We started our trip home on time, Sunday the 23^rd.  We took our time getting the condo prepared to be vacant and left around 10am.  The first day was one of the ‘long’ days driving, over 6 hours.  I know, for a lot of our friends they are driving all day, which we don’t understand!  We had a good drive and arrived in downtown Savannah in time for cocktails and dinner.  We stayed at the Andaz, which is in the historic neighborhood we liked last time we were in Savannah.  And right next door to a restaurant which was a favorite last time, the Little Duck Diner.  That evening and the next day we did some walking around the squares and River Street shops.  River Street runs along the the river of course, which brings in major ocean going ships.  Savannah is still a major seaport.  The shops along River Street are in buildings originally built to handle the sale and shipping of cotton.  Lots of history dating from the 1700’s.  And lots of good food and drink. We also toured the Prohibition Museum which was full of interesting facts.  We did a lot of walking and being close to the hotel could make multiple breaks back to the room. 

2 good nights in Savannah and then back on I-95 for the start of the trip to Asheville NC. A good breakfast before we left and another good ride, this time into the mountains.  This time in Asheville we stayed right downtown at the Aloft, since we had plans we wanted to be close to some food and drink we were going to revisit!  The first night did not disappoint.  The full day in Asheville we had planned to visit the Biltmore Estate for the first time.  Built by the Vanderbilts at the end of the 1800’s and open to visits for close to 100 years.  Over 240 rooms in the house, and recognized as the first estate to utilize modern forestry techniques it is also home to a conservatory and multiple gardens.  Chris had noted we could catch the end of Spring Blooms in the gardens and even though they were finishing it was well worth it.  The conservatory was full of beautiful flowers and trains, the rose gardens were well on their way to full blooms, and the spring flowers were finishing and new plantings started.  Of course the house was pretty spectacular also.  We did the audio tour, self paced with an audio device you can turn to designated channels for explanations of different rooms and areas along the way.  The Estate is over 8000 acres with scenic drives and several areas to visit, including the winery.  We agreed it was well worth the visit, and we put down our share of steps!  Back to the hotel and Wicked Weed Brewery (closest to the hotel!) for some great beers and dinner, then rest in the room. 

After a couple of nights and breakfast from the café across the street it was on the road again.  This time some delay for bridge maintenance in the mountains, closing down 1 lane of a major 2 lane interstate does that!  A pretty and interesting ride we have done before, this time heading to Bardstown KY.  Along the way a pit stop in Danville KY to visit a distillery we had been at 4 years before (Wilderness Trail).  At the time of our first visit they were new and had no bourbon yet.  This time a lot of new rick houses filled with 10’s of thousands of barrels and multiple bourbon choices.  I had tasted some thanks to it being distributed in Michigan, and MJ and John.  Plus something new to try.  Since I had on my Wilderness Trail hat (thanks MJ) and our story of last being there I received a quick private tasting.  Oh, and I bought a few bottles.  I had picked Bardstown for our next stop because I enjoy bourbon and Bardsown is one of the oldest homes to bourbon and has a number of distilleries.  A lot of people are traveling so most tours were booked weeks in advance, but Chris has already seen distillery tours!  We did book one tasting and did some visits to others.  Bourbon is similar to the late 1800’s breweries in that they were local, were hit hard by prohibition, and in the mid 1900’s many closed in favor of the mass produced popular beverages.   But the late 1900’s saw a resurgence in people wanting more taste and cared about who made the beverage.  So distilleries have greatly expanded and old names have been brought back to life. While there are large businesses that own a lot of labels, there are still the smaller distilleries contributing to the whole.  Willet is still family owned and producing great bourbons, 1792 is part of Sazerac but still producing great whiskey, some shipped elsewhere for bottling while other bourbon comes here to be bottled where the bottles better fit their bottling line.  Heaven Hill is another distillery that encompasses a lot of labels and is finding a way to make them all fit under the umbrella.  Most are expanding their distilleries and gift shops.

It was our rainy day so had to scrap a visit to the civil war museum since it included walking outdoors, but we filled in time!  The area is fairly easy to go from place to place and I started to know my way around.  We found a great restaurant in a bourbon museum; well,  we had a hard time finding it because we didn’t know it was in the museum building.  Kentucky hot brown is a well known sandwich/plate started in Louisville.  The Rickhouse restaurants’ is covered in an 11 cheese sauce; how can you go wrong? 

Day 7 back on the road.  Last year we went through Tennessee and into Illinois bypassing Chicago and we liked that route.  This year being further north in Bardstown we followed I-65 up to Indianapolis and then west to Bloomington IL.  We left Bardstown in a light rain but arrived in Bloomington to sunshine but a cool breezy 60.  Time to get the jackets out.  On the downside of the trip now, so pulled off after 5 hours of driving and saw the end of the Bucks sweeping the Heat and will check out some local Mexican food.  Then in the morning the short stretch home!

Day 8 left Bloomington and headed straight north on I-39.Some construction on the way but most opened up for the holiday weekend, and Sunday is a nice quiet day to travel. We only had 4+ hours to drive which was a nice end to the trip. 

We had only been in our apartment a short time before leaving for Florida in the fall, so it is a new experience finding where we put things.  But we are back in Oshkosh, Mark kept an eye on the apartment for us while we were gone and filled our refrigerator with beer we had brewed last fall.  So there was something for us when we returned (maybe for me).  So now settle in for our summer life and looking forward to seeing old friends. 

Savannah Harbor

Prohibition Museum

Prohibition Museum

Savannah breakfast at Goose Feathers. Birds nest= grits, Vermont white cheddar creates nest, homemade salsa, 2 poached eggs. I never knew grits tasted so good

Biltmore Estates

The conservatory gardens at Biltmore were spectacular

Wilderness Trail original visitor center and new rickhouse behind

Willet distillery in Bardstown