The Great Kantucky Ridge Run
September is a month I look forward to every year for a lot of reasons. Weather is usually alway cooperative no matter where you might be, kids are back in school (meaning less traffic to fun places), and it’s when my friends in the Rivertown Gear Busters club all converge to Sabbath Song Farm in Brooksville, KY, for the Great Kantucky Ridge Run - a weekend of twisty roads, farm fresh food, smooth fiery bourbon, and Vintage BMWs, all in fantastic company.
Since the farm is so close to Cincinnati, I decided to head down there a few days early to see some friends and some unique Italianate architecture. I left Chicago around 9 pm on a Wednesday, and quickly realized that I much prefer the boring I-65 at night time. After a few hours at a roadside motel in Indy, I hit the road early on Thursday morning to continue towards Cincinnati, where I worked remotely on Thursday.
After meeting up with some friends for a nice dinner downtown, I wandered around Over-The-Rhine, the neighborhood that I used to call home. I fell in love with the architecture all over again, and took special note of the new additions to the neighborhood. In the last year and half it has grown in an unbelievable way - it’s now an urban oasis situated in the last place anyone would guess - effectively on the Mason-Dixon line.
While wandering, I spotted this beautiful Jaguar E-type. It was the perfect evening to have the top down.
Music Hall, which recently finished renovations, looked breathtaking with the sun setting behind it. It’s been the home of Cincinnati’s classical music since 1878.
Some parts of the neighborhood still haven’t gentrified - this can be a good and a bad thing.
Cincinnati has preserved these tiny and adorable alleyways - they’re actually listed and named on Google Maps!
That Friday, I decided to do my work from Findlay Market, the oldest continuously operated farmers market in Ohio - since 1852! It’s a truly stunning place - local vendors selling locally grown produce and other goodies in structures that predate all of us. The vibrant colors of the market are really what make it special. I had a cheap slice of pizza from “Taste of Belgium” and and nice cup of coffee from Deeper Roots.
Come Friday evening, it was time to meet up with the RGB crew at a random Kentucky gas station. Andrew Wilson was there, with his red tii affectionately named “Vern.” Andrew had driven the tii from Maine for the weekend.
There was rain the forecast for much of the weekend, and it started right as we arrived to the farm. That evening we all caught up and shared stories over a delicious homemade meal. Some alcohol may have been consumed.
The following morning we admired the stunning countryside vista off of the balcony before departing for our drive, conscious of the impending rainclouds. After our quick stop in Falmouth, KY, I waited to make sure that the stragglers were able to catch up with the group. What I hadn’t known was that they had gone around me and were already together. At this point I had to play catchup, even though I was a solid 10 minutes behind everyone. I had a rough idea of the route and locations shared via iPhone, and some wide open twisty roads.
We stopped for a quick rest in Falmouth, KY.
Ben Younce’s beautiful ‘68 next to Larry Gray’s vibrant Inka orange 2002.
In an effort to catch up, the mighty TeaEye was doing speeds that I wasn’t aware it could handle. The normal buzziness of the M44 motor become a symphony as the tires had more grip at every corner. It became clear to me that this car has limits that I haven’t begun to explore, even in stock form, but I’m certainly okay with that. I eventually caught up with the group at the lunch stop, pulling up right as they did - It was as if I was behind the whole time.
After lunch, a few of us split off to swing by Hartfield and Co, a craft distillery in Paris, KY. This was a destination on last years’ route but was omitted this year in favor of a winery tour. Having tasted this sweet nectar before, I knew I had to buy another bottle, especially since they don’t ship and don’t sell to anyone in Chicago. This stop took a little longer than expected because they actually poured our bourbon from the barrel straight into the bottle. As far as reasons for tardiness go, this was a good one.
Hartfield prides themselves on using the small barrels for their bourbon.
Cool art at the back bar at Hartfield and Co.
Our mini group that pulled off for bourbon happened to contain the three fastest cars in the group: Jon and Sarah in their E28 M5, Charlie in his amazing green Z4, and me in the 318ti. The rest of the group had stopped at Sunflower Sundries, a farm in Mt. Olivet, KY that specializes in fresh jams, honeys, mustards, and pickled vegetables. We figured we’d be able to catch up and meet the group, but ended up just missing them as they left towards the winery. We elected to skip the winery tour and made our own stop at Sunflower Sundries. It’s an old school place: If the proprietor isn’t there, just take what you’d like and leave the correct amount of money - all honor system. The farm also has very friendly cats and dogs (and chickens) that roam around the property, which is my favorite part about this place. The Gooseberry jam I purchased and brought back to Chicago is delectable as well!
After leaving the farm, it appeared that the rain would persist, so we headed back to Sabbath Song for dinner. After eating, we enjoyed libations and played with the farm cats that live in the basement, while sharing thoughts about topics like religion, politics, sociology. These are typically no-no topics to bring up in these divisive times, but with the right people, these conversations can be extremely civil and educational. I had a particularly thoughtful discussion with my friend Dirk, who came from Nicholasville, KY (just outside of Lexington). We happened to agree on most issues that we view as plaguing society.
The only other notable thing that occurred on Saturday evening was falling down some wet stairs on my way to say hello to more farm animals (horses and English Mastiffs, specifically). This put a damper on my evening (pun definitely intended), and I retreated to the lodge to ice my hip.
The following morning, we enjoyed our final homemade breakfast and headed towards August, KY, famously known as the place that George Clooney is from. I always enjoy making this stop because we typically take a ferry across the Ohio River - one of the cooler ways to cross a state line. The persistent rain made this less fun than it normally is, but we still enjoyed the experience and went our separate ways upon crossing the river.
Jason Gipson’s MZehn attempting to cross the Ohio river before the ferry reached us
I stopped in Cincinnati again for a few hours to see some friends before heading towards Columbus to see some clients for work. On the way, the mighty TeaEye’s odometer broke 100,000 miles! I pulled over in a small town called Octa, OH, at 99,999 and drove around in circles until the milestone occurred. I’m scared for more stuff to break now that the odometer has turned, but I’m looking forward to the next 100,000 miles of adventure with this car.
