A Day with Jack

At the beginning of the month Britt and I went to Nashville, TN to celebrate our one year anniversary. On the way there we saw an ad for the Jack Daniel's Distillery. We thought it would be fun to stop by on our way home on Sunday. We stopped at the distillery only to find out that they do not have taste tours on Sundays--I guess we forgot we were in the Deep South, the Bible Belt! We decided to go back another day when they offered a taste tour, which brings us back to the present, yesterday (well that's not really the present, but you get the gist)....

On Friday morning Britt and I got ready and headed to Lynchburg, TN to tour the Jack Daniel's Distillery. 

We left around 10:30 thinking we would have ample time to get there, eat lunch, and then go reserve our spot for the 2:30 tour. We arrived around 12:30 and decided to go purchase our tickets before lunch...and it's a good thing we did. There were only 3 spots left for the 2:30 tour! It is obviously a popular thing to do on a Friday afternoon. After reserving our spots we headed to the town square to grab a bite to eat for lunch. 

We were in the mood for BBQ so we ate at the Bar-B-Que Caboose Cafe.

The food was pretty tasty! 

After we ate we wandered around the town square for a bit. Britt and I both love old towns that are still alive and functioning! Pictures really can't capture the beauty of a small town's downtown, but I still gave it a shot--

 A side of the square

The Frontier Days Festival was going on in the square.

I'm a sucker for old court houses! 

I'm pretty sure that every store in the square had Jack Daniel's souvenirs...this was certainly not the only one!

The Lynchburg Hardware and General Store front-really the official Jack Daniel's "gift shop"...LOVE.

Jack Daniel's Gift Shop, we found some fun cups and a Christmas ornament in here!

Probably an "antique" store...I just liked its name--Cow Patties! 

You can barely see it, but some old man told us that the house on the hill was Jack Daniel's home. He also told us it's for sale. And that it costs $650 million...he may have had a bit too much Jack to drink...

It was HOT, so we grabbed a sweet treat for the walk back to the distillery.

The tour lasted about an hour and 45  minutes. It was really fun and very educational. We learned a lot about how Jack Daniel's whiskey is made. We also learned  things about Jack Daniel's life that we did not know prior to the tour. For instance, I learned that you can buy an entire barrel of Jack for a nominal fee of $9,000-$12,000...not too bad, ha! 

These are called rickets...it is the wood that makes the charcoal that the whiskey runs through when being made. 

This is the cool spring where they get the water to make the whiskey...it is a constant 56 degrees in temp. They do not know how far back the cave goes; the farthest a crew got was 1 mile back before the space became too small to pass through. 

 Statue of Mr. Jack himself. This statue depicts him as being 5'7'', but he was actually only 5'2" and wore a size 4 shoe.

 One of the buildings of the distillery

 Not sure if you can tell, but this tree has very black colored bark. The black color comes from the trees being located near the distillery. In prohibition days the law looked for trees with this black coloring to find distilleries. 

 More of the distillery. 

What used to be the Jack Daniel's Whiskey headquarters. 

 This safe inadvertently caused Jack Daniel's death. Long story short, he couldn't open it one morning so he kicked it. It broke his toe which had to be amputated due to infection...that lead to infection in his foot (it had to amputated), then infection got in his leg, you guessed it, it had to be amputated too...then the infection got in his body and he passed away. That whole process took 6 years! 

The Fire Brigade

Our tour guide telling us about this old fire truck...

...it's an REO Speed Wagon. It's cool because this is brand that inspired the band REO Speedwagon's name and logo! 

 One of the Barrel Houses on the grounds...this one only holds 6,059 barrels of whisky. The other one holds over 20, 000.

 Tasting Jack Daniel's No. 7--I really don't like straight whiskey. I gave Gentleman's Jack a try too, but passed up on the Single Barrel Whiskey. Britt, of course, liked all three! 

 Us in the "tasting room"

 World's largest bottle of Jack...it's bigger than me! 

 The original bar...

 This is for Granddaddy! 

Our personalized bottle of Gentleman's Jack! 

 Me outside the visitor's center

 A nice man volunteered to take our picture!

