Road to Louisville, KY - Summer 2022

We went from Michigan to Louisville and were able to get family to help watch the dog for a few days so we could just hit distilleries and such without worrying about the pup.

Driving through Ohio, we stopped at Lima for some food and gas. It seemed like the entire town was lined up to get these burgers so we decided to check it out.

Kewpie Burgers (Lima, OH)

I guess there are 3 locations in this town and we went to the one by the highway. The one downtown was the original and the place has some celebrated history that they note on the walls. I think the whole doll thing is creepy but whatever. It is a good little burger. The local in front of me told me that the single is fine as it isn’t that small and you don’t need a double.

I was surprised the staff there were all like older women well past retirement age cooking things up in a fast assembly line - like they were hustling. It seem like there was an ordering process in terms of the sequence of ordering your food to keep things moving. I just watched the guy ahead of me and copied him.

A Few Kentucky Things:

1 - Kentucky drivers are crazy fast (kind of like Illinois).

I had to go 20 over the limit just to keep up with traffic.

2 - Black Mold

This is a mild example of the mold on the sign that has been scrubbed off

I did not know this but apparently there is a fungus that feeds off the alcohol that evaporates from the barrels (the Angels Share) so everywhere there are barrel warehouses, there is this mold. The locals will all tell you that in the old days it is how they caught moonshiners during prohibition as the trees would blacken where they were distilling.

When you drive around Kentucky, it is true, the trees are black by the warehouses. Jim Beam says that they paint their buildings black for that reason. I guess it is becoming a point of contention for some communities as the bourbon industry is booming and putting up more and more warehouses. In some places like Bardstown, the black mold is everywhere.

3 - Worst Stretch of Road in America?

This stretch is actually in Ohio by Cincinnati right before you cross into Kentucky. This was pretty sketchy as you drive at decently high speeds on I-75 but the roads are so worn that they are grooved and actually push your vehicle side to side as you slip in and out of the grooves with cars all around you. I was white knuckling trying to keep the truck in the lane. Throw some infrastructure dollars this way please.