Checking in from the road

[Boston Wrangler]

We're now on night four of 14 of our 2005 road trip. We have gone form Boston through Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Hershey, PA to Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway in VA. From Southern VA, we traveled on US-58A and US-119 through Hazard, KY to Hal Rogers Parkway (formerly Daniel Boone Parkway) to I-75 and US-150 to The William Whitley House, which is the first brick house built in Kentucky.

We stopped at the Whitley house sort of by accident. We were looking for a nice place off of US-150 to stop for a picnic lunch. We saw signs for the William Whitley House and decided to give it a try. We were just about the only ones there and we walked the grounds, snapped some pictures, and I bought a postcard at the gift shop.

From the Whitley House in Stanford, we traveled northwest to Bardstown where we walked around the small downtown area, ate at The Old Talbott Tavern, and stayed the night at a local motor lodge.

Today we drove 30 minutes to the Maker's Mark Distillery for a tour of the production. I snapped a bunch of pictures and we got to see everything in action except for the bottling process, which is closed this week for some reason or another. From Loretto we drove pretty much straight through to Nashville where we are now. We only stopped in Bowling Green where we knew from our visit last year that there are a couple of liquor stores right off of the highway. I purchased a couple bottles of bourbon that I can't get back home and I bought a bottle of Maker's Mark Mint Julip, which is only available once a year around the time of the Kentucky Derby. I had a glass tonight and it's a pretty tasty summer drink.

Tonight we ate at a bar down on 2nd Ave in Nashville and drove around Vanderbilt University a little bit. Tomorrow we will explore some more, but we may opt to make tomorrow a veg-out day as we still haven't found a whole lot that interests us here. We are probably going to grab lunch at Prince's Hot Chicken Shack because they wer closed today when we drove by to check it out.

I'll have pictures posted when we return and I can resize them for the web. We finally have web access in our hotel room, but suprisingly, I haven't had much urge to get online except to share some emails with family about our travels thus far. I'll probably post another update on or before the weekend.

Cheers!
Darrell

[Mark Sedenquist]

Today we drove 30 minutes to the Maker's Mark Distillery for a tour of the production. I snapped a bunch of pictures and we got to see everything in action except for the bottling process, which is closed this week for some reason or another.

That is a factory I tour I would enjoy!

I bought a bottle of Maker's Mark Mint Julip, which is only available once a year around the time of the Kentucky Derby. I had a glass tonight and it's a pretty tasty summer drink.

We fixed Mint Julips here Saturday night using Maker's Mark -- we have a killer recipe if you want to refresh your batch again.

I'll have pictures posted when we return and I can resize them for the web.

Cool. Looking forward to the next update!

Mark

[Mark Sedenquist]

.. as we still haven't found a whole lot that interests us here.

I can't remember how far west you are going... but if you can get down to the Hopson Plantation -- I would love a field report.

The Shack Up Inn and the juke joint in the old commissary building would certainly be interesting... I am on the road today, myself, and so I hope to check in later tonight!

Mark

[Robert Schaller]

It sounds like you are having a great road trip! Was there bourbon tasting at the distillery? Bob

[Boston Wrangler]

I can't remember how far west you are going... but if you can get down to the Hopson Plantation -- I would love a field report.

The Shack Up Inn and the juke joint in the old commissary building would certainly be interesting... I am on the road today, myself, and so I hope to check in later tonight!

Mark

Wow! That is something else! We don't plan to go that far south, though. Clarksdale, MS is about 80 miles south of Memphis. We'll have to add that place to a future road trip!

[Boston Wrangler]

It sounds like you are having a great road trip! Was there bourbon tasting at the distillery? Bob

Bob,

No bourbon tasting, but!! in the fermentation room, where there are eight 12-foot-diameter-by-12-foot-deep cypress fermentation tanks, we got to see the mash fermenting and dip our fingers in to taste how each stage has a different taste. The room smells like beer and bread dough. One of the most interesting things that I saw was that the 120-130 proof bourbon is almost perfectly clear when it goes into the charred American white oak barrels. The bourbon gets its color while aging in the barrels for 6 years or so. I would have expected the whisky to darker when it goes into the barrels.

