Life in the Slow Lane (The Pearl): April 2022

April 22-24 Bradstown, KY

“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” –Maya Angelou

Our second stop on our way north for the season was Bardstown, KY. We love to explore little out of the way small towns and when they're labeled the “Most Beautiful Small Town in America”, well we're truly interested. Bardstown is also known as the “Bourbon Capital of the World” and is home to nine notable distilleries including Maker’s Mark, Jim Beam and Bardstown Bourbon Co. We spent our day wandering through the shops in town and visiting a couple of distilleries.

The Old Courthouse built in 1892 stands in the middle of town. The roads all were built around this building leading out from there. It's now used as a visitor center.

Looking down 3rd Street to the old courthouse. (photo from visitbardstown.com) The town is full of little boutiques, antique shops and restaurants.

The Old Talbott Tavern, which sits across from the courthouse, was built in 1779. Visitors in the 19th century included future presidents Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison and Abraham Lincoln. Other prominent figures who visited the tavern were Henry Clay, environmentalist John Audubon and Jesse James. The Tavern currently serves as both a restaurant and a five-room bed and breakfast and was once ranked the 13th most haunted inn in the United States. We didn't see any ghosts while we had dinner there.

Maker's Mark has been distilling their bourdon on this site since they were founded in 1953, but there has been a distillery on this site since 1805. The first distillery was known as Burks' Mill and Distillery. You can read about the history and its founders at this site.

The Maker's Mark grounds are beautiful. They give tours of their distillery daily, but since it was a Saturday the tours were all full. We had a tasting as we wandered around and enjoyed the beautiful day.

Willett Distillery, also known as Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, Ltd. was founded in 1936. It's a private family-owned and -operated company that produces bourbon and rye whiskey. The family has been involved in making whiskey since 1684.

This is a Rickhouse. It's a tall rectangular structure designed solely for storing and aging distilled spirits. It allows barrels to rest on their sides. They're primarily made of wood, brick, stone or metal and constructed to be about seven stories high. Their overall size and construction materials significantly impact the temperature consistency inside as most aren't climate controlled. The fluctuation of temperatures, especially during the winter and summer months, is what pulls the spirits in and out of the wooden barrel. This process is what gives the spirit its color, flavor, and aromas.

The inside of a rickhouse.

April 19-22 Hot Springs, AR

“Without new experience, something in us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” –Anonymous

Spring has arrived in south Texas and summer is quickly moving in, so it's time for us to begin our migration north. This spring we are taking a little detour through Arkansas and Kentucky. Exploring a few new places on our way first to Pennsylvania and then up to the lake to get The Pearl ready for another season.

Our first stop on our way north was Hot Springs, Arkansas. Hot Springs is a resort city known for naturally heated springs. It's home to Hot Springs National Park. This park is different from any other national park, because most of it is within the city of Hot Springs.

Many people recognize Yellowstone to be the first national park in our country, but Hot Springs National Park was actually the first land set aside for recreational purposes by the United States Government for its natural beauty and cultural significance. Congress established the Hot Springs Reservation on April 20, 1832. Eighty four years before the National Park Service was created. It became a national park in 1921.

Bathhouse Row consists of eight bathhouses that were originally built between 1892 and 1923. Today, two of the bathhouses are still in use while the other buildings have been converted into museums and other businesses.

The Fordyce Bathhouse was once the largest bathhouse on Bathhouse Row, and is now home to the National Park’s visitors center and museum.

Inside the Fordyce Bathhouse

Superior Bathhouse Brewery is located on bathhouse row. The original bathhouse was built in February 1916. It's the first brewery located inside a U.S. National Park. They're also the first brewery to use thermal spring water as the main ingredient in brewing.

The original Arlington Hotel was opened in 1875. This building is the third and was opened on New Year's Eve in 1924.

The Grand Promenade is a half-mile walk on a brick pathway that takes visitors through some of the prettiest parts of the National Park. You can see the caps that cover the springs and walk next to a hot springs cascade.

The cascade, which flows into Arlington Lawn, is left untouched and gives visitors a glimpse of what the springs looked like before the bathhouses were built.

Our second day in Hot Springs was a little wet and cold. The hot springs throughout town were putting off steam. It was very interesting.

We stayed at the Happy Hollow Inn. It's a 1950's motor inn just steps from Hot Springs National Park and shares its name with the historic Happy Hollow Spring, a cold-water spring. We were just steps from hiking trails, Bathhouse Row and downtown Hot Springs.

Views from Hot Springs Mountain

One afternoon we hiked the Goat Rock Trail. It gave us wonderful views of the surrounding mountains and the city of Hot Springs.

Our first day we had lunch at the Grateful Head. It was a beautiful spring day and we enjoyed sitting outside while we shared a great pizza and sampled some local beer.

Rolando's served Central and South American cuisine in an 1800 building that seemed to be coming right out of the mountain.

Diablos Tacos & Mezcal

April 8 - Hiking at Enchanted Rock

"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible." ― Arthur C. Clarke

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area offers visitors a chance to get out and explore. You can hike, camp, backpack, rock climb or just enjoy a picnic and take in the amazing views of Enchanted Rock, Little Rock and Turkey Peak. Enchanted Rock is a pink granite mountain located north of Fredericksburg, Texas. It's the largest pink granite monadnock in the United States. The granite dome rises 425 feet above the surrounding terrain to an elevation of 1,825 feet and offers amazing views of the Texas Hill Country as far as the eyes can see.

The Summit Trail is a 0.8 mile (one way) hike that leads to the top of the park's namesake. The trail is short but steep, equivalent to climbing the stairs of a 35 story building. While the hike is very steep at times, it's not technical and does not involve scrambling over rocks. The views get better and better as you ascend.

Enchanted Rock has fascinated humans for thousands of years. As a result, it has inspired many stories that still endure today. Most of these are rooted in fancy rather than fact. One story tells that Tonkawa Indians thought that ghost fires flickered on top of the dome and the creaking and groaning noises they heard were made by ancient spirits. But geologists say that the dome creaks and groans as rock cools at night and ghost fires can be seen on clear nights after a rain as the sun reflects off the water and wet feldspar.

On our way up...