Day 12 – Whiskey, Fried Chicken and the Road to Dollywood

Day 12 began with Ro and I returning to the Pancake Pantry for what can only be described as a victory lap after the success of the previous visit. Meanwhile, Liddy and Mikey once again demonstrated a commitment to physical fitness that continues to confuse us by heading upstairs to the gym.

After breakfast and a final pack-up, we hit the road at around 9am and headed south-east towards Lynchburg, Tennessee.

The destination was one of the most famous names in American whiskey.

The Jack Daniel Distillery.

Nestled in the tiny town of Lynchburg, the distillery has been producing whiskey since the 1860s and remains the oldest registered distillery in the United States. Interestingly, Lynchburg is located in a dry county, meaning you technically can’t buy alcohol in most stores around town, despite being home to one of the most recognised whiskey brands on the planet.

The distillery tour was excellent.

We followed the entire process from start to finish, learning how the whiskey is made and what makes Jack Daniel’s different from other bourbons.

We saw the huge stacks of maple wood being turned into charcoal, which is then used in the famous Lincoln County Process. This involves filtering the freshly distilled spirit through ten feet of charcoal before it goes into barrels, giving Jack Daniel’s its distinctive smooth character.

From there we followed the process through the mash preparation, fermentation, distillation and barrel ageing before eventually reaching the bottling operation.

Even for those who aren’t serious whiskey drinkers, it was fascinating to see just how much work goes into every bottle.

The smell throughout parts of the distillery was incredible.

A mixture of charcoal, fermenting grain, oak barrels and whiskey hanging in the air.

By the end of the tour we were all feeling a little peckish.

Fortunately, lunch was next.

And what a lunch it was.

We headed to the legendary Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House, another Lynchburg institution that has been feeding visitors since the early 1900s.

The concept is simple.

You sit at large communal tables with complete strangers and food just keeps arriving.

Southern fried chicken.

Squash bake

Mashed potatoes.

Green beans.

Biscuits.

Cornbread.

And enough desserts to ensure nobody leaves hungry.

It was essentially an all-you-can-eat tour of Southern cooking and was every bit as good as we’d been told.

Stuffed to the brim, we climbed back into the Smoke Wagon and began the long drive across Tennessee towards Knoxville.

The trip took around four hours and felt even longer after the amount of food we’d consumed at lunch.

To make matters slightly more confusing, we also crossed into the Eastern Time Zone and lost an hour along the way.

One minute it felt like we were making good time.

The next minute the clock had stolen an hour of our lives.

Eventually we rolled into Knoxville at around 8pm and checked into our accommodation.

At that point nobody was particularly interested in another major meal.

A quick pizza.

A quick beer.

A quick discussion about tomorrow’s plans.

And then straight to bed.

Tomorrow is one of the most anticipated days of the entire trip.

Dollywood awaits.

See y’all tomorrow.👋