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Welcome to the Schenkenfelder Home Page!

This is the home page for Brian and Jenny Schenkenfelder. Here you can read about the trials and tribulations of our family. So if you want to know what we are up to then this is the place.

August 2009

Our Wild Wild West trip to Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and Glacier National Parks. Pictures are here

May-July 2009

Normal stuff going on from May to July. Derby on May 2. Attend Pea Ridge Rd. neighborhood picnic in June. Go with old friend Allison to get her first tattoo....

April 2009

April 18: Thunder over Louisville. The kickoff for the Derby festivities. We went down and parked on Frankfort Ave and walked over to the Great Lawn just in time to catch the fireworks. Still amazing to see the 10's of thousands of people crushed together and managing not to kill each other. The show was spectacular as usual and made us excited to know that Derby was right around the corner.

Early April: Jenny took a weekend trip with her mother and sister-in-law to Chapel Hill, NC so Christen could attend a regional sorority meeting as an advisor. Jenny and Mary ate, shopped and toured their way around town and UNC's campus, which was quite lovely. Made Jenny wish she'd gone south for college.

March 2009

Early March: Memphis Trip Packed up two carloads of friends for a trip to Memphis for some blues and barbeque. Stayed in a hotel a few blocks north of Beale. Everyone was so nice and friendly! Our first night we ate at the Flying Fish since it was Lenten season. Hilarious restaurant with a wall full of Billy Bass singing fish plaques. Jenny got to try her first Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale by the Lazy Magnolia Brewing Co. Oh momma!

Our first night of 'walking on Beale' brought us to the Rum Boogie Cafe. A good band was playing so we chilled there for the night. Saturday morning Jenny and her Elvis loving friend Allison toured Graceland. Tickets were pretty steep but we couldn't go to Memphis without seeing the tackiest house in America. Jenny had never seen so much shag carpet in her life; it was even on the walls and ceiling of the stairs coming up from the basement. It was interesting to see all of Elvis's gold records though and sad to see his grave. Lunch took us to Interstate Bar-BQ where we dined on chopped pork BBQ that was pretty darn tasty.

The afternoon took us in/around Beale Street, touring landmarks such as the Peabody Hotel, complete with mating ducks in the lobby fountain, and the Gibson Guitar factory. Jenny found a perfect hat for Derby in the 3 story A. Schwab Dry Goods store. Not many of our friends could stay in the store very long since it had about a century's worth of dust collecting on the shelves and merchandise.

For dinner we were going to try to get in the Rendezvous for ribs but the line was backed up down the alley, so we detoured and headed towards a new downtown location for A & R Bar-B-Que, whose motto is 'Putting Heat to the Meat'. Our friend Rob ordered the self-dubbed 'meatatarian' platter of ribs. Everything was excellent and we didn't have to wait 2 hours for it!

We wandered back down towards Beale St, stopping Flying Saucer Draught Emporium for some brewskies. Eventually back onto Beale to try to find some good blues. Unfortunately our first stop was a bar with hardly anyone in it. Should have been a sign because the band sucked. We didn't even hear them really play, since the lead singer just kept yelling "Mississippi SCREAM!!!" really loud, over and over. And then they had the nerve to walk around with the tip jar. We turned it into a drinking game for awhile, drinking everytime the guy yelled. But then it was just too much so we skeedaddled back into the Rum Boogie Cafe to hear the band that played there the previous night. Beale Street ended up being a little bit of a disappointment. Lots of commercialized places. No real good, down and dirty blues bars. Apparently you have to go to south to Clarksdale, MS to get the full fledged experience. Maybe that's why that guy was screaming about Mississippi. Took one final picture of the gang by the (unfortunately very poorly done) Elvis Presley statue on Beale and packed it in for the night and weekend.

Rest of March: Not much else happening in March except that we got a new addition to our feline family. A wayward fluffy black kitten found it's way into our home and hearts, after crawling up to our second story window where the lights were on. Pulled her in through the window and have been feeding her ever since. We decided to dub her 'Little Bit' since she was such a tiny little thing. We also occasionally call her Ninja since she likes to slink along the rungs of all the chairs and also vanishes for long periods of time into the nether reaches of the house. Funny that she's the exact same color and markings of our other two male cats, black with a white mark on the chest. Guess she figures she'd round out the set. The guys have accepted her fairly well, even though she firmly planted herself into the number 2 spot for being fed, forcing Saint, our whiny, slobbering cat, to the lowest rung.

