Tale of the Dragon Trip
Club members Randy and Sherry took a trip to the South Eastern Tennessee area over the weekend of September 6-8, this is their account of the trip:
Sherry and I and Bob and Lana Holland and Otis and Sharon Baker who are members of the Columbus Corvette Club met on Saturday morning October 6th and headed south to Tennessee. On the way down we stopped at the NCM for restroom break, lunch, and of course some purchases of Corvette merchandise. We then headed south towards Knoxville TN. We hopped off the interstate north of Knoxville and took state highways towards our Saturday night destination of Vonore TN. We had dinner at the historic Carmichael INN. A really neat place and the food was excellent. Trust me when I tell you there is not much going on in Vonore TN on a Saturday night. After dinner we walked two blocks uptown for some homemade ice cream. On Sunday morning we were up early and headed back north to Marysville TN where we picked up the infamous highway 129 (tail of the dragon). 318 curves and switchbacks in 11 miles. Sherry was at the helm and I was her co-pilot. One interesting tidbit about Marysville was the fact that Sherry and I passed the Princess Motel where we spent the nite 16 years ago the day before we got married. The Princess is another story in itself. We tamed the dragon and had some lunch at the grill at the end of the tail. We then took the Cherohala Parkway north on our way to Danville Kentucky where Lana had us booked for a tour of Kentucky Cooperage. It is the place where they make the barrels for all of the Bourbon and Whiskey makers. Very interesting indeed. We then drove a short distance up the road and stopped at a new independent distillery called Limestone Branch Distillers. The owner who is a direct decendant of James Beam gave us our own private tour and tasting. I can say he is making some pretty good stuff. From there we made our way to Lebanon Kentucky where we spent the night. On Monday after breakfast we made our way to the Makers Mark distillery where we did the tour and again some sampling of their priducts. After Makers Mark we headed home. We stopped at the reststop north of Louisville and said our farewells and headed back to our homes The weather could have been better on Sunday when we did the tail but it was still a lot of fun and we all had a great time and fellowship.
Sherry and I and Bob and Lana Holland and Otis and Sharon Baker who are members of the Columbus Corvette Club met on Saturday morning October 6th and headed south to Tennessee. On the way down we stopped at the NCM for restroom break, lunch, and of course some purchases of Corvette merchandise. We then headed south towards Knoxville TN. We hopped off the interstate north of Knoxville and took state highways towards our Saturday night destination of Vonore TN. We had dinner at the historic Carmichael INN. A really neat place and the food was excellent. Trust me when I tell you there is not much going on in Vonore TN on a Saturday night. After dinner we walked two blocks uptown for some homemade ice cream. On Sunday morning we were up early and headed back north to Marysville TN where we picked up the infamous highway 129 (tail of the dragon). 318 curves and switchbacks in 11 miles. Sherry was at the helm and I was her co-pilot. One interesting tidbit about Marysville was the fact that Sherry and I passed the Princess Motel where we spent the nite 16 years ago the day before we got married. The Princess is another story in itself. We tamed the dragon and had some lunch at the grill at the end of the tail. We then took the Cherohala Parkway north on our way to Danville Kentucky where Lana had us booked for a tour of Kentucky Cooperage. It is the place where they make the barrels for all of the Bourbon and Whiskey makers. Very interesting indeed. We then drove a short distance up the road and stopped at a new independent distillery called Limestone Branch Distillers. The owner who is a direct decendant of James Beam gave us our own private tour and tasting. I can say he is making some pretty good stuff. From there we made our way to Lebanon Kentucky where we spent the night. On Monday after breakfast we made our way to the Makers Mark distillery where we did the tour and again some sampling of their priducts. After Makers Mark we headed home. We stopped at the reststop north of Louisville and said our farewells and headed back to our homes The weather could have been better on Sunday when we did the tail but it was still a lot of fun and we all had a great time and fellowship.
