Greetings friends,
I cannot tell you how nice it is to sleep in while on a road trip, especialy as a light rain is falling, which it was. We decided today that we would rent a van and drive the 60 miles south to Lynchburg, TN, home of Jack Daniels Whiskey, for a tour. Some of us are inclined to sip the grain on occasion. And Jack only imports the best grain. Then, in the evening we would take in the Grand Ole Opry.
Just as we got the van the sky cleared and we never saw another drop of rain all day. Oh well, at least it will be easy to stay together today. Our first stop was Boswell Harley-Davidson to pick up a new engine guard for Steve's bike. Boswell's is unique in that it features a diner in the store. Before we could make good our escape from Boswell's some T-shirt purchases were also made. Speaking of Harley shopping, everytime we stop at a dealer Lane asks if they have dealer specific charms for his wife Bonnie's charm bracelet. Frequently they do. He's amassing a good collection. Bonnie is going to have to re-up her gym membership to support the weight of her bracelet or get a sling. I've finally figured out the Harley T-shirt shopping formula; it's incredably simple. One T-shirt shopping spree equals one stop at the post office to mail home T-shirts. Why didn't I realize that sooner?
We took the Interstate south to Murfreeboro and then took a two lane through the gently rolling green hills of middle Tennessee to Shelbyville and on to Lynchburg. The Jack Daniels distillery has a beautiful facility and showroom on the outskirts of quaint Lynchburg. We signed up for the free one hour walking tour. Our tour guide, David, called our tour group and off we went. David was the perfect image of a whiskey distillery guide. If you looked up "Good Ole Boy" in the dictionary you would probably find a picture of David, short, overweight, bib overalls, full beard, ball cap, a strong Tennessee accent and a dry sense of humor. David volunteers there, he is a professional chili judge by profession, and it shows
One of the most interesting things about the Jack Daniels distillery, founded in 1866 by Jack himself, is that it is located in a dry county, where alcohol sales are prohibited. However, in 1995 they received special dispensation to offer bottled sales of the product at the facility. No samples, free or otherwise, were available on site, but David suggested at certain times during the tour that we inhale deeply and enjoy. David described the entire distilling and bottling process and the three main products, Old No. 7, their staple, Gentleman Jack, twice filtered through 14 feet of charcoal made on site, and Single Barrel. It's the top of the line personally selected by the head distiller. The whiskey is stored in American Oak barrels, also made on site, for approximately four years, or until the distiller decides it's just right by sampling, before bottling. Only the wood for the barrels and charcoal is locally grown. The water comes from a spring cave on site. All of the grains used in making the whiskey comes from the midwest. You can buy a full barrel, approximately 244 bottles for $9,000 to $12,000 depending on our state's tax rate, if you are so inclined.
Following our tour, we drove back to Nashville just in time to connect with our transportation to the Grand Ol Opry for an evening performance. Regrettably, no current country western stars were performing, but it was an interesting walk down memory lane with some old Opry standards including Jim Ed Brown, Little Jimmy Dickins, who is 90 years old and still performing and telling jokes, and Connie Smith plus some new young talent hoping to make it big in Nashville. Overall, it was nice evening of entertainment.
Our bus driver got us back to town lickety split about 10:00 p.m., but we had not yet had supper. So, we walked a few blocks to the corner White Castle burger joint for a brief repast. If you are not familiar with White Castle "sliders'" they are small (3" square) hamburgers with grilled onions, some with cheese, that sell for about a buck apiece and are guaranteed to sit inert in the bottom of your stomach for the remainder of the night. In the morning . . . well, I don't want to get too descriptive, but you probably get the idea. Some folks call them "gut bombs" for obvious reasons.
John and the Usual Suspects
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