Monday, May 4, it was finally time to hit the road again. To tell the truth, Mr. Wonderful (MW) had been thinking it was time for weeks and weeks!! LOL The first order of business, though, was him heading to town to pick up the new registration sticker for Priscilla. This was the first day that it was actually available (TN has a 90-day early limit), and getting it before we left kept us from having to figure out where to mail it down the road. (That can be an ORDEAL!) He was there when they opened at 8 AM, while I was getting everything buttoned up on Priscilla. After hooking up Big Jake and completing the last-minute items to close up the barn, we were on the road by 9:15. Our route was a familiar one heading out of the valley on TN-33, then up through the Cumberland Gap and all the way to I-75 on US-25E. Then we took the interstate up to north of Georgetown, Kentucky, where we exited to find the Whispering Hills RV Park on Rogers Gap Road north of town. We were set up and relaxing by 2:30 PM, and our Comearound (gathering) Firsties (hosts) and friends Hoot and Janet Wade pulled in a little later. After everyone was settled, we headed over to Cattleman’s Roadhouse (excellent food including scrumptious rolls, plus a terrific waiter named Andrew) in Georgetown for supper and to catch up.

Tuesday Hoot and Janet had last minute prep stuff to take care of, so MW and I headed over for a tour at Old Friends at Dream Chase Farm, which they dub horse racing’s living history museum. After becoming enamored with the sport at Suffolk Downs, former Boston Globe film critic Michael Blowen came up with the idea for a retirement home for the amazing race horses. Along with wife Diane, he relocated to Kentucky and started the operation with leased property and one horse. Today they have 200+ acres in Georgetown and several satellite locations, which combined house more than 255 retired racers and breeding stallions. The tour is $30 per person, takes about 90 minutes, and will drastically up your step count for the day. (In the event you are unable to walk that far, they do have limited seats on a golf cart. You must tell them in advance that you need it to ensure availability.) Our tour guide, Marc, was very knowledgeable and gave us lots of back story on the animals. We were each given a bag of carrot chunks, which brought the residents to the fences for a close-up visit. In all we saw 22+ racehorses and a donkey, including some amazing champions. This is a great way to get up close and personal with some of the most amazing thoroughbreds in the world. Check it out if you get the chance. Here are some horse bits:

