Driving With The Boys: VIRGINIA and KENTUCKY

We left Pennsylvania on October 6 and passed into Virginia. As we entered Virginia we began our trek through the Shenandoah Valley. We were bordered to the West by the Allegheny Mountains

and to the East, the Blue Ridge Mountains.

150 years ago this valley was shattered by the Civil War and much of the landscape has been described as being the same as the soldiers and civilians saw it during the war. Every town we went through or by we could see signs to historic sights, battlefields and museums about the Civil War. Our stop in the Valley was at the city of Lexington.

Lexington is about 55 minutes east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles north of Roanoke, Virginia. It was first settled in 1777. It is home to the Washington and Lee University (W&L) and Virginia Military Institute (VMI). It is also the burial place of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.

The Virginia Military Institute (VMI), located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are military cadets pursuing bachelor degrees. On one of our walks through the town we ventured onto the campus and were greeted by the cadets as they moved between classes, all with a ‘Good day, Ma’am’ and a tip of the hat to Susan and a hearty ‘Sir’ to Kerry. After a while it was a little embarrassing. We visited the VMI Museum, which chronicled VMI’s history and the accomplishments of its students, especially General George S. Patton and several Medal of Honor winners.

Washington and Lee University is a wide open landscaped acreage of stately buildings and trees. It really was quite beautiful. Washington and Lee University itself began in 1749 as Liberty Hall as a school for young girls. In 1796 it was in financial difficulties so George Washington made a $20,000 donation in corporate shares he held. As a result the name was changed to Washington College. As noted Lee became President in 1865 and with his name student enrollment went from 40 to 400 in the first year. In 1870, the year of his death, the name was changed again to Washington and Lee University.

Located on the grounds of Washington and Lee University is Lee Chapel is a National Historic Landmark.

It was constructed during 1867-68 at the request of Robert E. Lee, who was President of the University (then known as Washington College) at the time, and after whom the building is named. A centerpiece on the stage of the chapel -- where the pulpit would be in a less secular place of worship -- is a statue of Lee, in his uniform, asleep on the battlefield (the "Recumbent Lee"). On the walls are two paintings: one of General Washington as a very young soldier, the other of Lee in his uniform. Lee had married George Washington’s granddaughter and when she had to flee her home during the Civil War, it was the only thing she was able to save.

In the basement a crypt (added after Lee's burial) contains much of Lee's direct family: the General himself, his wife Mary, his seven children, and his parents. Lee's favorite horse, Traveller, is buried just outside the Chapel, where students of Washington & Lee traditionally leave coins in hopes of being compensated with good fortune in their studies as well as ensuring Traveller can pay for the hay he gets up in heaven. In the basement of the Chapel is a museum that illuminates the history of the family of George Washington and Lee as well as that of the university itself. Lee's office has been meticulously preserved in almost exactly as it was the day he died. We weren’t permitted any pictures inside so we don’t have anything to show you.

We drove out to the town of Raphine and visited a very good winery, Rockbridge and that evening went to the local Drive-In and enjoyed a great movie called “The Help”. Later in the week we took a tour of Old Lexington in a horse drawn carriage.

One of the places we stopped was the Stonewall Jackson house. He and his wife lived in the house while he taught at VMI prior to the Civil War. Jackson died in the war and his wife owned the house until 1906 when it was donated as a hospital.

We left Virginia heading to Kentucky, passing through West Virginia on the way. We stopped at the City of Elizabethtown, deep in the Valley between Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia. The first house built in what is now Moundsville, was built in 1771. In the year 1798 Mr. Tomlinson laid out a tract into town lots and named the town Elizabethtown in honor of his wife. Our main purpose in coming into Elizabethtown as it is a great town to discover the best of Lexington, Louisville and the famous Bourbon Trail. For more than 200 years, Kentucky’s legendary distilleries have crafted the world’s finest Bourbons, using secret recipes and a time-honored process passed down from generation to generation and all acknowledging the importance of the water in the State, filtered through limestone which removes all the impurities from the water, especially iron.

So we came to explore the rich tradition and proud history of “America’s Official Native Spirit” on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail tour. We set out to discover and savor what is described as a distinct, mellow flavor and to see how it is made and how it tastes. Although there are 10 distilleries in Kentucky we started with those who were part of the tour, those being Four Roses (c:1888), Heaven Hill (c:1934) and Jim Beam (c:1795). This is Jim Beams original home updated through the years.

The World's smallest working still.

These are from Maker’s Mark (c:1840),

This is the actual gun surrendered by Frank James (Jesse James' brother) at the end of the Civil War to the then owner of Maker's Mark and County Representative.

The we went on to Wild Turkey (c:1869) and Woodford Reserve (c:1797). Woodford had a hand labeled, hand sealed assembly line. We couldn't believe the number of people who handled each bottle of bourbon produced.

We also found and tried Buffalo Trace (c:1787).

Bourbon is made with at least 51% corn (over 80% it becomes Corn Liquor), rye and malted barley, joined with water and yeast. Some of the ones we tried were very harsh (known as peppery) but to us they were almost unpalatable. We did find the ones made at Maker’s Mark very nice, in that they don’t use rye but wheat. As such it is sweeter and very smooth.

Horse racing in Kentucky is rich in history, dating back to 1789 when the first racecourse was laid out in Lexington. However, it was almost 100 years later, in 1875, that Churchill Downs officially opened and began its tradition as "Home of the Kentucky Derby." We visited Churchill Downs and toured the main clubhouse and museum.

And then we had a chance to go out to the track and see what those in the least expensive seats had to deal with ($40).

We got to stand in one of the stalls where the horses stay before they are brought out to the track. We had to choose who we thought would win by stall number, so here we are at stall #11.

After we took a behind the scenes tour and saw the Jockey’s Quarters, Millionaires’ Row, the Press Box and other areas including the Director’s lounge. It was very exciting and gave us quite an insight into racing and the fervor that goes with it. We had lunch at the café on site and enjoyed our first taste of the Derby’s famous Mint Julip (bourbon, sugar and Sprite) which we found to be quite good. This is a caractature of all of the Derby winning trainers done by an artist from Paris who is flown over every year to paint the new winner.

Here is Canadian, Lucien Lauren, Secretariat's trainer, who passed away in 2000 with Secretairiat.

Here are the jockeys,

And Secretariat's jockey, Ron Turcotte. again with the winning horse.

The Director's Suite, where Queen Elizabeth watched the Derby in May 2007.

Susan is sitting in her chair, enjoying the embiance.

A local glass artist made this rendering to the Derby and its visitors and horses, all out of glass. Each of the spectators, hand blown and detailed, retails downstairs for around $120.

Then on upstairs to Millionaire's Row.

The view from Millionaire's row. Here each table has 8 seats. In order to have a seat, you have to reserve a table for 5 years @ $15,000 per year AND pay $900 per seat per year for attending each Derby, so that's just around $100,000 to attend the Derby for the five years.

And from the Press Box.

The barns you see here in the distance are quite large and together can hold 1500 horses. There were about 1000 there when we visited.

The Jockey's room.

We also visited Keeneland, another thoroughbred racetrack located in Lexington. It was 75 years ago, Keeneland opened with about 8,000 fans on hand to witness seven races worth a total of $7,380. We watched a few races, threw some money at the ponies (they didn’t win) and enjoyed the afternoon.

Kentucky really was a very beautiful state and we enjoyed driving around and visiting (from afar) some of the multi-million dollar thoroughbred ranches in the area. The buildings shown in the pictures are BARNS. We couldn't get near any of the grand houses.