Before we left we stopped and got some Jack Daniel's Whiskey fudge and a Diet Coke for the car ride home. It was a great choice! 

After the tour we were extremely exhausted from a day full being on the go, but fun was had by all! 

Until next time...

-j and b

Sunday Fun Day

Sunday was a great day. Britt and I woke up and decided we wanted to play tennis. We needed to squeeze in a little cardio since we knew we'd be eating so much yummy food for dinner--why not have some fun while exercising? We changed into some tennis-playing appropriate clothes and grabbed our rackets and headed to the Homewood Park courts. Now, I played tennis  in high school for one year (I was NOT very good at all) and Britt has played a little here and there with his family. But we had not ever played tennis together so it was something new and fun to do! 

All the necessary equipment! 

I haven't played in years, but it was fun! 

We played first person to win 6 games. I won the first game, but had no such luck after game 1-- Britt won the next six games. He did not win the last game without a battle, though. I played hard and kept it close--the last game lasted for a quite some time before Britt finally aced his last serve to pull out the victory! 

The rest of the day was quite busy. I visited my Poppy since it was Father's Day. Then I came back home to tidy up the house and prepare for dinner with my Daddy. Thankfully that was not a task that was solely on me. I am so thankful that Britt is willing to help when it comes to cleaning the house!  

Oh yeah,  I almost forgot! I had this for lunch!! What southerner doesn't love a good tomato sandwich?

Dad, Ashton, and Brooks joined us for dinner to honor Daddy. Britt thinks I'm crazy for going to such extremes when we have family over, but I told him that since we don't have kids yet I have to use occasions like these to get my craftiness craving fix! We all enjoyed each other's company, cute decorations, good beer, and great food! Here are some photos for proof!! 

 

And now I plan to spend the rest of the week doing NOTHING--which translates into reading the last Hunger Games book by the pool each day. We'll check back in soon. Have a great week!

-j and b

It's Been a While!

It has been SO long since I have been on here! Today I decided I really want to start blogging regularly...we shall see if I can do it! Since I last posted on here Britt and I got married--hence the blog title's name change--I know, I can't believe we have been married a year either. It is my intension to keep family and friends in the loop of our not-so-exciting life! So I guess I will give it a whirl...

I had AMSTI training for school all week. AMSTI is a "hands-on" math and science initiative that we use in our school. I went through the science training part (math comes in July). Since I have gotten  used to sleeping in and doing whatever my pretty little self pleases during my summer break it was very hard to get up at 6:30 every day to go to the training. It was even more tiring to sit there and exert my brain energy all day! I did learn some valuable information and cute ideas for my kiddos, so I guess it was well worth it. Oh yeah, and they paid me pretty well too; Britt will be glad about that!

Friday night Britt and I had a date night. Our local Carmike Cinemas has a fabulous deal from 4:00-5:30 every day-- $5.50 movie tickets--that's less than the matinée price, folks! Needless to say, we like to take that good deal up when we go to see a flick on the big screen. Carmike also has our favorite movie snack, caramel popcorn, so we divulged in that while watching our movie. What movie did we see, you ask? We saw That's My Boy with Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg.  If you are looking for a downright raunchy comedy, this is your movie! If not, please do not go see it. Britt and I laughed our little hearts out! When the movie was over we were pretty hungry (despite our caramel popcorn) so we ran to Mellow Mushroom to grab a pizza. We decided on a Red Potato Pizza Pie. It was DE-licious! After devouring our pizza we ran to Whole foods to grab steaks for Father's Day dinner. While we were there we decided to make our own 6-pack of beer (well actually 2 six packs). We were really excited because we found our favorite beer that we drank while we were in Paris. It's called 1664. We grabbed a few of those and then picked out some other beers that appeared to be good summertime beers.                                           

                                                       Here's a peek at what we found!

This morning we slept in--until 8:30--that's pretty late for us. After breakfast we decided to go to a fun farmer's market downtown. We went right over the hill to Pepper Place Market where we got all of this loot! 

                     Broccoli, Okra, Peaches, Tomatoes, and Corn--all from local places in Alabama!

