Townsend, Tennessee, Smoky Mountains, 17-21 Sep 09

This was the vacation that Marlene dreamed of and one that we once booked when we were living in Columbia, South Carolina, but never took. When I asked Marlene where she wanted to go for her 50th birthday, she said the Smoky Mountains, which to me meant Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge. But no, she indicated that she didn't want the tourist vacation, she wanted the secluded in the mountains vacation. Armed with that, I did a little investigation on the internet and found out about Townsend, Tennessee .. The Peaceful Side of the Smoky Mountains.

The next step was to find a secluded cabin which was found at Black Bear Hollow Cabins, http://www.smokeymountaincabinspecials.com/ . We chose Bear Creek Cabin, which was perfect and secluded.

We arrived in Knoxville, picked up our rental car, and made our way to the grocery store and stocked up for our days in seclusion. Then after obtaining directions to the local liquor store, we were off to find the spirits that would take us on our journey.

The cabin was incredible and everything we hoped for. The first day we arrived was spent just enjoying the cabin, steaks on the grill, plenty of Yuengling Black & Tan, Vodka-Tonics, and Jack and Diet Cokes, time spent on the front porch, and just nothing else but pure quiet. No noise from cars, people, or anything.

The second day we were there, we decided that we would get out for a short trip to Cades Cove. The scenery for the drive was beautiful and the winding roads was very much fun to drive. Once there, we did the Cades Cove loop and the highlight was when we drove up on a spot where alot of people had parked their cars and were looking up in a tree. Sure enough, there was a black bear hanging out in the top. What a magnificent experience, even though we never really got a good look at the bear as it was camaflouged behind the leaves.

Another thing that made this trip so incredible is that almost the whole time we were there it rained. The sound it made with the raindrops falling through the leaves on the trees brought a real calm. It also added to the effect when we spent time on the back porch in the hot tub.

Metallica, AT&T Center, San Antonio, 28 Sep 09

First time for both me and Marlene to see Metallica and they put on a great show. We didn't have very good seats, bought them the day of the concert. Front row, balcony...mistake! We get there and go to our seats and realize how close the front row is to the edge of the balcony and there's not that much to keep you from falling over. Well, that's the feeling i had, as if i was going to fall over. Marlene was more about the balcony collapsing. So, we sat about four rows back in someone else's seat, when the gentlemen next to Marlene commented on something and Marlene pointed to where our seats were and after some talk we ended up trading seats. Metallica rocked and I'm glad I took the opportunity to see them.

Tool @ AT&T Center, San Antonio, 24 Jul 09

This was the second time that I had seen Tool and Marlene's first. I told her when we got the tickets that it would be an amazing show, not to be missed...and i was right. The first time I saw Tool was in Austin with Joel and it was incredible. That one was right after the release of Lateralus. This one we had great seats...second row, lower level. The concert lasted about an hour and fifty minutes and it went by way to fast. The visuals were crazy, just awesome! Here's a video from the show (not taken by me).