Tennessee
Tracy City/Lynchburg
Every year after hanging out with our extended family over the holidays, we promise each other that we will spend more time together. Well in 2022 we made that happen. Our cousins Dawn and Brian reached out to see if we would be interested in taking a short trip to Lynchburg, TN to visit the Jack Daniels Distillery. We jumped at the chance and Dawn started looking for places for us to stay. She found us the cutest "tiny home" at The Retreat at Water's Edge.
Day 1:
We picked up Dawn and Brian at their home in Covington, LA bright and early on a Thursday morning. When we got there, Dawn had mimosas ready (my kinda woman)! We loaded up Mike's truck and started making our way to Tracy City. After hours of laughing and a couple mimosa refills for us ladies, we made a stop for lunch in Tuscaloosa, AL at Avenue Pub. The food was delicious and the beer was even better.
We finally made it to the retreat where our tiny home was. It was a new development and dark by this time so we ended up taking the scenic route to find our home. We finally found it and unloaded our bags, then it was time for dinner. The town of Tracy City is tiny... there were not many diner options. We had passed Hank's Corner Grille on the way in and decided to go there. When we walked in you could tell it's a small town bar/restaurant. Everyone knew everyone. We ordered some food and drinks, then we heard that they were about to start trivia. That's when WMD-dat team was created. Out of 7 teams, we came out a disappointing 5th place, but had lots of fun. After trivia, the owner, Doug and his wife sat with us and chatted. They were great company and gave us tips on our stay.
.jpg)
We woke up the next morning and the guys made us breakfast. Then we decided to take a stroll around the development. We wanted to take a quick group picture of us with the house. In my natural fashion, I clumsily slipped down the icy stairs on the way down. Luckily only my pride was bruised. We took a cute group picture then walked around for an hour or so. When we got back to the house, the door key pad stopped working. Thankfully Mike had his truck keys because the weather was quickly dropping and no one was answering our calls. After a hour or so, we finally got maintenance to come and replace the key pad.
We went to Rosie's Farmhouse Kitchen for lunch. I think this was the only other restaurant in Tracy City. After lunch we went to the next town over to find some fire making essentials. We finally found a outdoor supply store and got everything we needed for the night and stopped in a couple other shops before headed back to Tracy City. We went to Hank's Corner Grille again that night for dinner before going back home to make an even better fire (and s'mores).
We woke up the next morning and made our way to Lynchburg, TN to visit the Jack Daniels Distillery. The tour was so informational. I really wasn't sure what to expect, but our guide so so knowledgeable and funny, we all had a good time. After walking around the distillery and learning more about the history of the family and different processing of making whiskey, we got a chance to taste it. My favorite was the Jack Daniels Honey.
After our tour and tasting, we headed to Lynchburg Square for a bite to eat. Our friend Doug, over at Hank's, told us to try Barrell House BBQ, home of the "Grilled Cheese on Crack." We all got their famous grilled cheese on crack and were not disappointed. It was a cool, eclectic lunch spot and they made their own BBQ sauces that were also delicious. We ate so much we needed to walk around the square for a while. We also found the Moon Pie General Store and stopped in for some snacks. After some shopping we headed back to Tracy City for another night around the fire.
We woke up the next morning to drive home. We had so much fun and SO many laughs with Dawn and Brian. Can't wait for our next trip with them!