Day 26: 7/11/08 - Harrodsburg, KY to Bardstown, KY
Days 27, 28: 7/12/08 - Bardstown, KY to Lebanon, KY (~30 miles)
Day 29: 7/13/08 - Lebanon, KY to Cave City, KY (~60 mi)
Arriving in Berea was amazing because it marked the end of the Appalachian Mountains. If you look to the east in Berea, you see mountains, but when you look to the west there is a wonderful lack of them. Just rolling hills and open sky. We were so used to seeing mountains on all sides of us that it was refreshing to finally see haystacks, silos and farms. It was also refreshing to be traveling at 12 mph instead of 8. Doesn't sound like much to you automobile drivers out there, but we could travel 50 miles in 4 hours instead of 6 - that leaves more time for laundry and all that other fun stuff.
Our new biking scenery.
Resting under the shade of an enormous tree.
This old man was born and raised in this tiny town. Come to think of it, that's the story with a lot of the old people we meet.
Our newest snack craze:
Hey Rocco! At a gas station along the way we met Rocco, another cross-country cyclist going in our direction. We knew his name is Rocco because it's tattooed on his arm. Rocco just got his PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT - not what you'd expect from someone with "Rocco" tattooed on his arm. Rocco travels very light - he has a tent which is basically a Bivy sack that hooks to his bike wheel for support. We, on the other hand, travel very unlight. Heavily loaded, in bike-speak. I haven't discussed our packing or gear situation yet in this blog, so for those of you who are interested, I am going to make a separate blog entry dedicated to the packing and gear logistics.
We didn't get on the road this morning until 11ish, as usual, and by the time we ran in to Rocco we had gone maybe 10-15 miles, while Rocco was on his 60th or 70th mile. We're enjoying our pace - nothing to be ashamed of - but just for comparison's sake, he started the day in Booneville and is headed to Harrodsburg, which means that he is doing in 1 day what we are doing in 2 days. Since he's riding alone, he appreciates finding riding partners from time to time, so he asked to tag along with us for a while since we were all headed to Harrodsburg. He stuck with us for a few miles, but at the first big hill Rocco took off without looking back. We rested and sipped water and collected ourselves. The beauty of being on a solo bike tour is that you don't wait for anyone or rely on anyone but yourself. Go Rocco!
We made it to Harrodsburg and stayed at the Economy Inn, run by an Indian couple who lived in Panama for 25 years. They spoke fluent Spanish and, although they looked very Indian, they had Spanish accents when speaking English. Weird. Then we ate at another mediocre Mexican restaurant.
The next day we were on our way to Bardstown, the Bourbon capital of the world. On the way we stopped at Lincoln Homestead Park. This is the location of the log cabin in which Lincoln's father grew up. I had never heard of it before but it was cool to see. Plus it was hot out and they had cold water.
The rest of the ride to Bardstown was very nice, and pretty flat. We made good time for once. We also got to stare at a bunch of corn, tobacco, horses, and moo-cows.
In Bardstown we decided to eat dinner at the Old Talbott Tavern, which is known in Bardstown for its good food, huge whisky menu, and live music. We decided to order a Kentucky Hot Brown, which is a classic Kentucky "sandwich". It is a slice of bread topped with ham, turkey, bacon and Mornay sauce. You can't pick it up with your hands because it's drenched in the cheese sauce. It is deliciously indulgent but very heavy. Talbott's Hot Brown was great tasting but very skimpy in size. The adults in our group ordered pints of Kentucky Bourbon Ale, which is an awesome buttery-bourbony beer made in Louisville. It does not contain Bourbon, it just has a subtle bourbon flavor from the used bourbon barrels in which it is stored. I hear there is a bar in Arlington which carries it on draft, so we'll have to check it out when we get home.
The next day we decided to rest in Bardstown and check out the Heaven Hill Distillery. Tony was thankfully uninterested and biked to the movie theatre.
