2014 Louisville, Kentucky

Last year we loved going to Kentucky so much we decided to go back again. Well, we didn't decide. Rob decided because it was his turn to pick. Rob actually announced as we drove past Louisville last year that we would be back. Instead of just hitting one place, Rob wanted to hit Kentucky Derby Museum and the Louisville Slugger Museum in the same day.

The day began just like last year. Deja vu you say? No just a little redundancy. Anyway, Jay, Rob and Tom met in Indy and then they met me in Edinburgh, Indiana outlet malls. Good deals. I highly recommend it. Now, I am not a punctual fella by any means, but these guys were 30 minutes late. Just plain rude. I get in the car and off we go to Louisville...again.

We arrived at Churchill downs and much to my surprise there was horse racing that day even though it was November. We walk into the museum and let me tell you it is nicely done. Just look at the pictures below. It's gives you the history race, an understanding of what it takes to have a winning horse, and the splendor of the day. It's interactive and educational. But at the end of the day, you're either a horse person or you're not. I am not a horse person and was done with the museum in 30 minutes. My brother, Rob, is a horse person and ate up the whole experience. I believe Tom and Jay are in the middle.

We exited through the gift shop, I bought some mint julep syrup, and we were off to the Louisville Slugger Museum.

Louisville Slugger museum is located downtown two blocks from the river. Downtown Louisville is nice but the street plan is not very well laid out. Fortunately we accidentally fell into a parking spot across the street from the museum/factory. Rockstar Parking! You can't go into the museum without stopping for a picture with the giant 5 story hight bat outside. Honestly, I dare you!

The place is very nice. We buy our tickets and we go into the museum and wait for our factory tour. The museum was just a room. Just a bunch of bats and some mannequins of former players. Again, see pictures below. Then the tour was called and we got in line to begin.

The tour is actually interesting. You get to see how the bats were made in the very beginning and how they are made today. It's a small factory that fits into the small building. An interesting fact we learned is the workers as a part of their union agreement come in and perform their jobs, not actually do, on the weekends for the tour. I'm glad they do. The tour ended and our guide was very generous with his time. Everyone else was gone and we peppered him with questions for another 10 to 15 minutes. Again, we exited through the gift shop.

We left and went over to Bellerman University and visited Jay's daughter. She recommended we go to  Mark's Feed Store for BBQ. There are several and we went to the nearest one. The service was good and patient. Our waitress put up with our BS and the food was good. We all bought BBQ bottles, so that says something about their sauce.

After dinner, we piled into a car and headed back home. As always it was a good time. Looking forward to next year. It's Jay's turn to choose. We will keep you posted on the next choice. Stay tuned.

2013 Lorettto, Kentucky

It was my, Jeff's, year to pick. I sent out an email to all my brothers and I  suggested we go to the Maker's Mark distillery in Loretto, Kentucky just outside of Louisville and at the end of the Bourbon Trail. My brother, Jay, responded, "I want to see where my courage comes from." After that statement, we were all locked into the mission.

Jay, Rob and Tom met me in Edinburgh, Indiana. (There's a nice outlet mall there if you're ever traveling through.) I hopped into the car and we all took off. This year was interesting. We had already been together the two previous weekends. I had refused to talk to them at the gatherings to save all conversations for the road trip.

We took I65 south past Louisville and turned off on to Clermont Road. Immediately we saw the Jim Beam distillery. I was excited because I thought we were just minutes away from Maker's Mark. Then Tom pointed out that Jim Beam was the end of the Bourbon Trail and that Maker's Mark was at the beginning, which was about 50 minutes away. He failed to mention it was 50 minutes on a winding two lane road that wove in and around the hills of Kentucky.

After passing about five other micro distilleries (how do they all stay in business?), we finally arrived at Maker's Mark. It is beautifully nestled into the hills and looks like nothing has changed since the distillery was built in 1805. The scene was perfect. They had already decorated the place for the holidays (this early in November, really!?!?!) and the sky was blue and sunny with no clouds in site and a slight chill in the air. If I was tailgating at a football game it would've been perfect.

