DAY 4: In the words of Tom Cochran, "Life is a highway"

As we sit in the Speed Queen Laundromat of Harrodsburg, KY sipping coffee and detoxifying the Potomac Sludge from our clothes, we write regarding our Day 4 accomplishments: we logged over 450 miles on the odometer, got through 4 chapters of our medical thriller book on tape, spent what little remained of Kitty on gasoline and Diet Coke, and were in bed by 9:30 p.m.

In preparation for the volumes we will author this evening on our visits through Kentucky Bourbon country, we will not subject our faithful readers to an epic point by point description of 10 hours in the car. Instead we will simply thrill you with short descriptions of the Old Frankfort Pike & our darling hotel.

The Frankfort Pike, the road in between Lexington, KY & Duckers, KY, is a gorgeous stretch of 18 miles full of thoroughbred horse farms…as far as the eye could see there was plush bluegrass, barns more elegant than houses we’ve seen (crystal chandeliers and all), beautiful horses, and Mother Nature.

It made JJDH seriously reconsider her business school ambitions over a life of horse grooming and full Southern breakfasts. NJO was pleased to see another defector from the Social Work profession as one of the horse farms proudly proclaimed an LCSW (licensed clinical social worker) … even horses need therapists!

We landed for the night at the Beaumont Inn, Kentucky’s oldest family-run boarding house. During the Civil War, the home served as the locale for Daughter’s College, a grooming school for well-to-do girls whose parents wanted them to be away from the horrors of the war…a perfect spot for JJDH & NJO! This is the first night that we didn’t share a bed (budget traveling) and we both slept the better for it (NJO didn’t have JJDH hogging the covers and JJDH didn’t have to up close and personal listen to NJO’s nocturnal diatribe).

All in all it was a good, productive day and it left us recharged and a little further down the road. Stay tuned for Monday’s (significantly more exciting) adventures!

P.S. Sallye at Stonewall B & B shared with us the secret for perfect-smelling laundry and we wanted to share this helpful hint with you: Tide w/ bleach, Oxy 10, bleach & then Bounce "OUTDOOR FRESH" dryer sheets. Launder on!

CLIFF NOTES VERSION: Driving, driving, reading (on tape), driving, driving, sleeping.

PICTORIAL DIARY:

Elfie visits the horse farm of the 2008 Kentucky Derby champion.

Someone else using their Social Work degree for good, not evil!

Elfie at Harrodsburg, KY's finest laundromat, The Speed Queen.