[Mass Tim]

Sounds like you're having a good time!

I was on the Hal Rogers Parkway last year, and couldn't figure out where the name came from, until I saw this:
http://www.kentuckyroads.com/daniel_boone_parkway/

I may have an opportunity to head back to Kentucky this year - I want to stop at the Toyota plant and see kaizen in action (we are implementing it where I work.)

I really can't wait to hear about Memphis. It's a place that I've longed to go to for the past decade, but I just haven't planned a trip there yet.

Were you as confused as I about where to eat in Nashville? It seems as though you can't go wrong in that downtown!

Thanks for the info!

[Boston Wrangler]

Memphis was nice. We visited the National Civil Rights Museum at the site of the Loraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. They had some good and moving displays. We visited Beale Street, which was very much alive. We ate the Rum Boogie Cafe where the ribs were quite good. I wish that the Redbirds (AAA affiliate of the STL Cardinals) were in town so that we could catch a game, but we missed them by a day. We drove around the city a bit and just tried to get a feel for the layout.

From Memphis we drove to Little Rock and went directly to the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. As we were walking up to the front entrance, an lady walking the other way said to us, "You're in for a treat. He's here today." When we got inside, almost all of the library visitors were standing in the lobby waiting for Clinton to emerge from some side room. We were just about to give up on the wait to head upstairs when the crowd started cheering and rushing towards him. We didn't get very close, but I was able to snap a couple of shots of the former prez. Here's one:

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After we visited the library, we walked down to the River Market and had a sandwich for lunch. We drove past the capitol building, Central High School Historical Site, and the governor's mansion.

Yesterday we drove from Little Rock to St. Louis mostly on I-40 and I-55, the latter of which is a horrible road. I've never been a fan of concrete highways, and this one badly needs to be resurfaced. We attempted to find the "Great River Road," by taking a detour off of the highway along a route I had planned on my DeLorme Street Atlas USA software. We reached a T-intersection at the end of a paved county highway where the road to the left and right (north and south) was gravel. I didn't expect to do any offroading in my Subaru, but I figured the gravel road couldn't last too long. After about 4 miles of driving 20 mph on the gravel road that borders, we thought about turning around, but figured that we didn't have very far to go if we just kept moving forward. The gravel road turned into a dried mud road that literally went through a farm field. The county route "road" was just a pair of tire tracks in the grass. We reached another T-intersection that looked like it would take us to a paved road (or at least a more well-traveled gravel road). Nope. That road just ended after about 100 feet. At this point we were at a bend on the Mississippi and the road was only about 50 feet from the river and I could see a barge motoring south on the muddy water. We were in just about the most secluded area along the river that I could fathom. Here is a picture of one of the better roads in the area:

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We turned around and found a fork in the road, which eventually brought us back to "civilization," paved roads, and of course, a Wal-Mart. This whole adventure took place in the area of Osceola, Tomato, and Blytheville, Arkansas.

Here's a picture along some sort of barge loading dock a few miles from the Wal-Mart and very near to a large steel manufacturer:

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We arrived in St. Louis yesterday evening, drove around a bit, and ate dinner at Riddles Restaurant on Delmar. Riddles was excellent. I highly recommend it! Today we are going to visit the Gateway Arch and the Anheuser-Busch brewery, and tonight we will watch the Red Sox beat the Cardinals tonight.

[AZBuck]

This post practically defines "road trip".

I'll be passing through that area myself in a few weeks, including a planned stop in Blytheville. Fortunately, I'll be in a rental since one of my objectives was to head off on some of the side roads in the Missouri bootheel. Nice to know what I can expect.

Thanks!

AZBuck

[Mark Sedenquist]

We arrived in St. Louis yesterday evening, drove around a bit, and ate dinner at Riddles Restaurant on Delmar. Riddles was excellent. I highly recommend it! Today we are going to visit the Gateway Arch and the Anheuser-Busch brewery, and tonight we will watch the Red Sox beat the Cardinals tonight.

Darrell, Very cool field report. If you are still in the St. Louis area -- ya gotta go sample the Second Best Margaritas in the World (and say hello to Friar Tuck for us).

Looking forward to the next field dispatch!

Mark