As it turned out I was going to be alone on fathers as my wife made plans with her family, so on a whim Saturday night I packed an overnight bag and decided to head someplace north on Sunday.
My initial plan was to go to the Cumberland Gap/ Rocky Top TN area and explore around there for the day. Find some lodging for the night , explore some more on Monday and head home Monday afternoon.

About an hour or so into the trip I started thinking about how close I was going to be to Kentucky and I always wanted to do a bourbon tour and how Buffalo Trace was is my dads favorite so, in honor of Father’s Day I changed plans and had the google maps route me to the Buffalo Trace distillery. It looked like my arrival time was going to be about 2:30, with most of the riding being on I75.

When I was about 130 miles from Lexington I noticed my arrival time kept getting later and later, like an hour later. I then realized as I approached stopped traffic that there was some kind of highway closer. Maybe an accident with a fatality? I happened to be in the right lane and noticed some other bikers coming up on the shoulder so I fell in behind them and we took the shoulder about two miles to the next exit. I picked up 25W from there and paralleled I75 for about 5 miles and hopped back on I75 to continue on to the distillery.

I arrived at the distillery at 3:30 and the guard at the gate told me I needed reservations for the tour but the gift shop and tasting bar were open so I went in.


Never mind the sheep skin cover I accidentally kicked it off dismounting.


I did the tasting, which was free and tried all the different products there. I liked everything they had and much to my surprise the Rye Whisky was pretty good. The gift shop had a little of everything from bottles of whisky to hats and tshirts and even dog toys. Buffalo Trace’s gift shop managed to extricate a decent chunk of change from my bank account by the time I got out of there with all the gifts and stuff I bought for me and my family. It was as I was walking back to the bike that it dawned on me, where the hell am I going to put all this crap?


Stupid selfie makes my chin look a mile long!


Tasting bar.


Bourbon candy.

A nice lady in the gift shop recommended a hotel near the airport, so I called and booked a room at the Clairion hotel. The bonus was it had. Sadona Tap House connected to it so dinner was right there. Unfortunately the restaurant ended up being a waste of time because they were out of any of the beer I picked on the menus so I settled for an ice tea. The waitress sucked but the food was ok.
While at the hotel, I went outside to smoke a pipe and watch the sunset, it was then I met two couples from Iowa on bikes that were on their way to Maggie Valley for a couple days.

Bike outside of the hotel.

Back in the room I was planning the next days route when I learned it was going to rain all day and into the next here and back at my house in Marion, so with no rain gear on the bike I decided to hightail it home. I got up a 3am to check the radar and saw what I thought was a good window to go. It rained the whole 5 hour trip back to Marion. I made it to Rocky Top/ Cumberland Gap before sunlight, stopped to get gas and down a cup of coffee and stretch for a few minutes. Of course my luck would have it so the worst of the rain was when I was on I40 between Sieverville TN and Marion NC. It seemed in the Smokey Mountain Park part the truckers were on a mission to haul *** drive like jerks often going into the left lane.
I somehow survived this and made it home soaking wet, however I was in a good mood and laughing about it. It’s part of the adventure right?
I will visit the Rocky Top/ Cumberland Gap area one day soon.
My wife like the Bourbon Crčme I got her.


Cumberland Gap fuel stop.


Dorky me trying to show how wet I was.

 

GREAT post FF96. Seems to me you had a GREAT Father's Day mate. EXCELLENT PIXs 'n all!

WELL DONE.......TY!!! wish I would-ah been able to ride with you. What a ride!!