  • Lava Man was a big dog, so to speak, in California. Grandson of the famous Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, he raced from 2003 to 2008. During that time he set multiple records, earned north of $5 million, and was the California Horse of the Year in 2005 and 2006. After that he began a second career in 2008 as a top stable pony, whose job was to calm the racers at the track. In 2015 this beautiful boy was inducted into the United States Racing Hall of Fame. He retired to Old Friends in 2022.
  • Another Seattle Slew descendant, albeit a couple of generations further removed, Game on Dude’s racing career began in 2010 at Gulfstream Park. In his 5-season run, he won nearly half of his 34 starts, including the Santa Anita Handicap in 2014 as a 7-year-old becoming the first horse to win it three times. He retired to Best Friends that same year having earned nearly $6.5 million.
  • Game on Dude’s paddock mate is Little Mike, does not have the pedigree and wasn’t quite the earner of Dude, but he ruled on turf for a while. Racing for 7 years, he won 14 or 30 starts, took home a little more than $3.5 million, won the Florida-bred Horse of the Year in 2012, and was a runner up for and Eclipse Award for Champion Turf Horse. He retired to Old Friends in 2016 and now spends his time trying to steal Dude’s carrots.
  • The big winner on campus is the 32-year-old Silver Charm. This beautiful fellow won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and placed second in the Belmont Stakes in 1997 and followed up the next year by winning the Dubai World Cup. After nearly $7 million in winnings on the track, he was put out to stud, siring fifteen stakes winners. In 2014, this grand old gentleman retired to Old Friends, where he is a big draw with visitors.
  • In a short racing career of about a year, Big Brown won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in 2008. Hoof problems and other issues kept him from finishing at Belmont, and he was shortly put out to stud having won a little more than $3.6 million. He sired quite a few big name racers before retiring permanently to Old Friends in 2024. During our tour, there was a man with a “Big Brown” hat on. He just bought it because he lost the one he got on his last visit honoring his favorite horse. Now that’s a fan!
  • Another Derby and Preakness winner, I’ll Have Another was the first horse to ever win the Kentucky Derby from post position 19. He raced for just under a year, taking home a little less than $2.7 million before a tendon injury sent him out to stud in Japan. He retired to Old Friends in 2024. Interestingly, Lava Man was lead pony for I’ll Have Another at Churchill Downs, Santa Anita, and Pimlico.
  • Stormy Liberal was the American Champion Turf Horse of 2018, and brought in just over $2.2 million in a 4-year racing career that ended with medical issues forcing retirement. He retired to Old Friends in 2019, where he now spends his days hanging out with his buddy, Patch.
  • Patch didn’t race very long or win very much…just 2 of 14 races and a little over $500k…but he did it with ONE EYE! After an ulcer claimed his left orb as a 2-year-old, this aptly named fellow adapted as best he could. He ran the Kentucky Derby in 2017 as a fan favorite despite coming in 14th after being caught in the outside lane and followed that up with a 3rd place win in the Belmont Stakes. He retired to Old Friends in 2020 and enjoys spending his time with paddock-mate Stormy Liberal.
  • Any Given Saturday only won six races in his 13-month racing career, but those he tended to win by 4+ lengths! After winning a little over $1.08 million racing, he sired several stakes winners at stud before retiring to Old Friends in 2023.
  • Awesome Gem is the first horse who ever stuck his tongue out at me. I forgave him, though, because he doesn’t have any teeth to hold the tongue in. This beautiful, old boy raced for almost 7 years and ran over 52 races, placing in the top three in more than half of them. After earnings of more than $2.9 million, he retired to a comfortable life at Old Friends in 2017.
  • Gorgeous George is a terrific name for a racehorse, but…he’s a donkey. This little miniature had been paddock buddies with a few big names…Alphabet Soup, Ide, and currently Milwaukee Brew. His job is to help his retired champions live their best retirement. He is adorable and clearly in charge despite the size difference. LOL
  • Narrow Escape raced for 3 years in the mid-1980s, then became the founding Matriarch at Old Friends, living for another 20 years or so and welcoming many new retirees.
  • Popcorn Deelites may be the most famous racehorse never to win much in a race. That’s because he is a movie star! He played the title role in the 2003 film Seabiscuit, one of six horses to exhibit their exceptional skills in the film. Popcorn’s specialty was breaking from the gate and playing Seabiscuit in the races, a pretty big role. (By comparison, another horse was cast to lie flat out and sleep.) He retired to Old Friends in 2005, where he lived until his death in 2022.

After about 90 minutes of walking, while feeding and…you know me…a LOT of talking to horses, we stopped in at McAlister’s for a quick bite, ran by the grocery store, and headed back to Priscilla to help Hoot and Janet set up the pavilion. That last part didn’t require much, because Janet is quite organized! By 4:30 or so folks began trailing in for the official ComeAround opening, and the visiting began. Here are some highlights from the week:

