We’re just back from a four day road-trip through Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, our main destination. Since a large portion of Courtney’s family is from Kentucky, he spent many a summer in the mountains there, and has wanted to go back for a visit for a long time. In addition, since one of Courtney’s great interests is Bourbon, he has always wanted to visit a couple of distilleries. This weekend we got to fulfill both desires. We could have spent a lot more time down there – the nature is overwhelming, and fishing, camping, horseback riding, canoeing, hiking, discovering the flora and fauna, and swimming are only a few things we could have enjoyed more of. There are also well over ten established Whiskey distilleries with interesting history and fascinating tradition. Add the historical cities and sites from the settlement to the civil war and modern times, and Kentucky truly is a destination we could have spent our entire vacation in the US exploring. As it was though, we only had four days; mainly because staying in hotels is expensive and buying camping equipment just wasn’t an option for us this year, but also because we really wanted Courtney’s dad to come with us, and he only had four days off work. We tried not to rush, and we did get the few essential things in, but I could really see us going back to Kentucky another year to spend a bit more time doing all the wonderful things it has to offer.
We left Warsaw, IN around 10 am Friday morning, stopped on the way a couple of times to have our picnic lunch and rest, and reached Georgetown, KY – our first stop – about 5 pm. It’s a beautiful town with a Baptist college – huge traditional southern buildings and a picturesque downtown main street. After a nice swim in the hotel pool, we found the recommended diner downtown, however the town had electrical problems, and the diner was not able to serve food. We went to a different restaurant instead – Fatkats – that served pizza and beer. As it turned out, this must be where a lot of Georgetown’s Friday night action takes place, because it was packed, and we had to wait for about 20 minutes just to get a table. The food was good though, although perhaps not our style exactly, but the place was right next to the hotel, and we were able to get to bed early that night.
On Saturday morning we checked out of the hotel and drove along a very scenic road to Lawrenceburg, home of the Wild Turkey distillery. As it turned out, the tour at the distillery was currently limited because the
whiskey production was shut down for a few summer weeks. We looked around the gift shop a bit, and Courtney bought a couple of glasses and a bottle of bourbon. The restroom had a treated oak faucet, fancier I thought than the few gold-covered faucets I’ve ever seen. The whole place vibrated of American historic wealth. I concluded one of many insights that day regarding the American Whiskey industry: it’s a very wealthy industry, and it’s a secure business, as was confirmed at our next stop, the Buffalo Trace distillery, where we found out that the warehouses contained enough whiskey in barrels, that should production cease right then and there, there would still be enough whiskey to support a 20 year sales supply. The Buffalo Trace - a privately owned distillery -tour was fantastic, and included a guided tour of the distillery and the entire process of the whiskey production, as well as a tasting session. Our tour-guide Freddie Johnson, a third generation employee at Buffalo Trace, mixed interesting facts and historical narration with witty remarks and entertaining stories. The boys enjoyed it almost as much as I did, and Courtney absolutely glowed with excitement (especially after the tasting session).
After our distillery adventure we drove south to Boonesborough, an old settlement fort founded by legendary frontiersman Daniel Boone. The boys enjoyed learning about life in this area in the late 1700s, and found the stories of the Indians especially fascinating. Courtney bought them little Daniel Boone hats (Davy Crocket type raccoon hats) and guns. After this historical affair, we drove South-East to Hazard, KY, which was our main destination.
Courtney’s father was born and raised near Hazard, and still has some relatives and friends there whom we visited. We also went to see a few graves and sites, the house where Courtney spent his childhood summers while visiting his grandparents, and swam in a river, which actually had been turned into a reservoir by a dam. When I called to make a reservation at a local hotel, it was the first time in my entire life that I didn't have to spell my family name. Hazard, as it turns out, is full of Fugates. We passed the Fugate Entertainment Center on our way into town. We spent less than 24 hours in this area, but managed to accomplish most of what we had set out to do. Sentimental, we left southern KY the next afternoon and drove on winding roads through the mountains north to our last stop, the Carter Caves State Park. Here we saw everything from deer and hummingbirds to rare flowers and raccoons, and managed to visit a cave as well as do some fishing. We spent the night in the Lodge, which was a way over-prized affair compared to the cheap hotels we had stayed at the other two nights. Next time we go, we will definitely be camping.
The drive home was long – 300 miles – but we still had a few sights to delight our trip. By mistake we crossed the Ohio River three times – what a mighty impressive river it is! - and we ended up having dinner at nothing less than a Ponderosa in Maysville, KY; the boys’ first insight into the world of American all-you-can-eat obscenity.