February 2009

Feb.6: Tickets for Toby Keith were going for $10 so we snapped a couple up and headed out to a great concert put on by the big dog himself. During the last song, "American Soldier" he invited the all armed services personnel in the audience up on stage. It certainly warmed our hearts!

January 2009

Jan.27-30: Ice Storm of 2009 A storm people will remember for a long time coming. Western and Central Kentucky were drilled with a torrential ice storm. Several inches of freezing rain, ice and sleet coated everything. We were unable to get out of our house for 3 days. Thankfully we never lost power. Our family and friends in Frankfort and Louisville and Western KY were not so lucky. Jenny's mom and dad both lost power in Frankfort for 3 days. Forcing them into her grandmother's and sister's houses until it was restored. Brian's parents and several friends in Louisville all were without for several days as well. The worst news came out of Western Ky where high tension power lines were toppling over and tree limbs were slicing and dicing their way through electric lines. Thankfully all of our family was safe, albeit not in their own homes. All told 700,000 Kentuckians were without power and the storm was dubbed the state's largest-ever natural disaster. Time news article

Jan.16-18: Gatlinburg trip. For Brian's birthday, we went down to Gatlinburg with his parents. Stayed at Zoder's Inn, a Best Western right as you come into downtown Gatlinburg. Great little motel that straddles a creek and has an indoor pool and spa. They even had a talking parrot in the lobby and wine and cheese every night. It was absolutely freezing in Gatlinburg that weekend! We walked the strip on Friday night and nearly froze to death, after which we drove up to the Apple Barn for dinner. Unfortunately we were served cold meals that ended up turning some of our stomachs later, but at least the apple fritters were good. Saturday we were up early to hit the outlet shops when they opened, finding new running shoes for Brian. After shopping, Brian, Bernie and Jenny hit the Alum Cave Trail in the Smokies National Park for a little winter hiking. The trail was snow covered and even icy in places, but it made for a great hike on a chilly day. That night, we dined at the Cherokee Grill in Gatlinburg and had a fantastic meal. Brian was pleased with the perfectly cooked steak he'd ordered and the deliciously cheesy potatoes on the side. Jenny and Mary both had the seasoned sirloin which was the best they'd ever had. Their server was even gracious enough to bring us the score of the U of L game every few minutes, until U of L won it in the end. Sunday we started the drive home, stopping again at some outlet stores where Jenny found some super comfy shoes and Brian got some snazzy bright yellow Merrell trail shoes. You'll be able to see him coming from a mile away! Super great trip with super great parents and in-laws!

Jan.10: Went to see Wicked! at the Ky Center for the Arts courtesy of Jenny's dad and wife Carol as a Christmas present. It was a great show and production even if we didn't come away singing any songs really. We just kept saying "Toss! Toss!" for some reason :) Before the show, we had stopped by the B.Deemer Gallery to see Jenny's Aunt Ellen's newest work which was all very impressive and since her aunt was staying in town for the evening we made plans to join her and Jenny's not too distant cousin, James Brady, for dinner at Proof on Main at the 21c Museum Hotel. James Brady and his wife had flown in from Wisconsin specifically for Jenny's aunt's gallery show. We had a wonderful meal at Proof, made all the better by the company, even though we had trouble hearing over the loud din in the dining room. Man that place is loud! But Proof and the hotel are truly unique, for Louisville at least. The two way mirrors in the bathrooms and the original art and installations throughout the lobby, restaurant and the entire hotel for that matter were intriguing.

early Jan: Brian's birthday! Celebrated Brian's bday at the Cattleman's Steakhouse in Shelbyville. The steak wasn't too bad for an in-town steakhouse.

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To all Schenkenfelders!

If you are a Schenkenfelder, I would be happy to put your contact information on the Schenkenfelder Family Page. Please email me at brian@schenkenfelder.com to add your information to the web page.