  • Wednesday began with a group tour at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK), the largest Toyota plant in the world. This is a cool tour, although MW would really have preferred to walk through slowly. (I think their industrial espionage team moves people through fast for a reason.) Toyota has pioneered advancements in auto manufacturing lines, and this place is a showcase of innovation. Almost 10,000 people work at this 9 million square foot facility assisted by a LOT of robotic equipment. The plant operates on the Toyota concept of “Just in Time”, so the right piece of equipment for a specific vehicle is delivered to the right spot just as the assembler (human or robotic) needs it. That keeps the assembly areas clean without stacks of parts sitting around. It also means that the line is a mix of colors and setups instead of making one specific version at a given time. In fact, unlike other auto manufacturers who make a variety of versions and push them out to the dealers, Toyota doesn’t make any cars that aren’t specifically ordered and paid for by dealers. One of the most interesting things I learned is how many robotic assists exist just to keep the employees from getting hurt or to make their job easier. For example, there is a robotic swivel chair on an arm that extends from above. The worker who is assembling parts on the interior of the car sits in it and is moved into and out of the interior, keeping him from potential injury constantly climbing in and out. What’s even cooler is that the idea for the device came from an employee, and Toyota implemented it and awarded him/her for the effort. For our visit, they were focused on the Camry, but this plant also builds the Rav4, Lexus ES350, and Lexus 300h.
  • You might not believe it, but the makers of the famous Louisville Slugger, started out as woodworkers, turning furniture legs, spindles, and the like. J. Frederick Hillerich brought his family to Baltimore from Germany in 1842, then relocated to Louisville, Kentucky, 14 years later. There he started out in woodworking, then established J. F. Hillerick, Job Turning, which grew into a thriving business. In 1880, young John Andrew “Bud” Hillerick began working with his father at the shop, while also playing amateur baseball. An important piece of equipment for a ball player is a bat, and Bud was making his own in the shop, along with a few for friends. There is some debate about how news spread, but the scuttlebutt is that, in 1884, star Louisville Eclipse player Pete “The Louisville Slugger” Browning was in a slump and young Bud was at the game. Who knows how he heard of the 17-year-old’s craftsmanship, but Browning had a request…make me a new bat. By the next game, the heavy hitter scored three hits with his new stick, and a legend was born. It took a few more years for Bud’s dad to get on board with the bat business. He didn’t like the game and was convinced that more traditional creations were the company’s future. Bud continued making bats, though, and “Louisville Slugger” became their registered trademark in 1894. By 1897, dad was finally convinced and the two partnered and the business grew. In 1905, superstar Honus “The Flying Dutchman” Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates became the first player to endorse a bat. From there, balls and business soared. Later marketing guru Frank Bradsby joined the company, which eventually became Hillerich & Bradsby Co. When WWI came along, the factory converted to making equipment for the troops, and during WWII women came onboard and made gunstocks for the M-1 carbine, track pins for tanks, and billy clubs for the armed forces, as well as softball and baseball bats for the troops. Today the factory is all about bats, cranking out ~3,000 per day, 1.8 MILLION per year! Some of the legends of the game have been swinging them for generations…Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Derek Jeter…the list is endless. They make bats for every professional team, and players can come in to swing different shapes, talk about finishes and get something that is perfectly suited to them. Many contract with Louisville Slugger, and those bats include the player’s signature on the end. I was surprised to learn that the location of the logo and badging on a bat tells a player how to hold it at bat to hit where it is strongest. Who knew??!! Today’s Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory tour takes you behind the scenes to see how the bats are made and finished, providing loads of information, but that’s just the beginning. There are museum exhibits including Babe Ruth’s notched bat from 1927, Joe DiMaggio’s 1941 hitting streak bat, and Hank Aaron’s 700th homer bat from 1973; a vault where you can hold a legend’s actual bat; player sculptures; a fast ball pitching exhibit; hand-turning and burning demonstrations; an amazing gift shop; and of course, the giant bat at the entrance. The basic tour runs $24 for adults, $23 for seniors, and $16 for kids 6-12 (little ones are free). There are also several options for upgraded experiences. I believe our combined crew gave it at least 36 thumbs up!! SIDE NOTE: Ted Williams took a couple of pauses during a stellar career where he was the last player to finish a season above .400 at .406. Why? To join the USMC during WWII, then fly 39 missions in the Korean War. That makes him a favorite for me. He was also quite the perfectionist, once returning an entire order of bats to Louisville Slugger because they didn’t “feel right”. Turns out, they were off by 5/1000th of an inch. Who could feel that??!!
  • As you probably know, this is BOURBON COUNTRY USA. I can’t even tell you how many distilleries there are within a 50-mile radius of Georgetown, but it’s a LOT! Hoot and Janet opted not to do organized tours to give folks whatever variety they wanted and leave them time for last minute hosting chores. Nick Peterson, who is a frequent visitor to the area, put together a group and toured a bunch, I believe hitting 9 or so in one day!! For the uninitiated, bourbon is made from five key elements…grain (the recipe is called the mash bill), water, fermentation, distillation, and maturation. Each distillery tweaks the amount of various grains, the distillation process, and the maturation to come up with their perfect blend. Our foursome picked three of the big ones. 1) We hit Woodford Reserve in Versailles on Thursday, and as expected, it was pretty awesome…beautiful grounds and facility and terrific guide who handled our tour and tasting. (I went the Designated Driver (DD) route, only dipping a finger into MW’s for a little taste.) This distillery is built on the hallowed grounds where bourbon was born in 1812, and is a National Historic Landmark. The combined tour and tasting lasts about 70 minutes and runs $35-40. MW will tell you the best part is just walking around in the fermentation barn or rick with the smells! LOL 2) Our favorite by far was Castle and Key, which we went to on Friday. Dating back to 1887, this property was originally the Old Taylor Distillery established by Colonel E. H. Taylor Jr. His plan was to make the first “bourbon destination” and built his facility with a castle, sunken gardens, a springhouse that looked like a Roman bathhouse, all in the shape of a key, since the limestone beneath the spring was the “key to great bourbon”. There was once even a dedicated rail line to drop off passengers for lavish parties. Alas, his vision fell apart after his death, and the property was forgotten until 2012 when a meticulous revival began. Today most of the buildings and gardens have been restored to their former glory. The grounds are gorgeous and invite folks to enjoy the weather sitting out by the creek or playing corn hole while sipping on a bourbon drink and sampling food from a food truck. Honestly, on a beautiful day you could spend hours there and enjoy every minute. We had another great guide, which made both the tour and tasting terrific. (This time I took tiny sips and gave the rest to the boys. Needless to say, they enjoy me being the DD.) There are quite a few options for tours/experiences at this one starting at around $35. 3) Our final tour was glitched up a bit thanks to GPS signal issues, but we made it to Buffalo Trace in time to do a tasting and enjoy the huge gift store. MW and I were there many years ago, and this place has at least doubled in size since then. The grounds are nice, but not as elegant as either of the first two, but their tasting is free, and they are set up to run them quickly and all day long. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the best person leading ours, so it wasn’t as enjoyable as the others where we were learning as we went. All three places gave us a bourbon ball after, which is the best part! Plus, even those of us who don’t/rarely imbibe enjoyed the history and production process of Kentucky’s famed brown liquor.
  • We ate out a few times during this ComeAround, and spots included Country Boy Brewery in Georgetown (good food, large beer selection made onsite), Mussel and Burger Bar in Louisville (very good all around, including P.E.I mussels), and Galvin’s on Main in Georgetown (weren’t properly set up for our reservation size despite confirmation, but food was good). Additionally, Hoot, Janet, MW, and I popped into The Brown Barrel in Frankfort after a bourbon tour, which had good sandwiches.
  • ComeArounds are mostly about a bunch of Naval Academy folks and their spouses kibitzing, sharing sailor/Marine stories, and in the RV Chapter’s case, talking about our travels. To facilitate that, we have social hour and dinner together every evening. Tuesday night our hosts laid out an awesome Cinco de Mayo-themed meal with Jim Connors playing mix-master for margaritas. (Honestly, my favorite part was the dessert…tres leches in chocolate, banana cream, and strawberry. Yummmmmm!!) Wednesday was potluck, with leftovers and a few additions on Friday’s menu. It was all delicious, and we enjoyed catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.

