Dear Marcia,

I had to do some work today, which is never fun on vacation. I conducted the most frustrating interview ever in the back of a car with my cell phone cramping my neck, a dying computer, and people listening to everything I said. I was angry for awhile after that. But then we went to the Thomas Edison museum, which was neat.

Edison lived in Louisville for two years before he became a famous inventor. He worked at a local telegraph office but was fired for spilling acid, which ate through two floors of the building. I would like to read Thomas Edison’s journals now. [Ed note. Actually, I don’t know if those are in print. I guess I’ll settle for a biography.]

After that we went shopping. I like all the old gorgeous buildings that are for sale in Louisville for cheap. Kyle and I want to buy a cathedral. Wouldn’t it be awesome to own a cathedral?

~ Joy

Dear Marcia,

We took a dinner cruise down the Ohio River with Kyle’s mom last night. It was fun. We ate fried chicken and watched the sun set on the water.

The only thing about the cruise is all these Southern men dank Coors Lite and turned into stereotypes. At one point, I was taking a picture and one drunkenly shouted, “Hey honey, you gonna take myyyyy picture?” I said no and walked away and he said, “WELL I GUESS NOT–HEEEE-yuck heeeyuck heeyuck.” Then later one tried to romance me by discussing how lovely Louisville is by starlight. He was 60-something. I decided to make Kyle go everywhere with me for the rest of the cruise.

~ Joy

Dear Marcia,

Now we are in Lexington for the conference. It starts tomorrow. We drove here from Louisville and stopped in Frankfort for lunch. There were lots of rolling fields with thoroughbred horses in them.

We ended up taking a wrong turn and came upon an abandoned bourbon distillery. It was like something out a fairytale with torn down buildings and vines covering all the factory doors and a tractor sitting there in the middle of it all like someone had just walked away from it.

Then a deer walked by and stared at me.

I wonder why that place was like that?

~ Joy