Bourbon & Beyond Festival Louisville September 2017

Pam and I began our trek to Bourbon country on Friday afternoon where we would meet my niece Chelsea in Columbus, Ohio for a short visit and a night in the Arena District. We had dinner at a restaurant called the Flat Iron which appeared to be a new trendy place. Our weekend had begun. 

Before we heading to Chelsea's for the night, we stopped for a nightcap at the Watershed. Very cool place. Enjoyed our drinks and hope we get to go back sometime.

Saturday morning came early as we needed to get on a road to get the Bulleit Bourbon Distillery for our tour. We started moving into Kentucky and as we came into town we stopped at a recommended place called Bud's Tavern for a bite to eat, checking out the Louisville football game with the locals


On to The Distillery at Bulleit where we were met at the gate by a gentleman name Perry that had worked there for 47 years. We would find out later that Perry spent a lot of time in the coopering shack, sharpening his craps skills. After a few moments in the gift shop we were on our tour which was quite informative as our tour guide did an exceptional job of explaining the history of bourbon and the distillery itself. 

Perry

It was then on to our hotel in Clarksville Indiana. We were able to check in and get freshened up and Ubered into downtown Louisville for something to eat over the Ohio River

We decided on Patrick O'Shea's for dinner which was part of the Urban Bourbon Trail of downtown Louisville. After dinner and selling an extra ticket to one of the bar backs, we ventured across the street to Merle's Whiskey Kitchen and had the most fun experience, interacting and learning about the Bourbon Trail and the whiskey we were drinking with Sydney and John behind the bar.

Sydney and John

I was even able to commandeer one more Blanton's horse top getting a little closer to finishing the collection. I hope I  get back there someday as it was a lot of fun. Good Times (although the chicken I ordered late night probably could have done without) 

We headed back for the night to Indiana because of our early day for the Bourbon & Beyond Festival, day 2 

Sunday was scorching hot and after another Uber over to Champions Park we started our day checking out the grounds. It was an amazing set up and we wandered to the main stage and watched about three songs of Keifer Sutherland who was pretty cool. I didn't know he was that good of a singer. 

We walked around a little bit more to check out the various tents and events while finding the watering station and the porta potties. Pam taught me a valuable lesson: don't go to first few that you see, that's what everybody does. Go the ones at the back end of things which are cleaner ...good lesson. 

We grabbed a little bit of lunch and sampled a few new Bourbons early on as we went up and watched Jonny Lang

perform for about three songs. We stopped at these little speakeasy

tents to get out of the sun and relax for a bit but kept exploring. 

Steve from Australia

We met people from everywhere:  Steve, from Australia who came all the way "just to see Gary Clark Jr."

Gary Clark Jr

Finally around 6, the sun started to go down as Paul Rodgers started his set which included a cool version of All Right Now that had everybody dancing and singing.

Paul Rodgers

Joe Bonamassa took the stage around 7:30 and ripped the joint up, playing some Zeppelin into his set. 

Stevie Nicks played one song and complained about the smoke possibly affecting her vocal cords and requested not to blow smoke towards the stage..that didn't sit well with some of the crowd as people started to kinda wander back towards the parking area. Still a good performance. Said it was the first time she ever played the song Bella Donna live.

A little confusion in getting our Uber ride back to the hotel ended our night. We were saved by a Patriot fan Uber driver wearing a Tom Brady jersey. Thanks Blue Tom.

Drove back home on Monday.  Safe to say we enjoyed our time together in Louisville and had a blast. I would look forward to going back and exploring more of Bourbon country. Thanks for coming along for the ride, Pam.

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Hole in One

So this happened...

Hole in one

Tennessee Vacation 2017

A much needed and anticipated vacation started out on June 24th finally getting to use my birthday present, tix for Sammy Hagar and the Circle at the Hard Rock Casino in Northfield.

Pam and I hit the Saturday Happy Hour at Burntwood Tavern (highly recommend) in Lyndhurst then headed to the show. Set List

Outstanding performance by half of Van Halen and Jason Bonham on the drums.

After only a little bit of sleep, Pam, myself, Mike (Pam's son) and Olivia (Mike's lady) headed out towards the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

Not a bad ride south to the Outrageous Cabins resort in Sevierville. Hot tub, game room, great views and fireworks every night you could see from Dollywood not too far away.

Sunday was a pizza hunt and grocery run just to keep a few items in the cabin. As we figured out our plans for Monday. Golf at Gatlinburg Golf Course  for Pam and I (a very nice course with some elevation to make it challenging) while the pool and hot tub for Mike and Olivia seemed to suffice for everyone.

Went out for dinner at Mike's choice of The Local Goat . I had very tasty Shrimp and Grits, Pam the Ahi Tuna Salad and a couple of gourmet burgers for Olivia and Mike. Food and service was outstanding, aside from the cast of Sandlot 2 making too much noise at the shuffleboard table, we had a nice meal,

Chilled back at the cabin in the evening as Mike and Olivia had a big day ahead for Ziplining. Pam and I enjoyed watching those two at Foxfire Mountain

I explored the Cider house on the property and found out some info for Hillbilly Golf that we would play later on the trip.

After we got back from ziplining, Pam and I went exploring down Boogertown road, a winding stretch of road that found us in Gatlinburg. We came across some shops and that provided some nice take home items from the Gatlinburg Arts and Crafts Community

Stopped here for a beer, The Ship Pub

Dinner reservations in Old Sevierville at Bistro 109 were for 6 pm. Pam ordered some Goat Cheese balls that SHE enjoyed, me, Mike and Olivia not so much

Our waiter Thomas was a bit of a talker and a lamb chop pusher but certainly no tour guide. Tip City was the only place in Ohio that he had been to. "An hour outside of Cleveland" he said. "Where?" was our response. Turns out Tip City was near Cincinnati....quite the loser

I had a veal dish that was hardly memorable. The atmosphere and decor really impressed Pam but overall, not the best dining experience for me.

Tuesday evening from the porch

Wednesday was our last day at the cabin and we set out for the Ripley's Believe it or not Aquarium and some Hillbilly golf.

Interesting stuff in the Aquarium. I'm sure it would be creepy at night or if you were in there all by yourself. Very little kid friendly which was not my speed but nevertheless, very cool exhibit. A Pearl Harbor exhibit was also available but definitely out of place

 

March of the Penguins

I was on the search for some authentic Tennessee BBQ and we stumbled upon Delauders bbq and we were not disappointed. Burnt ends, pulled pork, and jalapeno smoked sausage....good stuff

After a short stop for shopping, we headed back towards downtown Gatlinburg for Hillbilly Putt Putt. The ladies showed the guys how to putt on a side of a mountain with Olivia taking low score honors.

Back to the cabin for a take out dinner at the nearby Rocky Top Pizza and relaxing in our wonderful digs for the week.

All in all, a great vacation full of adventure, good food, and great company. Til next time...see ya'll later