Hitting the Road...
- Joanie Foley
- Mar 13, 2020
- 2 min read
After months of planning, researching, spreadsheet-ing and reserving....time to put the pedal to the metal.
Stop 1 Charleston West Virginia. We stopped by to see the beautiful State Capitol Building.
The 293- foot gold dome which tops the structure is five feet higher than the dome of the U.S. Capitol. The entire dome is gilded in 23 ½ karat gold leaf applied to the copper and lead roof in tiny 3 3/8 inch squares. Rusty has worked with gold leaf and couldn't imagine covering that amount of space - outside. Sadly the dome is being repaired from water damage so much of it was covered in plastic.
This is what the dome looks like in all its glory
The building was still gorgeous - the design and marble throughout were beautiful.
I love this sculpture " Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight" inspired by the poem of the same name.
We found Mortar Man!
We couldn't resist an ice cream at Ellen's homemade ice cream
We could not pass up a place called "Big Joe's"! We learned that Big Joe's pulled pork and pastrami are legendary . The pastrami is a two week process, https://www.wvgazettemail.com/life/up-in-smoke-big-joe-s-beefs-up-menu-with/article_e67e69f4-d097-54a0-b568-0b69799ecddc.html
As our luck goes- they were out of pastrami - as it was still in the smoker out front when we got there. We made friends with Big Joe himself and he said if we hung out for trivia ( 2 1/2 hours) he would hook us up with his awesome pastrami sandwich. He brought us some fresh made, still crackling ,pork rinds to nosh on while we waited. We played trivia- finishing an embarrassing 11th out of 13 teams. Big Joe, insisted on serving the freshly ready pastrami in person...and it was worth the drive, the wait and the humiliating trivia finish! What a great guy and the most delicious sandwich we ever tasted!
Kentucky
Maker's Mark Distillery
We toured the Maker's Mark Distillery , took a cocktail class and got to dip our own bottles in the red wax!
Mammoth Cave National Park
Spelunking...its our jam!
Too cool! I would have waited on the pastrami too. Way neat that it was the owner and he was that excited to hand it to you. Smart places of history, food, booze, and nature. Sounds like my kind of adventure!