{"id":2512,"date":"2014-06-22T21:41:15","date_gmt":"2014-06-23T02:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=2512"},"modified":"2014-06-22T21:41:15","modified_gmt":"2014-06-23T02:41:15","slug":"dinner-and-a-train","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=2512","title":{"rendered":"Dinner and a Train"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rich and I took off to head to Kentucky for the weekend.\u00a0 For several years, Rich has been asking to go on the Kentucky Dinner Train.\u00a0 This is the weekend that he gets to go.\u00a0 We invited Alex and Kelli to go with us.<\/p>\n

We were coming back from visiting down in Kentucky and had stopped in to the Jim Beam Distillery to do a tour.\u00a0 While walking back to the car, the Kentucky Dinner Training went down the track.\u00a0 Rich started asking if we could go on the train.\u00a0 Now maybe 10 or so years later, I finally made plans to take the train through the countryside.<\/p>\n

On Friday, we got out Chicago without much trouble.\u00a0 As we got down into Indiana, the construction started to get in our way.\u00a0 I got a call from Aunt telling me that people were reporting issues getting south on 65 headed into Louisville.\u00a0 Then the weather started to get bad.\u00a0 Rain was setting in with lightning and thunder.<\/p>\n

We got off of 65 at Carothersville and followed 31 South.\u00a0 We got around the traffic issues on 65 and jumped back on the expressway at Henryville, hometown of Harlan Sanders.\u00a0 From there we did pretty well until Clarksville.\u00a0 After that, it was all downhill.\u00a0 The traffic through Louisville was crawling at 20 miles per hour.<\/p>\n

South off Louisville, it came to a grinding halt.\u00a0 According to the traffic map, there was an accident several miles down the road.\u00a0 Luckily, we could grab the last exit out of the Louisville area.\u00a0 Even that took a little while to move.\u00a0 We finally got on 31E headed to Bardstown.\u00a0 The rain poured down on us in buckets.\u00a0 After probably a good two hours after we should have arrived, we reached our cottage in town.\u00a0 Alex and Kelli had arrived ahead of us and they came by to meet us for dinner.<\/p>\n

Margaret, the lady I had rented the house from, came out in the rain to run my credit card and make sure things were OK for us.\u00a0 Apparently, the area is in a drought and hadn\u2019t seen rain for a few weeks.\u00a0 They were actually glad to see it fall, but not wash them away.<\/p>\n

We were a couple of blocks from the square.\u00a0 I had made reservations at Talbott\u2019s Tavern on the square.\u00a0 Turns out, you really didn\u2019t need reservations.\u00a0 It was very quiet up there.\u00a0 But this is an historical landmark and I really wanted to eat there.\u00a0 Talbott\u2019s opened in 1790s as the first stagecoach stop on the west side of the Allegany Mountains.\u00a0 This place would have been opening up as my relatives came into Kentucky.<\/p>\n

Our waitress was very friendly. She noticed Kelli 31 bag and they had conversations all through dinner about the bags.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t get us any discounts, but she got a nice tip.\u00a0 I had country fried steak.\u00a0 Kelli got the fried chicken.\u00a0 Rich and Alex had the burgoo and hot brown.\u00a0 All of the food was wonderful.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, Rich and Alex were enjoying the bourbons and beers.\u00a0 I got the Kentucky Tea with bourbon and peach schnapps.\u00a0 Kelli decided to stick with the diet Coke.\u00a0 After dinner, we moved over to the bar for music and drinks.\u00a0 The entertainment was quite good.\u00a0 However, Kelli and I skipped out to look at the shops and walk through the square.\u00a0 At one point, we found ourselves at the Farmer\u2019s Market listening to a group of local kids in a show.\u00a0 All of these were Junior High and High School ages singing doo wop and 60s soul.\u00a0 They were all very good.\u00a0 Can\u2019t image where they could be in a few more years.<\/p>\n

Circling back around to Talbot\u2019s, we got the guys to leave willingly.\u00a0 We took pictures under the sign and down by the old jail, which is now a bed and breakfast.\u00a0 Yes, the jail doors are still in place.\u00a0 We walked back to the cottage and sat around talking for a while.\u00a0 Yawning much later, we decided on our plans for the next day and said good night.<\/p>\n