We took the tour and learned all about the distilling process. It ended with a tasting and then finally we exited through the gift shop. Traditionally I grab something for my daughters on these trips, but I wasn't going to decorate them in whiskey garb this early in their lives. So we all bought our bottles of Maker's Mark and dipped them in the iconic red wax.

Saying goodbye to Maker's, we took off down the trail heading back home. We decided to pass the other five distilleries and make a stop at Jim Beam. Now if I described Maker's Mark as quaint then Jim Beam is industrial. It was about four times the size of Maker's Mark. We skipped the tour and headed straight to the gift shop, because once you've seen a distillery you've seen them all. Corn gets mashed it's distilled, put in barrels and walla....you got whiskey!

We bought our goods and continued our trek home, but there was still one more thing to do. We needed to stop for our traditional meal. The rule is simple, it has to be local and not a chain. The last two years we've had BBQ and I decided to continue the tradition. We turned off I65 and traveled 15 minutes out of the way to downtown Charleston, Indiana. I got a tip on a place called Bare Shoulder BBQ. The food was delicious and the price was right. I highly recommend it to anyone who happens to be passing through. It's worth the extra 15 minutes to go out of your way.

The day finally ended when Jay, Rob and Tom dropped me off with my car in Edinburgh. Usually our goodbyes last an extra hour, but since we've seen so much of each other lately the goodbye was quick. We would see each other again in a couple of weeks for Thanksgiving. Gobble Gobble. Next year, it's Rob's turn to pick a destination. He's already leaning towards Louisville Bats and Churchill Downs. Look out Louisville, we'll be back with our tourism dollars next year!

2012 Dayton, Ohio

December 8, 2012

This year was Tom's turn to pick. He chose the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. I did a little research and discovered that the basketball gym they filmed the movie Hoosiers in was actually on the way off of I70. It's in Knightstown and it is still preserved in the way they shot the movie. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you need to stop reading this post and go watch Hoosiers right now.) Another new development was I had left Chicago and was now back in Indiana, but I was living south of Indy when everyone else lives north. So we met on the west side and started our journey eastward on I-70.

Our first stop was Knightstown, Indiana to visit the Hoosiers Gym. You gotta kind of know what you're looking for. There's not a lot of signs telling you where it is and we in fact drove past it. It's small and unassuming. We walked into the gym and in the tiny lobby area there is a gift shop/museum of sorts but when you walk onto the floor...bam...it hits you. You are on the home court of the infamous Hickory Huskers. (For a great breakdown of the movie, I highly recommend Bill Simmon's classic article.) We were given a tour by one of the workers there and she led us to the team's locker room. It was so filled with mold I couldn't stay down there for more than ten minutes. Afterwards we got to shoot hoops. I believe I won the state championship three times on a last second shot.

But enough about my childhood fantasies, time was ticking and we still had a whole air museum to see. So we piled back into the car and headed over to Dayton. We got there a little after noon and I have to tell you the museum was massive. Of course when you're housing a bunch of bombers and military cargo planes, you're gonna need a big space. It's a well thought out museum that walks you through the entire history of military aviation in the US. In the early stages you quickly discover there are many firsts: First to fly. First to shoot a gun. First to crash. And first to die. Quite frankly a distinction no one really wants.

We made it through the entire museum from no wars to the cold war to the drone wars. The museum closed and we headed on our way back. When we crossed the border into Indiana we decided to exit into Richmond to have dinner. We got a little turned around and found ourselves in New Paris, Ohio at an amazing rib joint called Baumbach's. For those of you keeping count, that's the second year in a row for ending our day dining on ribs. They had a wide variety of sauces and styles of ribs and it was all good. If you're ever passing through the area on I-70 it's worth the stop.

So we finally got back to pick up point to say our goodbyes for me to hop into my car and head home. Our goodbyes usually take a while and I told my brothers that my goal was to keep it short this year. That was said right as I was locking my keys in my trunk. If you're not a member of AAA, I highly recommend it. I called them and then we waited and waited. They promise to break you in they don't promise to be fast. After an hour, the AAA guy came and helped me get back into my car. All in all it was a good day.