Five Lessons Learned From My 30 Day Road Trip (Part Two)
We're still on the 30-day road trip! In the previous newsletter, I talked about two lessons learned from the journey.
Here are the remaining three!
3. Choose your Transportation Wisely!
Our first stop along our journey was the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
We were driving from Iowa to Richmond, Virginia with our son who was moving with his work there.
Also, our son’s English Bulldog ‘Bronson’ was along for the ride!
In my last newsletter, I spoke about my first road trip when I was six years old: my Mom and Dad, my two sisters, my Uncle and Aunt and cousin David — all packed into a Ford station wagon from Iowa to Disneyland!
We never did that trip again!
On this road trip, we caravanned! Our son and Bronson in his car, and we in ours!
Travel tip: when doing an extended road trip, think ‘caravan!’
Or maybe, an RV?
I know many folks that pile into an RV and hit the road....
If you do an RV, a Winnebago-- an iconic RV, is a good option.
Winnebago was originally based in Forest City, Iowa, a quaint little town close to the Minnesota-Iowa border.
Winnebago is kind of the 'Chris Craft' boat of RV's.
Both brands are now owned by the same company.
It’s a classic… and nostalgic in a cool way.
On a fishing trip in northern Iowa, my Dad and I drove over to Winnebago headquarters in the little Iowa town…
I saw the huge fleet of RV's, in this beautiful northern Iowa place.
During Covid, RV's became even more popular. Folks couldn't fly and stay in a hotel. They took control and got into an RV and hit the road.
Of course, some folks believe 'bigger is better.'
Drive across any interstate in America and you pass these folks... many times they are pulling another vehicle, motorcycle or boat!
Also, if you go the RV route, make sure you can get along with everybody on board. Just Say'in!
And steer clear from Cousin Eddie's RV!
4. Cheers to the Bourbon Trail!
Now back to the Bourbon Trail. I was never much of a Bourbon drinker. Maybe an Old Fashioned every now and then... depending on the saloon I was frequenting. My ‘happy places’ were more Napa and Sonoma, perhaps visiting a vineyard or two in Italy, Spain or France.
But after spending some good quality time on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, I’ve become - might I say - a ‘believer.’
After all, Bourbon is uniquely American. In fact, Bourbon was recognized in 1964 by Congress as ‘a distinctive product of the United States.’ There are several legal requirements that must be met in order for whiskey to be called Bourbon.
Mark Twain loved Bourbon. He famously said ‘Too much of anything is a bad thing. But too much good whiskey is barely enough.’
So did Hemingway, although he preferred martinis and wrote about them more.
Oh, and there’s Frank Sinatra.
Humphrey Bogart introduced Old Blue Eyes to it one night at dinner at Bogey’s house. Bogey asked Sinatra what he wanted to drink. Sinatra said ‘I don’t know.' Bogey said ‘Alright how about a Jack Daniel’s?’ Sinatra said ‘What the hell is a Jack Daniel’s?’ Bogey poured him some, and it was 'happy marriage from then on.’
In ‘The Way You Wear Your Hat‘- Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Liv’in’ Esquire’s Bill Zehme credited Jackie Gleason for turning Sinatra onto Jack.
Even though the book is great and I highly recommend it, I like the Bogey version better.
So we’ve got Twain, Hemingway, Sinatra and Bogey. OK you gotta drink to that!
PS: For whiskey nitpickers, Jack Daniel’s is ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ not Bourbon. But we are NOT nitpickers!
But you’re not going to find Jack on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. He's in Tennessee. So don’t try to find him on the Trail!
Travel tip - so if you're going to the Trail, here’s what you do:
Head to Bardstown, KY which is about an hour outside Louisville on the Skyline Parkway.
There’s other places to stay, but Bardstown is the Bourbon Capital of the World!
The best ‘watering hole’ is the Old Talbot Tavern which dates back to the 1700’s.
You should also stay at Old Talbot’s Hotel - so after dinner and bourbons, you can walk upstairs to your room! Just Sayin!
