Smoky Mountains, Asheville, NC and the KY Bourbon Trail

Dale Chihuly blown glass ceiling installation at Maker’s Mark Distillery, Loretto, KY

Jarrett’s poison and antidote

Downtown Asheville, NC Night Life

I visited Maine over the Labor Day weekend but didn’t post any pictures so when my good friend from Maine, Jarrett, visited me down here in KY, I wanted to make sure I had some of our adventures documented.

The highlight of our trip was supposed to be a 27 mile loop hike in the Smoky mountains but when we visited the backcountry permit office in Gatlinburg, TN and reviewed the trip with the park rangers, they discourage us from proceeding with the planned 2nd day leg of the trip which included a very quick decent from the gradual uphill hike from the first day and also included a 3 mile long steep ascent at the end of our planned 10 mile second day.  I can only assume that they noticed the wretched shape I was in and spared me the embarrassment of a potential helicopter rescue which would have likely been broadcast all over the world and also used in future National Park hiking warning videos.   Still I managed a 10 mile out and back hike over two days (20 miles total) carrying 40 pounds of gear–most of it unnecessary weight–but I wanted to be prepared for the worst.  For Jarrett, I think it was the proverbial walk in the park.   I rate it an 8 out of 10 in my current condition.

From there we drove to downtown Asheville, NC for an overnight stay.  We went out to a small bar and listened to some Jazz, visited Lexington Ave Brews for a couple beers and called it a night.  The next morning, had an exceptional breakfast at the Tupelo Honey Cafe (see the shrimp and grits below) and finished our time in Asheville at the Folk Art Center.  Asheville is definitely a cool town and one I could see myself settling down in one day.

We then started our long drive back to Lexington, KY — Steph was staying in a hotel for a two day banking convention.  We had dinner in downtown Lex at Shakespeare and Co. and went back to the hotel to crash.

The other prominent theme of the week-long adventure was bourbon and visiting as many distilleries on the KY Bourbon Trail as we could.  Before heading to the Smokys (and a mere one hour after Jarrett’s plane had landed), we had already hit the road on our way to Makers Mark distillery in Loretto, KY.   We rounded out the week by also experiencing distillation magic at Bulleit (unexpectedly good tour), Wild Turkey (awful–tour and product), Heaven Hill (didn’t tour), Woodford Reserve (very good tour and tasting), Jim Beam (exceptional tour and tasting) and Willett (small distillery but good tour with the Lead Distiller).  We even managed to fit in a few hours at Keeneland race track where I was so close to winning a trifecta that I was already spending the winnings.

All told, we spent probably 50% of the time in the car–around 1200 miles or so.  Regardless, it was a fantastic time and I look forward to spending more time with all of the folks I left behind in Maine.

I have posted some of the photos from the trip below. I will post some of the photos that Jarrett took when he sends them to me.  Enjoy!