We went to bed at 10 last night, and we slept till nine this morning. We really, really needed it. We had about 600 miles and, perhaps, nine hours to go today; but we were in no rush. In fact, we had some plans in place...
Manchester, TN, where we stopped last night, is about 45 minutes from Lynchburg, the home of the Jack Daniel's Distillery. Being that it's pretty much on the way home, Brandon and I figured we might as well stop there and see what goes on there!
The tour took about an hour, and, although it seems kind of silly to say, we had a whole new appreciation for our favorite whiskey when the tour was over. Here's a fun fact for you: The Jack Daniel's distillery is in a dry county. You cannot buy alcohol there. However, several years ago, the distillery got a special law passed that allows it to sell souvenir bottles of their liquor. You still cannot, however, get a sample.
But, on the square in Lynchburg, you can sample fudge, ice cream, and any number of other items made from Jack Daniel's! (And that ice cream really does taste like whiskey!)
We enjoyed our snacks, but we truly did not need them, as we were on our way to Mrs. Mary BoBo's Boarding House Restaurant, another famous Lynchburg landmark. There, we enjoyed a family-style Southern meal of friend chicken, pork and gravy, corn muffins, macaroni and cheese, creamed corn, lima beans, fried okra, and fried apples. It was delicious, and it was filling! How we ever made it through the next few hours of our drive without falling into a food-induced sleep, I will never know.
But, about four hours later, we made it into Illinois. Our crossing-over point was Metropolis. Yes, THE Metropolis! As in home of Superman! There is a giant statue of the hero in the town square, and we absolutely had to stop and see it. There is also a Harrah's on the Ohio River there, and, well, we had to stop and see that too.
This little detour set us back about two hours, but we left Metropolis 100 dollars richer; so I suppose it was well worth it!
Brandon drove all day and into the night. He let me sleep almost all the way from Metropolis to Mendota - about five hours. Amazingly, when we pulled into his parents' drive-way, he was still wide awake. By then, it was 2:45 on Friday morning and technically Day 30 of our marriage.
It feels like we've made it an awfully long way this first month!
No comments:
Post a Comment