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    Elk Creek Winery Drive 

    Published on 04-13-2012 09:12 AM

    Before I begin this narrative, I must apologize for being so late in writing and submitting it. I have no excuse for my tardiness. I like to claim it is old age and my suffering from CRS (Can’t Remember Stuff) but quite simply, I forgot. So without any further excuses I shall attempt to remember the day’s events and narrate accordingly.

    IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT, oh wait, wrong story, that’s the opening line of a book I’m writing… not! Well actually, if memory serves, it did storm fairly hard the night before, but as of drive time it was cloudy and cool but not raining. In total, there were 15 Mini’s at the meet up point in Frankfort including the tie-dyed car from Indianapolis. I met several newcomers to the group; we even had two new coupe owners along this time. I noticed a lot of folks spent some time checking them out.
    After a bunch of socialization and playing catch-up with everyone, we finally got our pre-flight briefing from Larry (aka Uncle) and within a few minutes we were lined up and on our way.
    Our route took us north through town at first. Traffic was light so there were few problems keeping the group together. The first half of the drive was pretty tame by most standards. We didn’t encounter much traffic but the roads themselves were not really challenging. After a pit stop in a small town, whose name escapes me at the moment, things changed. The roads became more in line with those roads that Mini enthusiasts enjoy. I give that portion of the drive at least 3 out of 5 butt clenches. (I wish to inject a personal note right here in case any of you have memories of our last drive of 2011, I did not have any of my daughters friends with me this day. If fact, my daughter ended up riding in Minimoo’s car so I was alone for most of this drive.)

    About halfway through the second half of the drive, the group became separated when a slow moving vehicle got into the line and caused a large group to fall way behind. Those of us in front stopped on the road and waited as long as we dared for them and, while we were waiting I was joined by a pretty lady from the car behind me who had been relegated to the back seat of her own car and was being tossed around mercilessly.

    We finally reached our destination, the Elk Creek Winery located just outside and south of Owenton KY. We had been there two years ago and really enjoyed that visit. This visit, while much quieter than the previous one (the last visit was a summer drive thus the winery was much busier than this one) was just as nice. We sat, we ate, we talked and had a really nice time and, as time wore one, one by one people left to return to their normal everyday drab and dull lives with fond memories and dreams of future adventures with their Mini’s. Speaking of adventures, remind me to tell you about my trip home.

    Submitted by POET
    5 Comments

    Motoring to Natural Bridge 

    Published on 10-31-2011 07:01 AM

    The day couldn't have been more perfect.

    It was a little chilly to start off, but that didn't damper anyone's spirits. Several groups from all over met up in the parking lot of ACE Hardware in Richmond, KY. I didn't get an exact count, but my guess is 25-30 MINIs (and one motorcycle) showed up for the fun. The star of the gathering was most definitely the brand new Coupé, looking quite snazzy in black and silver. Everyone huddled around and admired the considerably larger boot and the unique design of the 2-seater.

    After everyone got their fill of investigating the new model, our fearless leader called everyone together for information sharing, others passing out spare radios to those who had forgotten their own at home. Everybody promptly jumped into their cars and we formed a line, waiting for the signal. Once we had gotten the O-K, we were off on our last ride of the year.

    It took a while to successfully escape the city, playing tag with all of the stop lights in the way. With as many MINIs as we had along for the ride, trying to stay together proved to be a bit of a chore. Once we finally left the city limits it was easy going from there. The twists and turns were fantastic, and the foliage around the road was even more dazzling. The leaves were a brilliant orange and red. I only have to say I’m glad I was able to be a passenger for this ride so I had the ability to admire the sheer beauty of nature around us.

    We had a few unplanned stops on the way, but that did little to hurt the spirit of the ride. It gave us opportunities to explore some new areas and, of course, take photographs of the massive parade of MINIs! Many people did enjoy the opportunity to do so. These little stops convinced us to never bring your child’s friend(s) along for the ride, however – just ask POET.

    Once we made it to the Natural Bridge, many of us stopped and enjoyed a nice packed lunch. Some of us had eaten at one of our (planned) stops at a gas station with a Subway inside. We were then let loose on our own to explore the Bridge as we pleased. Some took the chair lift up to the top while others planned on hiking. We were some of those who decided on the latter. We hiked to the top (just barely in my case), marveling at the landscape. We stayed there for hours, exploring the area before deciding it was time to head home. It looked like our little group was the last one to make it back down, as everyone else had gone by then. At that point we decided to try out a new restaurant on our way back home and started up our cars. It was a long, but great day. It’s just sad this was the last drive of this year.

    Submitted by Agent Cooper

    Bourbon Run IV 

    Published on 09-27-2011 02:41 PM

    It’s great fun anytime you get so many Minis and Miniacs together, and the Bourbon Run IV was no exception. The day started wet and drizzling, but the rain quit and the sun came out. We had over 40 Minis and 70 Miniacs representing Bluegrass Minis, Queen City Minis, Mini Car Club of Indiana, Southwestern Indiana Mini Motoring Club and one lone Countryman driven by two lovely ladies from Mini of Louisville. After gathering in Frankfort at 8AM Saturday morning for the Bourbon Run IV drives, we divided into four groups. Two groups drove to Buffalo Trace Distillery, Woodford Reserve Distillery, lunch in Versailles and then Four Roses Distillery, while the other two groups started at Woodford Reserve, then to Buffalo Trace, lunch in Versailles and finally the Wild Turkey Distillery. Yours truly led one of the latter groups (Wild Turkey).

