99 Bottles of Bourbon in the Car

99 bottles of Bourbon in the car, 99 bottles of Bourbon in the car…take one down and pass it around 98 bottles of bourbon in the car.  Our trail riders are mounted up and ready to ride to the last two distilleries and stamps in the book to conclude this part of the trip.  My readers will note, this is Day 7 of our trip…and we all know our Eddie, after 3 days of heavy traveling, touring, eating and drinking…Eddie normally requires a “me day”…we are Day 7…the Master Planner Eddie’s has yet to have a me day…guess he is channeling his interKaren.    However, when climbing out of bed at 7:30 every morning to drive, drink, drive, repeat, he admitted that the pace was a little grueling.  You think?  

Learning from the previous day of no breakfast, we all ate before leaving the Hampton Inn.  We arrived at the Lexington Brewing Company a few minutes before opening at 10:00.  This was a tasting only affair.  They had bathrooms and running water, so I was happy.  It made the cut because it was open on Wednesday, fit the travel direction and was the only beer and spirit brewery/Distillery in Kentucky.  Of course, it was another stamp in the book.  While their Town Branch brand is widely available around the country, some of their Irish whiskey and single barrel offerings are not.  They are part of a larger international operation that has another distillery in Scotland.  So, because this place did both, you could taste both.  Okay, how many of you bet against the house and thought Eddie would take a day off from tasting?  House wins.  Eddie sampled the various spirits.  We left with a bottle and two 4 packs of barrel aged beer.  George told him that you could get it at H‑E‑B, but Eddie liked the guy doing the tasting…he was from Corpus Christi.  I asked if it was good, he said the 12 year old was decent…not sure whether Eddie’s brain has become pickled, or the Master Card moment has become automatic muscle memory.  At these prices, I feel “decent” can stay on the shelf….we need descriptions like outstanding, one of the better, extraordinarily smooth, wonderfully drinkable…on to our next stop. 

This was our final stop. It was a really interesting area.  Some old circa 19th century brick rickhouses, which may or may not have had barrels in the upper floors-the first floor was a bunch of funky shops or small eateries, there were food trucks, converted brick buildings with coffee shops, a bakery, ice cream shops, couple of breweries and at the end of it all two different distilleries.  Eddie only knew about James Pepper.  We arrived for a tour and tasting at 10:20ish.  Anxious to get on the road for a 5-6 hour drive to Blowing Rock, he again sweet talked the tasting gal into doing what he wanted not what was the regular tasting selection…she must have seen the Master Card in his hand.  George must have reviewed his Master Card billing because he tasted but passed on the purchase.  Smart boy.  He comes over frequently enough that if he wants a pour of a bourbon left behind we can oblige him.  The Barrel House distillery opened too late for the boys to visit.  The entire vibe and concept was great. I am sure UK students are there every night of the week.  

With all of our purchases literally stuffed into every nook and cranny of the car, we are off to North Carolina, via Virginia and Tennessee.  No orange barrels, good two lane roads over and around mountains…lots of coal trucks.  Thank goodness for the passing lanes.  I was behind the wheel for the first four hours, Eddie on passenger door handle and right hand floor brake.  The weather forecast was questionable, so arriving earlier rather than later, dry instead of wet was all I could hope for.  

We arrived at the Fire and Ice Cabin at 4:30.  Again, Eddie selected the cabins that we could choose from.  I just had a few qualifiers…I did not want to be on the Banner Elk side of Boone. If he selected Banner Elk which has newer places and nicer restaurants, it is a hard pick for groceries and activities. The highway is around the mountain and down in heavy traffic.  I wanted enough bedrooms and bathrooms that there was no waiting or fighting.  So, he presented a few options and Fire and Ice won…pool table, air hockey table, pac man arcade game, foosball I guess sealed the deal.  I was vaguely familiar with where it was.  We had stayed in a log cabin 6 years ago near the bottom of the “ski mountain” on the outskirts of Blowing Rock.  This place it off the paved road at the top of ski mountain, sharp right then a mile long narrow (read fall off on passenger side, hug the trees) gravel one way loop.  Fire and Ice is maybe second or third from the end of the loop.  There are probably 20 houses on the loop, no street or other lights to guide you.  The really deep drop off are marked with the dyi Wal Mart red light sticks…yay!  Dinner reservations are for 8:15 Thursday night.  Once again, I will be the designated driver….at night, no lights, and a possibility of rain-what could go wrong.  You might ask if I have FOMA at not participating in the tastings…nope.  By the time all of this bourbon gets home, I can have a private tasting (we have medicine cups) of all the Cadillac, Tesla, Mercedes, Bentley brands out there.  Nah, I am good. 

Thursday morning we were awoken by the wonderful sound of rain in the trees and on the metal roof, temperatures in the low 60’s.  Makes the long drive all worthwhile.  I had put in an advanced grocery order and left early to pick it up.  I was relying on memory of how to go the back way through the college town of Boone.  Got to Harris Teeter (a much better Kroger owned-regionally brand store in NC) and went to the one lane (yes, one lane for advance order pick up) and texted my arrival.     It was quick, but one lane…can you imagine one lane at H‑E‑B….the riots would make national news.  I tried to get fancy on the way home and took a wrong turn in the rain.  When I saw the golfers with umbrellas in the rain, I kinda knew I was off the normal Route back to Blowing Rock.  Despite being directional challenged, I thought I could figure it without with our lady of the car’s help.  I found the home office of Samaritan’s Purse (huge outreach arm of the Billy Graham ministries)…never had seen them before, also some big, bigger, biggest homes, and some unpaved roads…not on the mountain top, more valley.  I finally gave up and asked our lady of the car to help me get back to Fire and Ice. Better not tell Eddie, he will insist on drive home after drinks and dinner tonight.  

I arrived home a little before ten.  Since I am Eddie this trip, I let him unpack and put up him the groceries and supplies…you would think that for a 3 week stay they would have given us more than two rolls of toilet paper, two dishwashing pods, and one roll of paper towel….particularly at the price we are paying.  Nope, there it is in the contract what will and will not be provided regardless of length of stay…so there were lots of groceries  and supplies to unload.   I grabbed George and we set off to have massages and eat lunch…Eddie was assigned the laundry duty, he could eat what was purchased at the store.….it is good to be Eddie on this trip.