Christmas Break in the U.S.A.

First, an apology.  Since last we posted here, 237 of you have checked in to see if there has been a new development in the adventures of Anne and Mark.  Unfortunately, you web surfers found no new content here, as Anne and Mark have not posted anything new in nearly five weeks.  Sorry about that.  Particular apologies go out to new readers in South Korea and Paraguay. 미안합니다 and lo siento, respectively.

Eventually, Mark got back on a plane and flew back to Bulgaria.  Unfortunately, his flight from Charlotte to Munich left right after kickoff of the Packers-Giants playoff game.  Since Mark has been hearing so much from the Packer fans all year about how great that team is, he simply assumes that the mighty Packers won that game and will advance in the playoff hunt.  When do they play again?

This is not to say, of course, that nothing happened in those five weeks, just that Anne and Mark were not near their computer long enough to write about it.  On their way back to the states last December, Anne and Mark stopped first in Atlanta to visit family.  Then they drove to Chicago to jump through hoops for the Bulgarian consulate in the futile hope that Anne could be issued a visa to stay in Bulgaria for a few months.  On their way to the windy city, Anne and Mark stopped in a small town called Lynchburg, Tennessee.

Anne stands next to the world's largest bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey, or, as Mark referred to it, "about the right size."

For anyone who is not familiar, Lynchburg is the home of the Jack Daniels whiskey distillery.  However, Lynchburg is located in Monroe County, Tennessee.  Monroe County has the distinction of being one of the few remaining dry counties in Tennessee.  When you consider these together, the situation appears absurd: they make whiskey in a place where you are not allowed to buy or consume whiskey?  Yes.  Yes, they do.

Mark posed with a statue of Jack Daniels in front of the spring from which the water used in the product is taken.

After touring the distillery and related facilities, Anne and Mark headed north for the holidays.  The use of the term "holidays"is not an attack or slight on Christmas, but instead a recognition of several holidays that occur in rapid succession: Christmas, Mark's birthday (28 years young), New Year's Day, Anne and Mark's anniversary (not sure on the exact date, but it's around there somewhere) and, of course, the day of the college football national championship game.  After all that celebrating, Anne and Mark needed a break.  So they hopped a plane to Puerto Rico....