Lynchburg, TN

On Saturday, we got up and headed from Louisville to Lynchburg, TN.  Our ultimate destination in Lynchburg was the Jack Daniel’s Distillery, but our first stop was in Historic Lynchburg for lunch at the Bar-B-Que Caboose Cafe.

It’s a really neat place, with live music and a small town atmosphere.  They even do a radio show from inside the dining area on Saturdays at 10am!

I think the highlight for me, though, was when Casey tried to order a beer to go with his lunch.  He said, “I’ll have a Budweiser.”  The waitress said, “A lemonade?”  He got this really confused look on his face, and she kindly reminded him (because he did already know, but had forgotten) that Lynchburg is in a dry county.

So for lunch, Casey had the pulled pork platter, with a lemonade, and I had the hickory smoked chicken salad (check back Friday for reviews!).

After lunch, we headed to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery for their free tour.  It may seem strange that a distillery would be in a dry county, but the county wasn’t dry when the distillery was started and privileges were worked hard for and gained in order to keep it running.

We had a really great guide named Ron (seen below sitting on the safe that killed Jack Daniels) and I actually learned a lot not just about whiskey, but about the brand Jack Daniel’s and the man it’s named after.  It was surprisingly interesting!

After the tour, we went into the White Rabbit Bottle Shop to purchase a bottle of Jack.  You might be saying, “Wait, isn’t it a dry county so how can they sell liquor?”  Well, along with special privileges to keep the Distillery open, the JD folks also gained special permissions to sell certain bottles.  And even though it was fun to buy a bottle straight from the Distillery, we learned that ALL bottles, all around the world, come from this one Jack Daniel’s Distillery, unlike other brands that might have multiple distilleries or distribution plants.

Once we had our special bottle, we headed back into Historic Lynchburg for additional souvenirs, including a JD t-shirt for Casey, several free JD shot glasses, the spicy ketchup I mentioned in my meal plan post yesterday, and prizes from the shop seen below: The Dry County Still General Store.

We went in to try the moonshine and whiskey fudge, which were pretty good, and came out with an RC Cola (in a bottle, which is best), a peanut butter ball, a cow tail, and a jar of T.O.E. (tangerine, orange, elderberry) Jam.  It was a delicious stop.

After the General Store, we headed out of Lynchburg and back north to Nashville, where tons more fun was to be had!  Check in tomorrow to read about our adventures in Music City!