Birthday!
After waking up, we saw the hotel room in the daylight for the first time. Probably would have been better off leaving before dawn (I am currently writing this from a Motel 6, which is much nicer than that Ramada). They did have a hot breakfast with all the bacon you can eat. BACON!!!
Our first stop of the day was Buffalo Trace; the makers of Blantons, Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle, and Eagle Rare. The tour was great! Our guide, Jeff, did an amazing job keeping us entertained and going through the long history of the facility and the area. Very educational (in a good way!).
Next up was suppose to be Wild Turkey, but we might have stayed at Buffalo Trace a little too long so we skipped it. Put Loretto, KY in the GPS and took off down the Bluegrass Highway. Side note, when does bluegrass turn blue? All I saw was a lot of green.
The Long Road to Maker's Mark
Dorrie started cracking up as the road steadily became smaller and smaller and less paved as we continued on. At one point we had resigned ourselves to never getting out of the area and that we would find a nice family to take us in. Just when the road looked liked it was going to end Maker's Mark appeared out of nowhere! Turns out Susan brought us in the back way. Smug bitch. The Maker's tour was great, and we got to try their new product 46, a little more robust than their already quite robust bourbon.
The rest of the afternoon was uneventful, checked out Jim Beam and then went to Churchill Downs for a tour of the facility. Then we started the trip back to Atlanta.
Dorrie: The 'real' story
While at Churchill Downs I received a call from the VW dealership. The car would be fixed by Tuesday around lunch. Great news! I can still make it to the wedding (and don't have to be killed by Xuan). Dorrie decided that she would not be joining me on my cross country trek, and I don't blame her. If we left on Tuesday, that gave us just 3 1/2 days to cover 2500 miles, just so that she could get on a plane and fly right back. Understandable...
The next problem became apparent immediately. How do we get Dorrie home? Flights were ridiculous, renting a car one way was expensive. She could take the train but would have to go through Washington, DC and it would take three days. There was always Greyhound. That became the plan, I would take her to the Greyhound terminal in Atlanta and she would catch the 3:30 am bus direct to Jacksonville. Seems like a reasonable plan, until we found out where the station was. Right in the middle of downtown Atlanta, and not the nice part of downtown.
We got into Atlanta around 12:30, and neither one of us was really thrilled about her getting on a bus in the middle of Atlanta. Since we had 3 hours to kill, I decided just to drive her down to Tifton. My parents had graciously offered at one point to meet us there and pick up Dorrie to take her back to Jacksonville. That was the new plan, and we made it to Tifton before 3:30. Dorrie set us up in the Days Inn (about the same cost as the bus fare) and I was asleep within 10 minutes of getting into the room. It was a long day.
Tuesday: Car Day
I left Dorrie at 11:30 and drove the three hours back to Atlanta where my awesome roommate Tabitha drove me back to the dealership. I loaded the car, had a little talk with her and apologized for any disparaging remarks I had made. I then get in and left the dealership around 5pm. I drove until about 11pm local (midnight eastern time) and stopped for the night in Marion, Ill. That is where I am now.
Today I am meeting a friend for breakfast as I drive through St. Louis, and then am hoping to get as close to Wyoming as possible today. Ideally I make it to Cheyenne, but that might be a bit of a stretch.
I will be updating Facebook all day, so you can follow me there.
The next problem became apparent immediately. How do we get Dorrie home? Flights were ridiculous, renting a car one way was expensive. She could take the train but would have to go through Washington, DC and it would take three days. There was always Greyhound. That became the plan, I would take her to the Greyhound terminal in Atlanta and she would catch the 3:30 am bus direct to Jacksonville. Seems like a reasonable plan, until we found out where the station was. Right in the middle of downtown Atlanta, and not the nice part of downtown.
We got into Atlanta around 12:30, and neither one of us was really thrilled about her getting on a bus in the middle of Atlanta. Since we had 3 hours to kill, I decided just to drive her down to Tifton. My parents had graciously offered at one point to meet us there and pick up Dorrie to take her back to Jacksonville. That was the new plan, and we made it to Tifton before 3:30. Dorrie set us up in the Days Inn (about the same cost as the bus fare) and I was asleep within 10 minutes of getting into the room. It was a long day.
Tuesday: Car Day
I left Dorrie at 11:30 and drove the three hours back to Atlanta where my awesome roommate Tabitha drove me back to the dealership. I loaded the car, had a little talk with her and apologized for any disparaging remarks I had made. I then get in and left the dealership around 5pm. I drove until about 11pm local (midnight eastern time) and stopped for the night in Marion, Ill. That is where I am now.
Today I am meeting a friend for breakfast as I drive through St. Louis, and then am hoping to get as close to Wyoming as possible today. Ideally I make it to Cheyenne, but that might be a bit of a stretch.
I will be updating Facebook all day, so you can follow me there.
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ReplyDeleteHmmm, I now know that my life has become too predictable. Be safe!
ReplyDeleteMt. Shasta is a sleepy town. You can relax when you finally get here. Oh, and I wouldn't kill you if you couldn't make it to the wedding...instead, I would just beat you with a wooden spoon.
ReplyDelete