Whispering Hills RV Park is a mid-sized property that has a lot to offer for a private park. Located just outside of Georgetown, Kentucky, it is within driving distance of Louisville, Lexington, bourbon trail activities, the Ark Encounter, the Creation Museum, and so much more. Amenities include an office/camp store, swimming pool, bathhouse, laundry, pavilion, large playground with inflatables, dog park, basketball court, fire pits, wifi, and a lake. The owners are on site most of the time, and there are a bar and food truck during the warm weather. Guests can enjoy fishing, no-motor boating, or swimming at their own risk in the lake. There are 230 sites available in a variety of configurations, all with full-hookup, 20/30/50-amp electric, and picnic tables, and most with fire rings. We found this park to be very clean and well kept. The bathhouse was separate rooms (which MW always likes) the laundry was spotless, and the staff was very accommodating for our large group. The pavilion, which had garage doors that could be pulled down, worked out very well during the colder, windier days, too. Overall this was a pretty good park. We could hear a little noise from the interstate, but not too bad, and there were plenty of long-term residents, but everything was kept neat. It was a little odd that they charged transient campers for electricity, especially since their nightly rates were a little high. (They put $5 per day on your card at check-in, then refund or charge more based on actual usage after you check out.) Overall, for the location and tourist opportunities in the area, we would definitely consider staying again. On this visit in May 2026, we paid a little over $67 per night in a pull-through site, which included the electricity refund.