The next morning, head to the other distilleries. As we always do in Napa and Sonoma get a driver! You can cover the best ones in a day or so.
If you can only go to one distillery, go to Buffalo Trace.
It’s the Grandaddy of Bourbon distilleries. But it’s easy to cover four or five great distilleries in an afternoon.
My other favorites are:
Makers Mark. You can make your own custom wax bottle - pretty cool!
and Four Roses
All of these distilleries are on beautiful grounds tucked in the Kentucky Hills.
BTW, I have my own personal business story about Bourbon.
In 2018, we were selling the iconic Time, Inc brands: Time, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated. Time was the first sold to Marc Benioff.
When the Time deal was announced, Time celebrated by throwing a ‘Bar Cart Party.’
A little background: Back in the day, when Time magazine would finish a weekly issue, it threw a bar cart party for everyone.
Think Mad Men.
In fact, the Mad Men series was based on the 1960's antics at the old Time & Life Building on 6th Avenue.
So when I joined the Time Bar Cart party, I had my own Don Draper moment!
Well, it wasn’t that Don Draper moment!
I was enjoying the party with the two well-respected editors: Edward Felsenthal of Time and Alan Murray of Fortune. Both of these gentlemen worked together at The Wall Street Journal before leading the brands.
They were also both from Tennessee.
So, of course, as we’re leaning against the bar cart, we were all enjoying a Bourbon, or two.
I recall Alan commiserating about Fortune not being sold yet - Fortune was a ‘long and winding road’ but it eventually had a happy ending (in a previous newsletter, I talk about selling Fortune while in Tuscany and later in Hong Kong).
Finally, one more reason to go to the Bourbon Trail: it’s beautiful horse country. The rolling hills of horse stables are amazing. My cousin David (the little guy that shared the back bench seat in the Ford station wagon from Iowa to Disneyland), is not little now! Dave is the proud owner of a few thoroughbred race horses in nearby Lexington.
Here's his recent purchase:
Destined to be in the Kentucky Derby!
5. ‘Live Free or Die’
This, of course, is the famous state motto of New Hampshire. The phrase was adopted from a toast written by General John Stark, New Hampshire’s most famous soldier of the Revolutionary War on July 31, 1809. By the time Stark wrote this Vivre Libre Ou Mourir (‘Live Free or Die’) was a popular motto of the French Revolution. Some historians attribute these mottos to Patrick Henry’s speech in 1775: ‘Give me liberty or give me death!’
Pretty, pretty heavy stuff indeed!
Traveling around the East and Northeast of America, there are countless places where you can learn more or refresh your understanding of the Revolutionary War, Civil War and World Wars I and II.
Every American should visit places like Gettysburg and Hyde Park among historical places in America.
The Battle of Gettysburg which took place July 1-3, 1863 was the turning point of the Civil War.
With over 50,000 casualties over a three day period, it was the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil.
It’s striking when you go to the battlefield grounds - only about 17 square miles. I couldn’t fathom all the dead or wounded soldiers in such a small area. All American soldiers. A few months after the battle, in November of 1863, Lincoln gave his most famous speech: the Gettysburg Address.
The Gettysburg National Park is well organized and allows you to walk or drive around the battlefield, visiting the monuments and artifacts of all the army divisions from the states that fought.
We visited on a nice September day which made the beautiful rolling Pennsylvania hills of the battleground even more surreal.
The FDR Presidential Library in Hyde Park, NY is amazing.
I've been to most of the Presidential Libraries in the US. All are all worth visiting.
But to me, the FDR Library is the greatest. It covers the most extraordinary period for America: the Great Depression, World War II, the evil regime of the Nazi’s, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the invention of the atomic bomb, and the Cold War.
If you haven't seen Oppenheimer it's a must see.
The lesson here? We live in a chaotic, confusing and sometimes dangerous and tragic world…
Visiting places like Gettysburg and Hyde Park reminded me of the terrible struggles that America has endured throughout history.
But America did endure.
And I believe that we’ll continue to endure and make it out OK.
Just Say’in.
See you next time!