Heaven Hill makes Evan Williams bourbon. Actually, their distillery is in Louisville so we didn't get to see the big tubs of mash being cooked, but we saw a video and their barrel storage warehouses. We were not big bourbon fans before coming to Bardstown, but we found out that we are just not fans of cheap bourbon. Heaven Hill gave us tastings of their 10 year old Single Barrel Evan Williams bourbon and their 18 year Elijah Craig. They were so good we bought a bottle of the 10 year, and another bottle of a wheat whisky we saw in the gift shop. We filled our flasks and mailed the rest home.
After leaving Bardstown we passed near the Maker's Mark distillery... close enough to make a detour. The Maker's Mark distillery is quaint and touristy, and much more interesting as a tour. We even got to taste the clear distilled grain alcohol before it goes into the barrels to age. Unfortunately, the Heaven Hill bourbon was far superior than what we tried at Maker's Mark. But it still made for a great tour! We got to see the big batches of sour mash and we stuck our fingers in it and tasted it too.
After the tastings it was almost 5pm and was too late to head for Lincoln's birthplace, 40 miles away, so we went to Lebanon, KY instead. A bit off route, but it put us in a good position to head to Cave City the next day.
So we were off to Cave City! We were excited about this for 2 reasons: Mammoth Cave, the most extensive cave system in the world; and Nashville. We are meeting our friend David Hockaday (cool name eh?) in Nashville, because that is where he is from, and he is going to show us around town. To get to Nashville, which is waaay of route, we are going to store our bikes in Cave City and rent a car.
While eating dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Cave City (more mediocre Mexican, although this was on the upper end of mediocre) an older fellow named Mark Davis approached our table. Mark spotted our funny looking bike clothes and tagged us as touring cyclists. Mark is an avid cyclist as well, and is semi-retired, and bikes around the Cave City area daily. He is planning to do a stretch of the Trans-Am next summer from Kentucky to Wyoming and wanted to talk to us about our experience. When we told him we needed a place to stash our bikes for the weekend, he offered us his house! What a swell guy. So now that that logistical detail has been covered, we will plan on meeting David and Tiffany in Nashville on Thursday night, and until then we'll explore the caves....
(Pictures to come... they take long to upload :P )
The Mammoth Caves are truly mammoth, but they are also truly boring. Luray Caverns in Virginia, for example, are beautiful. They have stalag's, both -mite and -tite, making gorgeous, intricate formations. Mammoth Cave on the other hand is so big because it is so sturdy, and the ceilings of the caves are made of a tough sandstone (don't quote me on that... although I rock, I am no geologist) and so no water seeps through to make the pretty formations. It's basically just a huge, boring dirt tunnel. Still glad we saw it though!
We didn't get on the road this morning until 11ish, as usual, and by the time we ran in to Rocco we had gone maybe 10-15 miles, while Rocco was on his 60th or 70th mile. We're enjoying our pace - nothing to be ashamed of - but just for comparison's sake, he started the day in Booneville and is headed to Harrodsburg, which means that he is doing in 1 day what we are doing in 2 days. Since he's riding alone, he appreciates finding riding partners from time to time, so he asked to tag along with us for a while since we were all headed to Harrodsburg. He stuck with us for a few miles, but at the first big hill Rocco took off without looking back. We rested and sipped water and collected ourselves. The beauty of being on a solo bike tour is that you don't wait for anyone or rely on anyone but yourself. Go Rocco!
We made it to Harrodsburg and stayed at the Economy Inn, run by an Indian couple who lived in Panama for 25 years. They spoke fluent Spanish and, although they looked very Indian, they had Spanish accents when speaking English. Weird. Then we ate at another mediocre Mexican restaurant.
The next day we were on our way to Bardstown, the Bourbon capital of the world. On the way we stopped at Lincoln Homestead Park. This is the location of the log cabin in which Lincoln's father grew up. I had never heard of it before but it was cool to see. Plus it was hot out and they had cold water.
The bed and dresser were built by Lincoln's pappy.
Old-fashioned pizza slicer??