On Saturday morning, we walked up town for breakfast at Mammy\u2019s.\u00a0 Country ham, biscuit gravy and pancakes were all wonderful.\u00a0 Back at the cottage, we gathered our stuff to head out to Maker\u2019s Mark for a tour.\u00a0 This distillery is tucked back in the hills around Loretto, KY.\u00a0 It was so beautiful back in there.\u00a0 Of course, you see a bunch of rickhouses, which is a building for storing whiskey barrels, as you are driving in.\u00a0 Alex keeps singing \u201cBrickhouse\u201d by The Commodores and changing the words to rickhouse.<\/p>\n

We got a spot to park fairly close and walked to the former distiller\u2019s house to purchase our tickets.\u00a0 The house is very nicely decorated with lots of mementos of the Samuels\u2019 family that own Maker\u2019s Mark.<\/p>\n

In the living room, there was a large basket on the coffee table.\u00a0 There was a ball of fur lying in the bottom of it.\u00a0 Turns out, the fur was a live cat that just happened to be napping in the basket.\u00a0 No amount of noise or camera flashes seemed to disturb the cat from its slumber.<\/p>\n

You were directed to the kitchen for bourbon flavored coffee or other beverages.\u00a0 The kitchen was pale blue and red straight out of the 50s along with a chrome table and set of chairs.\u00a0 Kelli fell in love with it right away.\u00a0 I think she is planning a remodel of her own kitchen now.<\/p>\n

We wandered around outside for a while, until our tour was called.\u00a0 Mindy was our guide for the next hour or so around the facility.\u00a0 One of her comments stayed with me:<\/p>\n

Not happy?\u00a0 Have a shot and forget about it.\u00a0 So true.<\/p>\n

The tour was informative and ended with a tasting of Maker\u2019s Mark products.\u00a0 At one point, the guide tells you to stick your finger in the mess fermenting in a beer well.\u00a0 Alex was way ahead of her.\u00a0 Rich was right behind him and had dripped some on his shirt.\u00a0 I accused him of trying to steal the recipe.<\/p>\n

Being the DD, I don\u2019t taste the samples.\u00a0 Rich and Alex split them.\u00a0 Kelli was game and tried them, but bourbon isn\u2019t her first choice.\u00a0 Good job, Kelli.\u00a0 Somehow, the tours at each of the distilleries are a little different and you learn a little more about the process at each place.<\/p>\n

After the tour, we went to the gift shop to purchase items.\u00a0 Alex opted to buy a bottle and apply his own red plastic to the top.\u00a0 We have pictures to prove he did it himself.\u00a0 He did it perfectly the first time.\u00a0 He said it was because he had plenty of practice hefting the bottle all the time.<\/p>\n

We were on our way back into Bardstown then.\u00a0 I kept moving toward the line as the road curved and wound its way around the hills.\u00a0 This caused the Eyesight feature to ding at me.\u00a0 Alex liked that I called it Auto Nag.\u00a0 He started adding his own words to help out.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re over the line, Donnie.\u201d\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t familiar with that one.\u00a0 Turns out, it\u2019s from \u201cThe Big Lebowski.\u201d\u00a0 I told him I didn\u2019t need help.\u00a0 His response was, \u201cI\u2019m from the Union and I\u2019m here to help.\u201d\u00a0 Kelli said that was up for interpretation.<\/p>\n

We stopped in at the Civil War Museum for the Western Front.\u00a0 This museum covers local area residents who were in the war and some a little farther out.\u00a0 There were a couple of Hoosiers shown in the displays.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never seen so many complete outfits in one place.\u00a0 Many people had family heirlooms for their ancestors.<\/p>\n

Below the museum was a village structured from the 1790s.\u00a0 The log buildings were pretty cool.\u00a0 There were businesses and homes alike.\u00a0 A group of re-enactors were on hand to show off weapons and talk about the lifestyle.\u00a0 The rough weave of the clothing was pretty interesting.<\/p>\n

Time to mosey on back to town.\u00a0 We parked at our cottage and walked up to get Rich some caffeine.\u00a0 Kelli and I looked in some stores along the way.\u00a0 I loved a t-shirt that said:\u00a0 \u201cTime to drink a beer and dance on the tailgate.\u201d\u00a0 I just couldn\u2019t spend the money for it though.\u00a0 I might have to put Mindy\u2019s comment on a shirt though.<\/p>\n