With plans for future visits made and goodbyes said, MW and I hit the road on Saturday morning heading further west. It was going to be a long drive, so we opted for the dreaded interstate, taking I-75 to the Western Kentucky Parkway. From there we hit I-69 at Nortonville and I-24 at Lake City. That took us all the way through Paducah and across the river to Metropolis, Illinois, where me met Lori & Jimmy Grimm for several days of hangin’ out. Our only stop other than fuel was at Taco John’s in Princeton for a bite. COOL NOTE: As we were hanging outside that afternoon, a barred owl was hunting nearby. He ended up coming back several times, but I only managed a quick pic with my phone.

Unfortunately, I arrived feeling puny. As we were leaving the dinner gathering the night before, I felt a bit of thickness in my throat. By later that night, it was seriously sore, and I was concerned about strep, which I am allergic to. During the goodbyes I kept my distance to be safe, then slept a good bit of the drive. Things waned a bit during the day, so my thoughts turned to a bad cold, but I still social-distanced. (I really can’t stand that Covid term!) After missing church and having a couple more nights of the returning sore throat, I ended up going to urgent care. It was ALLERGIES!! I don’t have regular seasonal allergies like some folks I know, but apparently SOMETHING in Kentucky doesn’t like me. The meds straightened me out pretty quickly, and next time I know to try that first.

Partly because I was sickly, but more because the weather was simply gorgeous, most of our time together was spent enjoying the outdoors at the campground. Sunday morning Lori, Jimmy, and Drew went to services at their church, Heartland Church in Paducah. Later that afternoon Lori had some friends I’ve heard of for years, but never met, plus sons Connor and Ben’s crews, and her mom, Jeannie, for an afternoon cookout. It was a large group and lots of fun. On Tuesday we had a little breakfast at MLC’s Family Restaurant (yum!), then I headed to urgent care while Lori, Jimmy, and MW went by their house, then to visit with old friends of Jimmy’s who happened to be in town. Later in the afternoon Jimmy and MW headed down to Murray State to watch a college baseball game while Lori and I visited and enjoyed the weather. Then Wednesday morning we all took a ride over to Ollie’s and Rural King, grabbed a bite at Taco John’s (seriously, the Potato Oles are addictive!), and rode around a little before spending the afternoon playing games and having some delicious tortellini stir fry that Lori put together. As is always the case, Thursday arrived too quickly and it was time to say goodbye.

We play a lot of games when we get together, and this time there were a couple of new ones to us: 1) “The Bible is Funny Card Game”, where players choose from several bible verse cards in their hand to respond to statements like “An excuse I would use to get out of going somewhere.” Answers might be: “I am very old.” Joshua 23:2 or “My breath is offensive.” Job 19:17. After our large group round, I think several folks went home to re-read Ezekiel! 2) “Play Nine” was also pretty fun with the four of us. Both of these could be played with kids old enough to read, I think.

Fort Massac State Park is our go to for visiting the Grimms, so we’ve been quite a few times. The review is here, and nothing has really changed. The actual fort has been closed for restoration for years, but they don’t really appear to be doing anything to it.

That’s a good stopping place for now. Next up…Back in the Saddle: East…Temporarily, Graduation, and Bookin’ It West!! See you on the path!!

Talisa

Sources: Old Friends tour & website, Toyota factory tour and website, Louisville Slugger tour and website, Woodford Reserve tour and website, Castle & Key Distillery and website, Wikipedia.

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