Nashville!

Wow- Incredible talent in Nashville.  I can see why people want to live here and break into music but with so much competition- I bet it feels hopeless. One star sighting- Scarlet- Clare Bowen from the TV show Nashville was singing live on the radio. 

The Grand Ole Opry was so fun. Would definitely go again. Hands down the best  sound system of any concert/music venue that we have ever attended. 

Spent the entire afternoon bar hopping on lower Broadway to listen to different bands. Tootsie’s by far won the battle of the bands. This kid was 16 and amazing. 

New band with a fiddle player that should be playing bigger venues. A group tipped her $170 (not a typo) to play The Devil Went Down to Georgia. 

Roberts Western World was old school. They played both kinds of music  - country AND western. 

Kidd Rocks Roof Top 

And Layla’s.   

A visit to the Parthenon without going to Greece. 

And the most unimpressive State Capitol on the inside and different on the outside was not worth the hike up these stairs!!!

Goodbye Kentucky- Hello Music City

Kentucky is a great state to visit with diverse things to see and do. We decided to visit one of the 130 caves in Kentucky. The natural limestone geology promotes very fresh water for the distilleries and caves for exploring. We skipped the huge caverns to visit a small family owned cave - Crystal Onyx. It was such a cool cave. Small group. Tour supposed to be about 30 minutes but the tour guide didn’t rush and we spent an hour roaming around. I might know more technical terms than she did but it was super fun and a good choice!!!

Next stop the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green to drool just a little bit. You might remember when they had a huge sinkhole that gobbled up several cars in the middle of the museum when a cave collapsed. They saved the wreckage. 

Couldn’t resist stopping at a very t-tiny distillery before crossing the Tennessee border. Dueling Grounds in Franklin, KY. They bottle about a barrel per week with 3 full time employees. 

Cumberland Falls State Resort

I had this bright idea to visit Cumberland Falls and do some hiking after tasting bourbon at 8 distilleries. We looked at the map for the trail head and it seemed like an easy hike to Eagle Falls. OMG - what we missed on the other side was the description “strenuous”. Not one place on my entire body was dry at near 90 degrees and 50% humidity. We sweated out every ounce of toxin in our bodies. I have taken on some pretty massive hikes like O Cebreiro, in Spain in the snow...but this one about killed me. Check out the steps and terrain! It was up or down or huge rocks. I may not be able to move tomorrow. I am sure it had nothing to do with age and/or bourbon. 

To see this... not sure it was worth it!

Thank goodness for my hiking boots!  

The Cumberland River feeds Cumberland Falls - the Niagra of the South. Record rain and flooding has the water brown. Geologists estimate the rock that forms the waterfall is 250 million years old. The falls are larger when the river is not high. 

We are staying in the historic DuPont Lodge that was built in 1940. 

Last Day on the Bourbon Trail

Last day on the bourbon trail. Saw the most beautiful and huge horse farms. 

All the bourbon was very good and all slightly different. First stop Woodford Reserve. The distilleries are really beautiful. Woodford makes their products from Scottish roots. Their stills are close to those we saw in Scotland. 

Next stop Four Roses. One of the oldest distilleries and making a comeback. 

Last stop Buffalo Trace- public service announcement. Only distillery that we visited that didn’t charge a fee and didn’t require reservations. The rickhouse below was built before prohibition. 

Bottling and labeling is all done by hand. Not much automation. 

Staying the night in the states Capitol city - Frankfort. Checked out the lovely capitol building. So quiet. Checked into the Capitol Plaza and ready to find a place for dinner. Tomorrow heading out to see some nature and give the liver a rest! Smile. 

Water wall in hotel lobby.