's on the river, and PassTime Fish House in J-Town.  Our numbers were pretty good, and I daresay fun was had by all (I certainly drank a fair amount of Falls City).  The representatives of the Fife clan included Todd, Malcolm, Vic, Phyllis and Charlie, Tracy, Scott and Ann, and Noni.  Our auxiliary group consisted of Greg "Studs" N., William and Lynn, Thing 1 and Thing 2, Pip Monster, Action Jackson, Greg G., Wayne and Ann, Denise, Brent, Marilyn and Bill.  Discussions of where to go next year have already transpired.  In honor of our youth, I suggested at some point we eat King Fish in our cars.

  Check's Cafe

Suburban Fish Fry 

 Mike Linning's

PassTime Fish House . . . fish attrition . . . the down to the final four.

24 Years . . .

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day . . . in what has apparently become a new tradition, the Fife Clan returned to Red Boiling Springs, Tn for Mother's Day.  This year we ate at Armour's Hotel, where one can also partake of the mineral baths and the like . . . and of course sample the sulfur water.

The next few pictures are of Avi "taking the waters."  As wikipedia states in their article about Red Boiling Springs: "The various waters contained several minerals but sulfur was predominant, giving the waters the scent (and some would say, the flavor) of rotten eggs."  More like rotten eggs seeped in sewer water.

New Home for Old House

This past weekend Scott and Ann finally fulfilled their dream of moving the old Top Simmons home to a more secure property with hopes of stabilizing the structure. Top was my gr-gr grandfather (Dudeboy's gr-gr-gr), and the home has always been an important connection to our past. Hopefully, Scott and Ann can restore it to a usable condition. It would be great to have some family gatherings in the old place.  

 Original site of the Top Simmons home . . . obviously, after the move.

Mobile home.

Pa overseeing the end of the move.

Final (?) resting place for the Top Simmons home.

Mane giving an inspection.

Scott and his "new" old home.

A Birthday and Mother's Day

This weekend a good bit of the Fife Clan gathered at Mane and Pa's to celebrate Dudeboy's belated birthday and Mother's Day.

We gathered at Red Boiling Springs, and stuffed ourselves at a Mother's Day brunch at the Thomas House (the old Cloyd Hotel).

 We then visited Steam Mill Hollow . . . 

 . . . and Hilliard Hall's grave.

Finally, we ended up at Union Camp Falls . . .

 Aunt T washing the chiggers off . . .

Founders of Fountain Run

The plaque reads . . . "In memory of Naysa Simmons Jan. 5, 1774 - Jan 18, 1859 and wife Sally Stephens."  They are Dudeboy's gr-gr-gr-gr-great grandparents . . . Naysa begat Jordan.  And Jordan begat Joel "Top."  And Top begat Riley.  And Riley begat Lewis.  And Lewis begat Margie Wilson.  And Margie begat Merkin, who was wicked in the sight of the Lord.  And Merkin begat Dudeboy.

Sally's headstone is the fieldrock to the lower left and Naysa's is at the bottom right (you can still read his inscription).

 Uncle Vito pondering the profundity of existential angst.

Naysa's two-story log home was located somewhere on this rise near the cemetery (the taller trees on the left).

Just below the cemetery is this spring where it is said that Naysa kept his still.  Naysa was repeatedly kicked out of the church he helped organize (the first meetings of the church were in his home and he later donated land for the permanent structure) for making moonshine.  Supposedly, he would sit on the steps outside the church while service was going on and wail and cry until they would let him in.

John Jacob (Jake) Goodman . . . Oct. 20, 1784 - Dec. 25, 1881.  Jacob is Dudeboy's gr-gr-gr-gr-gr-great grandfather.  John Jacob begat Mary Ann, who begat Jim.  And Jim, who married the witch Thursday Jane, begat Creolia.  And Creolia begat Pernie, who begat Lewis.  And Lewis begat Margie Wilson.  And Margie begat Merkin, "who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it." And Merkin begat Dudeboy, who is "a very naughty boy."       

Carrying on the biblical theme . . . one history of Fountain Run states John Jacob (Jake) Goodman was "comparable to Abraham of old whose seeds were numbered as the sands of the seashore, as he begat thirty-two children"!!!!  I have seen the number 30 elsewhere, but I won't quibble about that.  Fortunately, that was with two wives.  As Dr. J noted, being related to Jacob probably makes us related to everyone in Fountain Run.  He was 78 when his last child was born.

Jacob's home stood somewhere on the hill behind Dudeboy.  Apparently, Jacob owned much of what now constitutes Fountain Run.  His father fought in the Revolutionary War.  Jacob was "reported to have the strength of Atlas."  Given his output, I'd say so.
      

Jake's Branch . . . Jacob was the namesake for this stream that runs through the Fountain Run area.  This is the small creek that flows behind Ann's Old Mill Restaurant.

The quotes for this entry came from Fountain Run: Yesterday and Today.