GROVE PARK IN, NC

 

ENJOYING VIEW AT GROVE PARK INN, NC

 

THE CAROLINAS

The finale of the Rally was to attend the Kentucky Colonel BBQ Reunion in Louisville. This is an annual event held on the huge grounds of a church. The entry fee included a good lunch of pulled pork or chicken barbecue sandwich, baked beans, potato salad, buttermilk pie and lemonade or iced tea. You also had tickets for two soft drinks or water, two alcoholic drinks, and a cup of burgoo, a spicy soup. Different music groups performed throughout the grounds: gospel singers, blue grass, jazz and ‘moldy oldies’. Some people were dressed as Colonel Sanders or in dresses of the 1800s and the trumpet player who plays the Call to Post at the Derby was also there in his outfit.

We thought Kentucky was lovely with its rolling hills of lawn (I think everyone in Kentucky must own a riding lawnmower) but the Carolinas even has that beat. Living in Arizona, we didn’t realize how much we missed greenery. The drive over the Smoky Mountains was gorgeous. We could see how the mountains got their name as the mist rising off of them looks like smoke. The green highway divider had startling red poppies blooming in them that really caught the eye. Occasionally they would be set off with light pink poppies and dainty white daisies. What a pleasant drive.

We headed to Gaffney, South Carolina to have our 25,000-mile checkup on the rig performed. Gaffney is where the Freightliner factory (that made our RV chassis) is located. We trust them to do a very thorough job.

On the way we stopped in Asheville, North Carolina for a couple of days. We had visited the beautiful Biltmore Estate before so this time we just wanted to get a case of the good wine they make there. We had also had dinner there before so this time we went for lunch at the Grove Park Inn on the other side of town. The inn was built in 1913 from hand-cut boulders that were hauled by wagon from nearby Sunset Mountain. It was a wonderful setting for lunch as we gazed at the distant view.

The people in the South are so warm and helpful but we were reminded of the other side as well. About 40 miles from us in Gaffney was a parade of Ku Klux Klan last Saturday.

DRIVING DOWN THE HWY WITH RED POPPIES FOR HUNDREDS OF MILES

 

OLD TALBOT TAVERN, BARDSTOWN KY 1779

 

KENTUCKY DERBY TIME

We pulled into a Tennessee campground for an overnight stop. Next to us was a pickup and fifth wheel trailer. The large sign on the pickup door read “Sons of Confederate Veterans”. It reminded us that we had just been in Little Rock, site of the first integration of blacks into public schools and Memphis where Martin Luther King was assassinated.

We moved on quickly to the campground in Bardstown, Kentucky for the RVing Women’s Kentucky Derby Rally. We were several days early so that gave us a chance to investigate the town. The town is a piece of Americana. Established in 1790, huge old trees line the streets with green lushness where there are majestic old houses with rocking chairs on their front porches. Children play on the front lawns while grandma (great-grandma?) watches with a loving eye. We enjoyed a stop at an old-fashioned drugstore soda fountain.

We celebrated our 25th anniversary here with dinner and a movie. The restaurant is a historic stagecoach stop that has been serving food for over 200 years. The movie was a selection from our Netflix movies shown in the comfort of our own ‘home’.

Other early arrivals gathered together to drive to the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest for lunch. Started by Bernheim, a German immigrant in the early 1900s who made his money in whiskey, there is an energy-efficient nature center and 14,000 acres of forest preserve with picnic areas, hiking trails and lakes.

Of course, the highlight was the Kentucky Derby. Churchill Downs is a lovely setting with lots of different places for viewing the race. We bet on most races and came out pretty well. I had to try a mint julep and we actually came out a little ahead betting on the horses.

This is the center of whiskey making. The Jim Beam distillery is right by Bardstown but we chose to tour Maker’s Mark with its beautiful grounds and historic buildings. All of the steps of the whiskey are made by hand. Some bought souvenir bottles and hand dipped the red wax on the lid that is Maker’s trademark.

GETTING READY FOR A RACE AT CHURCHILL DOWNS 2 DAYS BEFORE THE KENTUCKY DERBY

 

PUTTING ON RED WAX BY HAND ON BOTTLE TOPS AT MAKER'S MARK