    From our meeting place in the Aspen Dental parking lot (where we got some neat Bourbon Run t-shirts with all the participating groups on the back), it was a short and simple 20 minute drive to the Woodford Reserve Distillery on McCracken Pike in Versailles, KY. We were a little early for our 9:15AM tour, giving us time to look around the beautiful visitor center and gift shop. The center is full of historical information about the distillery as well as process information about the manufacture of Bourbon. Although it has changed names and ownership over time, Woodford Reserve is the oldest (and smallest) distillery in Kentucky. Needless to say, it has a long and storied history. The tour was very nice and quite complete, starting with a video, walking us through the entire process (fermenting vats, distilling, warehousing and bottling) and ending with the obligatory taste test. Gathering our two groups (Larry led the other group), we set off for Buffalo Trace.

    The drive to Buffalo Trace took us back into Frankfort, but since we are driving Minis, we used the back roads. This took us past the crumbling remains of the Old Taylor and Old Crow Distilleries. The Old Taylor Distillery is quite a sight, with its limestone castle structure slowly being re-claimed by nature. Another feature of this short drive was the planned passing of the other two groups as they made their way from Buffalo Trace to Woodford Reserve. Arriving at Buffalo Trace, we were delighted to see another car club, featuring Morgans, was visiting the Bourbon Trail. Unlike Woodford Reserve, Buffalo Trace is a very large distillery and, while Woodford may be older, Buffalo Trace is the oldest “continuously-operating” distillery in the United States. History buffs will recall there was an early 20th Century event known as Prohibition. Buffalo Trace was one of the four distilleries given special Congressional sanction to continue distilling for “medicinal purposes”. The tour at Buffalo Trace was informative, but less complete. We visited a warehouse, saw a video, visited a small bottling process and then returned to the visitor center for the tasting. A big hit in the tasting (I even bought some) seemed to be the Cream Liqueur, the Buffalo Trace answer to Bailey’s Irish Cream. We once again attempted (with less success) to gather our groups and set off for lunch at Ricardo’s Grill and Pub in Versailles.

    The drive to lunch was very simple with traffic lights being the biggest obstacle. Our two Wild Turkey groups were the first to arrive, followed closely by the Four Roses groups, coming from Woodford. Larry reserved the space and Ricardo’s set us up in a large room. It was great to see so many Miniacs together. The food was good and the service was fair (considering the size of the crowd). Lunch ran longer than expected.

    Some people headed home, but most of the groups hung together for the next adventure. The Four Roses groups got into their cars and headed out first, and then things got dicey for our Wild Turkey plans. Being only 10 miles and less than 15 minutes from the Wild Turkey Distillery, we had planned to take some FUN back roads for a 90 minute tour of the countryside, but it was now after 3PM and the last tour was at 4PM. We thought the options were a) skip the countryside drive b) skip the last tour or c) divide the group between options a and b. Larry then suggested we take the tour and THEN a shortened version of the drive. BRILLIANT!

    The drive to Wild Turkey, in Lawrenceburg, was short and mostly un-eventful. Larry’s group was delayed when they thought they had a lost member. She turned out to be a local and had simply taken a slightly different route, arriving at Wild Turkey before the group. The visitor center at Wild Turkey is a fairly small house, but the tour was good. The guide knew we had already heard all of the usual information, so he went out of his way to give us some different information. The Wild Turkey Distillery building itself is very new and modern when compared to the others. We saw the fermenting vats (incredible volume as compared to Woodford), the distilling process and the barreling process. Then we returned to the visitor center for, you guessed it, the tasting. It was fortunate these tastings were spread out over such a long time …. Another hit was the Honey Bourbon Liqueur offered (another purchase).

    And now those hardy souls who hung with Larry and me for all this time and chose to go one more lap were rewarded with a one hour lap thru the back roads between Lawrenceburg and Harrodsburg. I took the lead and 13 cars followed KY 127 from Lawrenceburg to the Harrodsburg bypass and then circled back to Lawrenceburg via Bohon Road, KY 53 and KY 62. Bohon Road is a real twisting gem and we enjoyed it, despite getting caught behind a local in a worn out pickup. On KY 53, just a mile or so beyond where it intersects the Martha Layne Collins Expressway, is a series of 15MPH turns which would be very high on POET’s scale (you know the one I’m talking about). We finished the circle to Lawrenceburg and headed North to I-64. Larry took the lead for the rest of the group headed East to Frankfort and Lexington and I headed West to Louisville.

    I left my home at 6:30AM (yikes!) and returned at 7:30PM with fond memories. This drive was all about the “rich tradition and proud history of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail”. We met new people and visited interesting places. Larry deserves special kudos for this great day.

    Submitted by Richard Ray (aka kymummer).
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