Since moving back to Birmingham last summer we have been on the hunt for new places to eat that are GOOD, have a fun atmosphere, and are not too expensive. We have finally compiled a list of a lot of places we would like to try. Thanks to Birmingham Magazine we found this little place nestled in Avondale. It was yummy to our tummies for lunch today. We had already eaten at the original Saw's BBQ in Edgewood, but who does not like BBQ with a soulful spin?? We sure did! 

Here's what we had: Pulled Pork and Greens over Cheese Grits topped with Onion Rings

 

Finally, to end our Saturday I made a recipe from Southern Living's PEACH edition...Peach BBQ Pork Chops. And they were delightful if I do say so myself.

Ingredients

Finished Product

And paired with a great summer Sam Adams 

Well, it seems it's been a busy week in the Smith house. I forgot to update y'all on Britt's status this summer. He is keeping busy working at the BVLP and also taking 2 online classes. In July he will go to Atlanta to work for a judge. I'll check in later for an update on how Father's Day dinner for my daddy goes! 

-j and b

Let's Play Catch Up!!

Wow, I just realized I have not blogged since November...that is a long time! I always forget to do it. Anyway, there's no better time to catch up than now! I am pretty sure my life is a whirlwind starting about right now. We are at 87 days until the wedding and that's just crazy!! I am so ready for it to be here, yet I do not want it to be over either. I have something to do every single weekend starting this weekend (with the exception of like 2 weekends- but I'm sure I'll find some kind of plans to fill the time)...


I have had everything planned for the wedding for quite some time. Now I need to get on the ball and start ordering everything. It is driving me crazy not to have everything ordered and in my hands because I feel like it is out of my control. I do not like that feeling; I am a control freak and need to know everything is ready and perfect. Who would think that such small details as candy, take-out boxes for candy, labels with our monogram, welcome bags and items to go in them, favors, napkins, shakers to see us off, wedding day apparel and accessories, BM gifts, my groom's gift- and the list goes on and on and on- could stress a girl out? Well,  it is officially stressing me out! 


On top of wedding planning I am hoping to find a new teaching job in Birmingham. I tear up at the very thought of leaving my loving teaching home in Auburn. I could  not ask for a better place to work- the students, faculty, and parents are top notch. I have been spoiled, to say the least. However, God has a plan for me and that is why I am at ease with the thought of finding and changing jobs over the summer. I will not say that I do not worry about finding a job in this economy, but it is amazing the peace God has given me with this task. I know He will take care of me and Britt. I could use some extra thought and prayer about the perfect job for me, though! 


I almost forgot...there are only TWO more days until Spring Break! I knew there was some reason I went into the profession of teaching. Let's face it- I did not go into it for the pay:) I am so excited to get to spend the week with Britt! It is also my birthday over Spring Break! I am going to be 24 years old. That seems so old to me. I know it is not, but I feel like it is. I am excited about all of the birthday eating-outs I will most certainly partake in. I hope a certain someone listened when I told him (hint- Britt) about the chocolate cake with chocolate icing I would like for my special day, too! 


Oh yeah, Britt is also going on his BACHELOR PARTY this weekend. He and the guys are road-tripping it to NOLA on Friday for Britt's last shebang as a single man! It is weird, but this party is making the whole wedding seem more real and close than anything else has. It is like, "wow, he is really going on a bachelor party, and it is for HIM, not someone else getting hitched!" I am very blessed that Britt has so many great friends whom I trust to take good care of him! I hope they have a ton of fun, but stay out of trouble! Britt does have to pass the Bar in a couple of years:) 


Well, sorry to be so long-winded. I guess this is what happens when I do not blog for 3 months! Maybe I will be better with lots to tell about wedding festivities!! 

Happy Days!

Well,  it has been a great week! I only had to go to school for two day this week! After leaving school on Tuesday I hopped on I-85 and drove to Atlanta. I enjoyed my time there with Britt, Kelsey, Debbie, and Al before the extended family got there. Wednesday night Britt, Al, and I went to the Thrasher's game. We had great seats thanks to Al and we had a great time! Later that night we had the pleasure of going out with Kels, Rebecca, Steven, and John...while at the bar we got to hang out with Travis from Cougar Town! How Fun! 


