So pretty early I left Nashville, no hangover or anything, I didn't drink that much at the music places even though the beer was a buck. Sometimes if you're having a great time just listening, you don't want anything to dull it, so a buck or not, I only had a couple. Anyway, I knew that I'd have enough time during the day to basically do one Nashville thing really well. I had thought about going to the Country Music Hall of Fame or something like that, but what I ended up choosing was
the Jack Daniels Factory which is about an hour southeast. Lynchburg, TN has pretty much nothing else, but it's a big draw - somewhere around 200,000 people take the tour each year. It was a really neat thing to see, apparently JD is the number one whiskey in the world and all of it is made in that 20 acre complex. They took us through the whole process from making the charcoal that its filtered through, distillation, maturation, even bottling. The whole thing took about two hours and you really did get a good appreciation for what goes into making the stuff. Here's an interesting little tidbit too, so a lot of the flavor of JD comes from the barrels and the reason that the wood gives off so much flavor is that they're only used once. One barrel is made for one batch and thats it. Because of that JD is the country's largest barrel maker; about 90% of the barrels you see cut in half and sold at Wal-Mart as planters are JD barrels, as are the barrels that a lot of wineries use and so on. They also showed us the natural spring that the whole plant is built around, its the source of all of the water thats used to make the 140 proof stuff at the end of the distillation process 80 proof. In some ways though, the best part came at the end of the tour, JD ice cream. As bizarre and gross as that may sound, let me assure you, seriously this is the best ice cream I've ever had. Holy crap, you have to taste it some day. If I was a little more of a redneck, I'd have gotten the t-shirts and all...but with the new job I'd rather not advertise myself as an alkie.
the Jack Daniels Factory which is about an hour southeast. Lynchburg, TN has pretty much nothing else, but it's a big draw - somewhere around 200,000 people take the tour each year. It was a really neat thing to see, apparently JD is the number one whiskey in the world and all of it is made in that 20 acre complex. They took us through the whole process from making the charcoal that its filtered through, distillation, maturation, even bottling. The whole thing took about two hours and you really did get a good appreciation for what goes into making the stuff. Here's an interesting little tidbit too, so a lot of the flavor of JD comes from the barrels and the reason that the wood gives off so much flavor is that they're only used once. One barrel is made for one batch and thats it. Because of that JD is the country's largest barrel maker; about 90% of the barrels you see cut in half and sold at Wal-Mart as planters are JD barrels, as are the barrels that a lot of wineries use and so on. They also showed us the natural spring that the whole plant is built around, its the source of all of the water thats used to make the 140 proof stuff at the end of the distillation process 80 proof. In some ways though, the best part came at the end of the tour, JD ice cream. As bizarre and gross as that may sound, let me assure you, seriously this is the best ice cream I've ever had. Holy crap, you have to taste it some day. If I was a little more of a redneck, I'd have gotten the t-shirts and all...but with the new job I'd rather not advertise myself as an alkie. Anyway, after that, it was back on the road heading east to the smokies. As a lot of you know, this is about my favorite place on earth. Now I've seen a lot of amazing places in the last month and I want to thank those of you who've been keeping up with me, it's been great to know that I wasn't only writing to myself. That being said, nothing has lessened my love for the Smo
kies. They're not anywhere near as awe-inspiring as some of the huge Rocky mountains but they're so alive. Everywhere, even at this time of year was green with flowers and streams all over. It's so different than the West that you just cant compare them fairly. I got there fairly late, about 8:30 and had ribs at Calhouns, which has the best ribs in the country I can safely say (ask Alex, he knows). After that, it was off to bed, I knew I'd need to wake up early since I wanted to spend a little time in the park and make it to Richmond before too late.
kies. They're not anywhere near as awe-inspiring as some of the huge Rocky mountains but they're so alive. Everywhere, even at this time of year was green with flowers and streams all over. It's so different than the West that you just cant compare them fairly. I got there fairly late, about 8:30 and had ribs at Calhouns, which has the best ribs in the country I can safely say (ask Alex, he knows). After that, it was off to bed, I knew I'd need to wake up early since I wanted to spend a little time in the park and make it to Richmond before too late. The next morning, I got up about 8am and headed straight for the park. I knew I was pressed for time, so this visit was just enough to get a sample and head out. Mingus Mill is the hike that I chose, an old time grist mill from the 1880's with a stream that you can walk along for most of a mile. This was a
bout the perfect time of year too, the wildflowers were out in force which meant that the Monarchs were too. Something about the whole area just seems magical to me, which is why I keep taking friends down there. I'll actually be back for Memorial day weekend with my folks, which was another reason that I wasn't but so broken up to leave quickly. I'd be back soon and my mountains would still be there.
bout the perfect time of year too, the wildflowers were out in force which meant that the Monarchs were too. Something about the whole area just seems magical to me, which is why I keep taking friends down there. I'll actually be back for Memorial day weekend with my folks, which was another reason that I wasn't but so broken up to leave quickly. I'd be back soon and my mountains would still be there.Six hours, thats about what it is back to Richmond or D.C. since it's pretty much equidistant. I knew that I wanted to see my folks before I started the big job, they've been a big help throughout the whole trip, especially out West. I got a big welcome of course, and for the first time I was able to go through all my photos (about 900) and do an hour narrative through the whole trip. I won't bore you all with that unless you want me to, but as I was talking through it I really realized how much of an amazing, life changing ride this has been; I do feel like a different person. But I'll save that for tomorrow.
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