So the day was pretty muggy and hot.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost 90.\u00a0 We settled in for a bit at the cottage before we went our separate ways to prepare for dinner.\u00a0 Another shower was in order to cool down and clean up.\u00a0 Dress code for the train is a minimum of business casual.\u00a0 I decided on a dress to keep the cool going.<\/p>\n

We met Alex and Kelli at the train in downtown Bardstown.\u00a0 The group for the evening was quite a bit larger than I had thought.\u00a0 We had a group all the way from Ohio who come out every year.\u00a0 This was their weekend.\u00a0 The crowd was old and young alike with us middlins.<\/p>\n

Boarding the train, we found our table in the middle of the car.\u00a0 The windows were wide and very clear.\u00a0 This would provide a great view as we moved through the countryside.\u00a0 At the desk, they provided a card to tell you the sights to look for.\u00a0 These ranged from rickhouses for specific distilleries, a safe house for the Jesse James gang, train stations, and a trestle bridge that we would be crossing.<\/p>\n

The train got started promptly at 5:30.\u00a0 That is give or take a few minutes.\u00a0 Nothing is quick in Kentucky.\u00a0 Dotty was our server for the evening.\u00a0 Rich and Alex ordered up beers and bourbon.\u00a0 Kelli and I ordered a champagne drink called a Chocolate Covered Strawberry.\u00a0 Chocolate is drizzled over a martini glass and then champagne with strawberry liquor is mixed.\u00a0 It was wonderful.<\/p>\n

We had trouble on the way out finding some of the locations from the card.\u00a0 However, the countryside was green and beautiful.\u00a0 Children and adults along the way were waving at the train.\u00a0 We returned the favor.\u00a0 At one point, an older man had a steam engine running and blew the whistle for us as we passed.\u00a0 I figure this is his Friday, Saturday, and Sunday entertainment.<\/p>\n

On the way back, we were able to find most of the landmarks and they were pretty clear.\u00a0 We just happened to be looking in the wrong directions at the wrong time.\u00a0 See, timing is everything.\u00a0 The trip back was faster than the trip leaving.\u00a0 Dotty explained that they had to get people back to Bardstown to view \u201cThe Stephen Foster Story\u201d play.\u00a0 No thanks.<\/p>\n

Dinner was wonderful.\u00a0 The flavors were great.\u00a0 I had chicken cordon bleu while everyone else has prime rib.\u00a0 We had a cheese plate and meatball appetizer plate.\u00a0 Alex and Kelli shared the Chocolate Train for dessert.\u00a0 Rich and I had the fruit cobbler.\u00a0 I was stuffed.<\/p>\n

Once we got back to town, we decided to look around some more.\u00a0 We went back St Joseph Cathedral, but the doors were locked.\u00a0 This is the first American proto cathedral west of the Allegany Mountains.\u00a0 I think it was finished around 1816.\u00a0 For the time period, it was quite something.\u00a0 The bishop in charge is one that is pretty famous in the area, even up into Louisville.<\/p>\n

Our next stop was the Rickhouse.\u00a0 Yeah, I know, another rickhouse.\u00a0 This one is a restaurant and lounge.\u00a0 We saw some signs for it, but it took a little bit to hunt it down.\u00a0 It was in the cellar of a building on the back of the cathedral.\u00a0 It might have been the wine cellar for the church at one time.\u00a0 We made our way in and found the bar.\u00a0 Unfortunately, we never knew the bartender\u2019s name.\u00a0 Everyone only called him the bartender.\u00a0 We had a nice conversation with him as we sat at the bar and had more beer.\u00a0 These guys don\u2019t drink a little bit, do they?<\/p>\n

From there, we went back to the cottage to hang out for a while.\u00a0 We were all pretty tired from the heat and the walking.\u00a0 Being stuffed from dinner didn\u2019t help either.\u00a0 Pretty soon, we were calling it a night.\u00a0 Kelli and Alex headed to their hotel.\u00a0 Rich and I settled in for sleep.\u00a0 That didn\u2019t come too soon though.\u00a0 We had some trouble drifting off and talked for a bit.\u00a0 Soon, there was a beagle baying over someone\u2019s stereo that seemed to go ballistic from nowhere.\u00a0 A retaliation from someone else\u2019s stereo ensued and that poor beagle howled some more.\u00a0 Then quiet settled over us all.\u00a0 Ah, sleep.<\/p>\n

