We journey on...

Woodford Reserve, white oak barrels

Day 5: Kentucky is home to the Bourbon Trail. This is a driving tour seven distilleries within about a 50 mile radius that provides on-site tours of their distilleries, history of bourbon and  whiskey in the US and, of course, gift shops. We took a tour at the most historic distillery: Woodford Reserve. Bourbon has been being made there for over 200 years, although the ownership and legality of it has changed many times. The facilities are set in the vibrant green hills. The buildings are all made of stone and a smell of sweet yeasty bread hangs over the grounds. The tour takes about one hour and I would highly recommend doing it. You don't even have to be a bourbon drinker, or a drinker of anything, to enjoy the history, the science and the atmosphere. We stopped in four of the distilleries but only took the tour at Woodford Reserve. Each of the distilleries had their own vibe, their own culture.

But soon we had to leave the trail behind and continue on down into the Great Smoky Mountains.

Day 6: What I haven't mentioned so much yet is that I'm a bit sick. I have some kind of cold/sinus infection/cough that just keeps keeping on. Our original plan was to do lots of hiking in the mountains, but with my condition we were faced with the reality that this was going to be a more "American" style Smokies tour, meaning that we would be driving much more and only doing short trails.

Cades Cove, original log cabin

The interesting thing about US National Parks is that they are very driver friendly. There are wide roads, parking at all major points of interests, pull-offs for viewpoints. H and I debated the pros and cons of this style of park versus the European "park and hike yourself in" version for several hours, I'll spare you the details and just say that we came to the consensus that both have merit.

Cades Cove

SO, our driving tour consisted of an 11 mile loop around Cades Cove. This is a little meadowy valley surrounded by mountains that was settled in the 1820s. When the Smoky Mountain Park was established in the 1920s the settlers and their descendants were given a compensation packaged and moved out of the park, but their log cabins, white washed churches, cemeteries, mills all stayed as they were. The Cove is really beautiful and well preserved. It gives a good idea of the hardships the men, women and children who first tamed  this great continent must have faced. A stark reminder of this was the many small grave stones, denoting children who had passed away in each cemetery.

We also drove to the tallest point in the Smokies, Clingmans Dome. The idea was to be there for sunset but the Smoky Mountains aren't called that for nothing. We had a thick and dense cloud coverage at the top that was mystical, magical (and I'm not going to lie, a little creepy!). We were not disappointed at all, it was amazing to be inside the cloud and feel the power of the mountains. AND we had some spectacular views as we drove down the mountain with the clouds above and the sun setting just under them. **Sigh**

Smokies at sunset

Day 7: My sister lives in South Carolina, which we realized meant that we could conveniently meet halfway between our holiday point and her home. We did our meeting up in Asheville, NC. A cute university town with a historic downtown, hippies on every corner and art art art. We had burritos for lunch at a locally sourced, organic restaurant called the Lucky Otter and then headed into town to find Dobrá Tea. Yes, for you who know Czech culture, there is a real, authentic čajovna (tea house) up here in the Smokies. It is, in fact, a branch of the well-known Dobrá čajovna brand from Prague! You cannot imagine my husbands delight=).

A little piece of Czech in the Smokies

Our journey to the mountains is soon ending and we will be headed back north to spend a little time in Ohio, but you can be sure we'll be seeking out adventure there as well! (In the meantime, cross your fingers and hold you thumb for health for us both! Traveling with colds isn't ideal...)