Tennesse Adventure & Myrtle Beach Bike Rally
Day 3 � May 7/07
Today is checkout day from our hotel. Our "camping" starts today. You know, the whole reason we dragged the trailer out to Tennessee to begin with? LOL Well, today we are heading for the Smokey Mountains.
On our way, we stopped in at the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg. The guys thought it would be cool to get a picture of the bikes in front of JD. We didn't quite expect such a beautiful and huge place! I think all of us were pleasantly surprised. I know I definitely was!
I went from... "sigh, let's get this over with, if we must do it", to "very cool"! Very glad we made the stop! :o)
We, of course, took the tour - which was FREE! Yes, FREE! What a cool and informative tour it was too. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Did you know Jack Daniels died because of his temper? Yep. He was apparently known for having a bad temper. And one day, he was having trouble opening up his safe (which is still there in the same office!) and in a temper tantrum, he kicked it. About a month later, his foot developed gangrene, and that is what he died from - gangrene. How interesting is that?
Also, in the history of JD, there have only ever been 6 master distillers. Jack Daniels obviously being the first, and currently, it is a gentleman by the name of Jim Bedford.
Anyhoo, it was an extremely interesting and informative tour, ending with lemonade in the main hall at the end of the tour. All for FREE! :o)
We (Charlie and Gary) bought a bottle each of JD, more for a souvenir than anything, and then the coolest thing happened. Jim Bedford walked in! He signed both our bottles, and the cartons for the bottles. We paid $40 (US$) for each bottle, and have heard that these bottles, with Mr. Bedford's autograph on it, were already going for $150 (US$). Didn't we feel extremely honoured (to meet him) and lucky (to get his autograph).
We spent a lot more time at JD than any of us would have anticipated at the beginning of the day. So, when we got into the Smokey Mountains, it was well into dark. The road were very narrow, very windy, and very dark! Not fun pulling a trailer in these conditions. I was holding my breath for a lot of it!
But, Gary being the wonderful, and calm driver that he is, manouvered us through these roads to our camp site, Twin Creeks RV Resort.
It was after midnight by the time we pulled in, and of course, there was nobody at reception. But there was a sign indicating which sites were available for latecomers like us. So we took site # 41, and settled in for the night.
CONTINUE
TO DAY 4
BACK TO VACATIONS
[HOME]
Day 1
Day 2 Day 4
Day 5 Day 6
Day 7 Day 8 Day 9