Experiencing America > Road Trip Year...2003 > Deep-South & The Mountains > Day 3
Day THREE...
Tuesday, June 24th, 2003
Well I was time to say so long to Music City. Our first stop this morning was the Jack Daniels Distillery. To get there we headed out on Interstate 24 to U.S. Rt. 231. This took use most of the way to Lynchburg, Tennessee. U.S. Rt. 231 took us as far as Shelbyville. A month or so after the trip, portions of our journey through this town were shown on the TV show "Cops".
A Sears Retail Dealer Store in Shelbyville, Tennessee.
A Shelbyville, we grabbed Tennessee Secondary State Route 82 and that took use to outside Lynchburg. The distillery is on the eastside of town on Tennessee State Route 55. This is the first registered distillery in the country.
A billboard on TN St Rt 55.
This distillery is located on the same spot that it was founded on. The water used for the whiskey comes from a spring on this site.
Plaques outside the visitor center.
A site on TN St Rt 55 outside the property.
The tour started at the visitor center. While waiting for our group to be called, the center had many displays about the history of the company. It also showed various bottles from over the years.
A site on TN St Rt 55 outside the property.
To start the tour off we were bussed up to the start of the processes. Step one is in the Rick Yard. Here wood is burnt to charred ashes. Later they are used for soaking the whiskey in for flavor. As soon as we got off the bus, a group picture was taken. It was later available on the companies web-site at Jack Daniels.com.
Our group picture.
The wood before it is burnt in the Rick Yard.
The wood being burnt.
Some of the wood after the burning.
Next stop was near the old fire shed. This held two of the distilleries old fire trucks.
The fire shed.
One of the trucks.
The other.
After the fire shed we were led to where the main ingredient comes from. We were told that they had sent people in to find where the spring originates. It has been tracked about four miles and then the cave got too small. So the origin is still unknown.
The spring of the water.
Right in front of the spring it the original main offices. The building is on the national historical building registry. There is also a statue of Jack Daniel. It is actual size.
The old main offices.
The statue of Jack.
Now it was to production. We were lead into the various stages from the mixing of the grain to bottling, and at last the storage in the barrels.
The signs on the Grain Mill & Still House.
The Grain Mill and Still House.
Inside the water and grain are mixed, heated, and taken through various other processes. In several rooms photography is prohibited due to the fumes that are omitted from the whiskey in processes.
The whiskey is cooled in this stage. Here it is not quiet whiskey...it's whiskey beer.
A empty container.
The production of whiskey causes a black mold on trees and building around the area.
A sign explaing the mold.
The next place was the dripping room. This is where the whiskey was dripped through the wood chips from the Rick Yard. After that we went into the bottling building. Actually it is the old bottling room. As the demands changed a new bottle facility was needed. The one on the tour is for their single barrel whiskey. You can hand pick a certain barrel and have every bottle made from that bottle and keep the barrel. When doing that your name is placed on a wood block on the wall. When we first walk in we are shown a bit about the barrels that are placed used to store the whiskey.
A sign over the bottling building.
A orignial delivery truck.
A barrel in various stages. From left-to-right it is brand new to used.
The part of the barrel on the left is before whiskey is placed in it. The one on the right is after it comes out.
A sign for the single barrels.
The wall display of the single barrels.
George Strait has bought a single barrel.
Some bottles leaving one of the machings in the line of packing.
The last stop along the tour is the Barrel House. This is where the barrels re stored until they are ready to be bottled and sold.
The sign on the Barrel House.
A look down a hall in the barrel house.
Looking up at the barrels in storage.
Each barrel is labeled like this.
Well that's the Jack Daniels Distillery at Lynchburg, Tennessee. The tour ends at the visitor center where lemonade and snacks are served. There is no gift shop here. One is located in Downtown Lynchburg, a couple of hop, skips, and jumps, of the road.
The Moore County Courthouse in Downtown Lynchburg.
Now that our whiskey education is all over it was now time to decided what to do for lunch. So we grabbed Tennessee State Route 50, west of Lynchburg to U.S. Rt. 64 and took that into Fayetteville. We once more found U.S. Rt. 231 and head south into Alabama.