All in all, it was a tiresome but interesting trip, and back here in Indiana, I’m glad we still have a couple of weeks left to leisurely enjoy our American summer stay. I still need to do some shopping, I have received quite a lot of editing jobs that I am working on, and we’re keeping busy with everything else one does during summer leave.
We left Warsaw, IN around 10 am Friday morning, stopped on the way a couple of times to have our picnic lunch and rest, and reached Georgetown, KY – our first stop – about 5 pm. It’s a beautiful town with a Baptist college – huge traditional southern buildings and a picturesque downtown main street. After a nice swim in the hotel pool, we found the recommended diner downtown, however the town had electrical problems, and the diner was not able to serve food. We went to a different restaurant instead – Fatkats – that served pizza and beer. As it turned out, this must be where a lot of Georgetown’s Friday night action takes place, because it was packed, and we had to wait for about 20 minutes just to get a table. The food was good though, although perhaps not our style exactly, but the place was right next to the hotel, and we were able to get to bed early that night.
On Saturday morning we checked out of the hotel and drove along a very scenic road to Lawrenceburg, home of the Wild Turkey distillery. As it turned out, the tour at the distillery was currently limited because the
whiskey production was shut down for a few summer weeks. We looked around the gift shop a bit, and Courtney bought a couple of glasses and a bottle of bourbon. The restroom had a treated oak faucet, fancier I thought than the few gold-covered faucets I’ve ever seen. The whole place vibrated of American historic wealth. I concluded one of many insights that day regarding the American Whiskey industry: it’s a very wealthy industry, and it’s a secure business, as was confirmed at our next stop, the Buffalo Trace distillery, where we found out that the warehouses contained enough whiskey in barrels, that should production cease right then and there, there would still be enough whiskey to support a 20 year sales supply. The Buffalo Trace - a privately owned distillery -tour was fantastic, and included a guided tour of the distillery and the entire process of the whiskey production, as well as a tasting session. Our tour-guide Freddie Johnson, a third generation employee at Buffalo Trace, mixed interesting facts and historical narration with witty remarks and entertaining stories. The boys enjoyed it almost as much as I did, and Courtney absolutely glowed with excitement (especially after the tasting session).
After our distillery adventure we drove south to Boonesborough, an old settlement fort founded by legendary frontiersman Daniel Boone. The boys enjoyed learning about life in this area in the late 1700s, and found the stories of the Indians especially fascinating. Courtney bought them little Daniel Boone hats (Davy Crocket type raccoon hats) and guns. After this historical affair, we drove South-East to Hazard, KY, which was our main destination.
Courtney’s father was born and raised near Hazard, and still has some relatives and friends there whom we visited. We also went to see a few graves and sites, the house where Courtney spent his childhood summers while visiting his grandparents, and swam in a river, which actually had been turned into a reservoir by a dam. When I called to make a reservation at a local hotel, it was the first time in my entire life that I didn't have to spell my family name. Hazard, as it turns out, is full of Fugates. We passed the Fugate Entertainment Center on our way into town. We spent less than 24 hours in this area, but managed to accomplish most of what we had set out to do. Sentimental, we left southern KY the next afternoon and drove on winding roads through the mountains north to our last stop, the Carter Caves State Park. Here we saw everything from deer and hummingbirds to rare flowers and raccoons, and managed to visit a cave as well as do some fishing. We spent the night in the Lodge, which was a way over-prized affair compared to the cheap hotels we had stayed at the other two nights. Next time we go, we will definitely be camping.
The drive home was long – 300 miles – but we still had a few sights to delight our trip. By mistake we crossed the Ohio River three times – what a mighty impressive river it is! - and we ended up having dinner at nothing less than a Ponderosa in Maysville, KY; the boys’ first insight into the world of American all-you-can-eat obscenity.
All in all, it was a tiresome but interesting trip, and back here in Indiana, I’m glad we still have a couple of weeks left to leisurely enjoy our American summer stay. I still need to do some shopping, I have received quite a lot of editing jobs that I am working on, and we’re keeping busy with everything else one does during summer leave.
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1 comment:
Just came across your blog. I too am from Kentucky and am now living in Cairo. Maadi - Degla to be exact. When I see this post and the "Eating In America" one, I just smiled.
Anyhow, just wanted to leave a mark of my presence.
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