Subject: Postcards from Lexington, KY

Thursday, November 12, 2009 A sunny but crisp cool day.

We started our trip to Lexington from Mike H’s house. I’d already planned ahead as since I was not going to be doing the driving for a change I decided I would just sit in the back seat and let Mike drive while Earl navigated. Mike and I made such a good driver/navigator team on the South Dakota trip that I thought it would be good to let

Earl do a little “cross training”. After watching Earl struggle setting up the Garmin I was starting to wonder if that was such a good idea. As the trip goes on I soon realize that the bond between a driver and a navigator is special and requires two individuals who work together well in order to make the team a successful and finely tuned entity. That apparently is not going to happen on this trip. I don’t think Mike H and I sniped that much at each other on the whole South Dakota trip and we’ve not even made it out of Jefferson County. But hey, I’m in the back seat relaxing so let them snipe.

Our first stop is Woodford Reserve where Mike H will complete all the stops in the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Earl and I had completed our distillery tour back in July but were more than willing to go again since we knew it meant more taste testing. There were only 6 people on our tour (The first one of the day) and at the end we helped ourselves to as many of the chocolate bourbon balls that we could stand. Since we had not stopped for breakfast we figured this would keep us until lunch.

We next went to the ALLtech headquarters building which is somewhere in the Lexington metro area. I’m not exactly sure where that is as the Garmin led the way and since I was sitting in the back just being a passenger, I was pretty much brain dead about the whole “getting there” experience. Gee, now I understand why Earl looked so comatose on the South Dakota trip as being a back seat passenger doesn’t do much to enliven the brain. After meeting Mike’s daughter Katie outside the main building, she took us to lunch stopping off on the way at the ALLtech farm where they have bison and other livestock they use in testing their various feed products. After lunch it was back to the HQ building for a tour. Very nice place and we all were envious that people would actually work in such a well designed and appointed building. And they seemed so happy too! They even had a replica of an Irish Pub in the building which they use as a meeting place. This Irish Pub theme would come up again and again on the tour as each ALLtech facility we toured had some sort of Irish Pub on the premises. Turns out the owners of ALLtech are from Ireland and added these pubs to their buildings to add a touch of home. And they were all working pubs too, as the ALLtech company also produces a line of beer ales and bourbon. Now I’m beginning to understand why the employees all seem so happy.

After touring the HQ we went across the road to the ALLtech golf course on Connemara Farm. There was a stately farm house on the grounds that served as the pro shop and office and also had another Irish pub in the back. They were all friendly and gave us samples from the bar. I could see where this was heading so I took the bottled water as I figured I might be needed later as the designated driver. After hanging out in the pub for a while Katie took us on a tour of the golf course in a couple of the carts. I drove the one cart with Earl and Katie drove the other with her dad. About halfway through the tour we noticed the cart I was driving had a “do not use” sign on it. I kept expecting it to break at any moment but it made it through the rest of the tour with no problems. It was a cool and windy day but being as I had on my winter Tilley I kept warm. I know Mike and Earl were envious though they didn’t say anything. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them showed up this winter with their own Tilley, especially Earl now that he has that lump sum retirement money burning a hole in his pocket… It would look just great in that red sports car I JUST KNOW he is probably contemplating purchasing.

After the golf course tour we went downtown to ALLtech’s brewing facility to take that tour. They have TWO Irish Pubs at that location!! Again, both working pubs. Our tour guide served up samples of their products at the one pub and I must admit I sampled them too and even liked the bourbon ale one. Our guide was named Ann who is one of Katie’s friends having transferred down from HQ on Monday to start as the tour guide. Even though she was brand new in this job she did a great job and didn’t seem nervous at all which I could not say for myself had I been doing that job at her age. Actually, now that I think of it, Earl, Mike H, and I were the oldest people on all the tours today which is a definite twist from our experiences out at Mt Rushmore. Note to self; Take more trips out west next year.

The day concluded with us driving by Billy Gillespie’s house which was out in the vicinity of ALLtech’s HQ. Being the big UK fan that he is, Earl got out and walked up to the front door and looked into the window as we took his picture. Billy was not home. Probably out on a recruiting trip…

Until next time,

Mike A.