In don't think were were supposed to touch this, The rest of the ride to Bardstown was very nice, and pretty flat. We made good time for once. We also got to stare at a bunch of corn, tobacco, horses, and moo-cows.
Mystery plant:
Biking to Bardstown.
Lots of horses in Kentucky.
Lots of moo-cows in Kentucky.
Old Talbott Tavern.In Bardstown we decided to eat dinner at the Old Talbott Tavern, which is known in Bardstown for its good food, huge whisky menu, and live music. We decided to order a Kentucky Hot Brown, which is a classic Kentucky "sandwich". It is a slice of bread topped with ham, turkey, bacon and Mornay sauce. You can't pick it up with your hands because it's drenched in the cheese sauce. It is deliciously indulgent but very heavy. Talbott's Hot Brown was great tasting but very skimpy in size. The adults in our group ordered pints of Kentucky Bourbon Ale, which is an awesome buttery-bourbony beer made in Louisville. It does not contain Bourbon, it just has a subtle bourbon flavor from the used bourbon barrels in which it is stored. I hear there is a bar in Arlington which carries it on draft, so we'll have to check it out when we get home.
The next day we decided to rest in Bardstown and check out the Heaven Hill Distillery. Tony was thankfully uninterested and biked to the movie theatre.
Heaven Hill makes Evan Williams bourbon. Actually, their distillery is in Louisville so we didn't get to see the big tubs of mash being cooked, but we saw a video and their barrel storage warehouses. We were not big bourbon fans before coming to Bardstown, but we found out that we are just not fans of cheap bourbon. Heaven Hill gave us tastings of their 10 year old Single Barrel Evan Williams bourbon and their 18 year Elijah Craig. They were so good we bought a bottle of the 10 year, and another bottle of a wheat whisky we saw in the gift shop. We filled our flasks and mailed the rest home.
After leaving Bardstown we passed near the Maker's Mark distillery... close enough to make a detour. The Maker's Mark distillery is quaint and touristy, and much more interesting as a tour. We even got to taste the clear distilled grain alcohol before it goes into the barrels to age. Unfortunately, the Heaven Hill bourbon was far superior than what we tried at Maker's Mark. But it still made for a great tour! We got to see the big batches of sour mash and we stuck our fingers in it and tasted it too.
After the tastings it was almost 5pm and was too late to head for Lincoln's birthplace, 40 miles away, so we went to Lebanon, KY instead. A bit off route, but it put us in a good position to head to Cave City the next day.
So we were off to Cave City! We were excited about this for 2 reasons: Mammoth Cave, the most extensive cave system in the world; and Nashville. We are meeting our friend David Hockaday (cool name eh?) in Nashville, because that is where he is from, and he is going to show us around town. To get to Nashville, which is waaay of route, we are going to store our bikes in Cave City and rent a car.
While eating dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Cave City (more mediocre Mexican, although this was on the upper end of mediocre) an older fellow named Mark Davis approached our table. Mark spotted our funny looking bike clothes and tagged us as touring cyclists. Mark is an avid cyclist as well, and is semi-retired, and bikes around the Cave City area daily. He is planning to do a stretch of the Trans-Am next summer from Kentucky to Wyoming and wanted to talk to us about our experience. When we told him we needed a place to stash our bikes for the weekend, he offered us his house! What a swell guy. So now that that logistical detail has been covered, we will plan on meeting David and Tiffany in Nashville on Thursday night, and until then we'll explore the caves....
(Pictures to come... they take long to upload :P )
The Mammoth Caves are truly mammoth, but they are also truly boring. Luray Caverns in Virginia, for example, are beautiful. They have stalag's, both -mite and -tite, making gorgeous, intricate formations. Mammoth Cave on the other hand is so big because it is so sturdy, and the ceilings of the caves are made of a tough sandstone (don't quote me on that... although I rock, I am no geologist) and so no water seeps through to make the pretty formations. It's basically just a huge, boring dirt tunnel. Still glad we saw it though!
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