Now to Alabama!!...State #5!!
Just south of the boarder is one of Northeastern Alabama's bigger metro areas, Huntsville. Here we found a lovely Arby's Restaurant and decided to dine. The Blazer needed a recharge also. For the Blazer we found a Chevron. Now that all parties have been replenished in fuel we were on our way again, but of course not with out seeing what Huntsville, Alabama looks like.
NASA has a facility at Huntsville. Phote on EB I-565.
Well the easiest way to go from Huntsville, AL to Chattanooga, TN. is via U.S. Rt. 72. This is a main east-west highway across this part of the state.
A cow in a parking lot near Scottsboro.
It was a long ride but we kept nearing the state line. Northeastern Alabama has some excellent mountains but that’s about it.
Back to State #4!!
Shortly after returning to Tennessee, we joined up with Interstate 24. This is the most direct route to Chattanooga. On the way to Chattanooga is the time zone boundary. Needless to say we lost an hour in our day.
A billborad for Ruby Falls.
Time zone sign.
Now to Georiga!!...State #6!!
Interstate 24 dip briefly into the State of Georgia. This runs about four miles in that state.
Back to State #4!!
We arrived into the Chattanooga Metro at the height of the evening rush hour. The first event was to see an un-signed interstate at downtown.
A US101 billboard. WUSY-FM Cleveland-Chattanooga, TN; A Clear Channel Station.
We arrived into the Chattanooga Metro at the height of the evening rush hour. The first event was to see an un-signed interstate at downtown. We had hotel reservations at an Econo Lodge near the Chattanooga Airport of Interstate 75. Being it evening rush hour we hit traffic on Interstate 24 trying to get over the mountain. Once on to I-75 it was smooth sailing. Near the exit for our hotel the State of Tennessee was re-building the interchange that we needed to exit. So there was the next exit then to head back to our hotel. Even though it was 6p.m. EDT when were got to the hotel. There were still places to see in the Greater Chattanooga Area. The billboards along the interstates leading to town were convincing. So we decided to "See Rock City".
A billboard leading to Rock City.
On the way to Rock City we had to follow the Lookout Mountain Parkway through South Chattanooga.
The studios for News 12, WDEF-TV Chattanooga, A CBS Affiliate.
Back to State #6!!
Rock City is located in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. This was a large walk-through garden built on the private estate of Garnet and Frieda Carter. There are over 400 varieties of plat life in this attraction. In 1932 it was opened to the public. To promote this attraction barns along the highways leading to the area were re-painted to inform people to "See Rock City". The first stop in the line is the Grand Corridor.
This is one of the first views of the massive garden.
A sign at the start of the Grand Corridor.
The Grand Corridor.
Now to the Needle's Eye.
The Needle's Eye...a very narrow walkway.
The Gnomes Overpass.
One of the best maintained overpasses in the country.
Now the Goblin's Underpass.
The sign for the Swing-Along-Bridge.
Looking over the bridge.
The view from the bridge.
On the side of the mountain near Observation Point is a face in the mountian.
From this lookout your can see up to seven states on a clear day. Each flag represents all seven states.
The date of our visit to Rock City.
From the top of teh mountian there is a waterfall.
Looking down from the waterfall.
One of the barns painted to promote Rock City. The view is zoomed in from the top of the mountain.
Near the end of the trail we head under ground. This place is called the Fairyland Caverns.
The entrance to the Fairyland Caverns.
One of several waterfalls in the caverns.
The castle in the Moothergoose Village.
Many fairy tales are represented around this castle. That is the pretty much Rock City.
Back to State #4!!
Well we got back on Interstate 24 and were hungry. Thanks to the wonder of the billboard, we decided on a Ruby Tuesdays.
Back to State #6!!
The Ruby Tuesdays was just over the state line in Ringgold, Georgia. This was the first time either of use consumed any products at a Ruby Tuesdays. It was also probably the last.
Back to State #4!!
It was a long day and time to turn in for the night.
Day FOUR...