Sunday morning came bright and not quite so hot.\u00a0 Rich and I packed up and headed up to Pat\u2019s Diner for breakfast.\u00a0 It was good fare, but Mammy\u2019s was definitely the best.\u00a0 We hit the road to head for home.\u00a0 The trip was so much faster without the rain, traffic, and accidents.\u00a0 We jumped off the track to go through my hometown and head by the cemetery to say hey and leave flowers.\u00a0 Back on the road, traffic continued to be good without much stopping.<\/p>\n

We met my cousins, Karen and Jim, and their families north of Indy for lunch.\u00a0 Ben picked out a brewpub where the guys could enjoy themselves while the women folk talked.\u00a0 The food was really good.\u00a0 Funny, but we all ordered the same thing:\u00a0 pork tenderloin sandwiches!\u00a0 The waitress left a whole lot to be desired and didn\u2019t keep up with us very well, even though she had hardly any customers.\u00a0 She made sure to add her 20% to the tab since we probably wouldn\u2019t have done that.<\/p>\n

After lunch and getting caught up, Rich and I headed home.\u00a0 We finally made it back with few things to mention.\u00a0 The weather was a little nicer at home than where we had been.\u00a0 The humidity and temp were less, but still more than I wanted to handle.\u00a0 It is nice to be home and get a greeting from Sascha.\u00a0 She was happier to see Rich than me though.<\/p>\n

We had a great time and Rich can mark the Kentucky Dinner Train off his bucket list.\u00a0 Thanks for joining us, Kelli and Alex.<\/p>\n

\"Our<\/a>
Our home away from home: The John Fitch cottage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dining<\/a>
Dining room and front door of the cottage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rich<\/a>
Rich picked out his chair in the cottage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The living room.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The kitchen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Standing<\/a>
Standing desk, even back then.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Four<\/a>
Four poster bed that we slept in. No famous slept there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Hot<\/a>
Hot tub on the back porch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kelli's<\/a>
Kelli’s favorite cottage just down the street from ours.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"One<\/a>
One of the original log buildings in downtown Bardstown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Joy<\/a>
Joy and Rich outside of Talbott’s Tavern after dinner. The first tavern west of the Allegany Mountains in 1792.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sleeping<\/a>
Sleeping cat in the tour office of Maker’s Mark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kelli<\/a>
Kelli in the really cool 1950s style kitchen in the tour office.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Brothers<\/a>
Brothers at Maker’s Mark<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bridge<\/a>
Bridge where the tours start at Maker’s Mark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Beer<\/a>
Beer well house.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Mindy<\/a>
Mindy starting our tour by the original drive thru for Maker’s Mark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Shutters<\/a>
Shutters have the Maker’s Mark bottle cut out.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Waiting<\/a>
Waiting for the tasting to begin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Ta<\/a>
Ta Da pose at Maker’s Mark<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"An<\/a>
An angel in the Chiluly glass for the angels’ share.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Chiluly<\/a>
Chiluly glass installation at Maker’s Mark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking across the beautiful lawns at Maker’s Mark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Alex<\/a>
Alex preparing to dip his bottle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This<\/a>
This going to be a personalized bottle for his bar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Alex<\/a>
Alex dipping his bottle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Great<\/a>
Great ad signs for Maker’s Mark. I loved this one.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dinner<\/a>
Dinner train caboose.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Alex<\/a>
Alex and Kelli on the dinner train.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Joy<\/a>
Joy and Rich on dinner train.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"My<\/a>
My Chocolate Covered Strawberries in Champagne. Delicious!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"View<\/a>
View out of the window on the dinner train.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Train<\/a>
Train back at the station. Good dinner and entertainment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"My<\/a>
My cousin, Karen, and I getting caught up.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"My<\/a>
My cousins, Karen and Jim, met us at DC Pub in Indy. Tori, Ben, and Livie came out. Oh, I can’t forget Jim’s wife, Susie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Rich and I took off to head to Kentucky for the weekend.\u00a0 For several years, Rich has been asking to go on the Kentucky Dinner Train.\u00a0 This is the weekend that he gets to go.\u00a0 We invited Alex and Kelli to go with us. We were coming back from visiting down in Kentucky and had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,12,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2550,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512\/revisions\/2550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}