The next day, Thanksgiving, I got to spend time with Britt's extended family... I LOVE spending time with the Smith/Jaros/Way/Everette/Grassmeyer clan...we ate lunch and gabbed, then after lunch, Britt and I hopped in our cars and headed east on I-20 to Birmingham to eat dinner with my momma! It was De-licious! I ate WAY too much at dinner with Momma! Britt and I retired early due to too much turkey! 


Today I got to sleep in! I did not brave the long lines and sales because there was nothing I needed, and let's face it- I have NO money until next Tuesday anyway! When I finally got up Britt and I made a trip to Publix. It was so fun seeing all of the Auburn and Alabama fans out and about before the big game-everyone had on either crimson and white or orange and blue! It's weird in Alabama...no one says War Eagle or Roll Tide...that would just be weird...we just smiled at each other and knew what one another meant:)


It soon game time for the most intense rivalry of the season...Auburn versus Alabama. As many of you know, Auburn went into the game 11-0. Britt and I decided to watch the game alone(he and I- no friends). It was a close came, but in the end, Auburn showed the bammers what was up, and we prevailed- 28-27!!!! We now have 366 days of bragging rights...that's right, we get one extra day because the game will be played on a Saturday next year! War Eagle! We've spent the remainder of our evening watching Cop Out (thanks Kathryn, Tyler , Charles, Landon, and David)! 


I intend on going on a run in the morning, but I am not sure that will happen...I did not bring warm running clothes...instead I may stay snuggled in bed while Britt goes to study at the library! We are going for our THIRD Thanksgiving meal with Dad tomorrow afternoon; it should be yummy! 


After this weekend I only have to make it through 3 more weeks until Christmas Break! I will talk with y'all soon....until then WAR EAGLE~~~~~

Lately Today

I have not quite gotten this blogging thing down yet...I always forget to do it! 


It has been a great day here in Homewood, AL. I woke up this morning and made blueberry muffins-yummy- for Britt, Kelsey, and myself. After that I did absolutely nothing all day...I was literally in my PJs until 2:00. My sweet brother stopped by to visit and we went and grabbed lunch for Britt and me at Zoe's. It was so good! After lunch I went on a great run and Britt went to the gym. Now I am sitting outside on Britt's back patio enjoying the colorful leaves and nice gentle breeze- what a great way to cool off after a long run! In a little bit I am going to make homemade chili for dinner so it can simmer for a while and let all of the flavors come out...I am seeing a trend here...food has been mentioned 3 times already....eat much?? 


As I told you in an earlier post, we are trying to start back on the wedding planning kick. We looked at invitations a couple of weekends ago, and I have been trying to look at napkins and koozies and such. It is all so difficult to decide on "just the right one" for our wedding. I know that our wedding will be one of the most special days of our lives and I want it to be perfect-which I know it will! If anyone has any good suggestions about where to get napkins or koozies let me know! We also began gathering addresses for our invitation list today. We sent messages to most of our-mine and Britt's- friends on FB to get addresses and it has been so fun getting the responses all day. Every time I get a new message I cannot wait to see who it is from and I immediately tell Britt "so and so  just responded" and we both get excited all over again. We are so blessed to have so many friends that we will share our special day with. 


I believe that is all for now. Britt just pulled up from the gym and it's time to shower and start the chili. I am looking forward to another relaxing night with my better half! Have a great Saturday evening. -Jess

It's been a while....

It's been a while! I am enjoying this beautiful Sunday afternoon. Britt has been working on his paper for school, I graded my kids' papers, and now I am watching Britt do P90X! We are both trying to shed some lbs before the wedding! 


Yesterday Britt and I went to look at wedding invitations. It was a fun experience because we like the same style invitations! It is nice to know we are on the same page- and that Britt even has an opinion! He is the best! We still have seven months to go, but it is time to start planning the small details. And boy, am I glad?  It was so fun planning all of the big stuff, and when that was finished I had to take a hiatus from wedding planning because there is only so much you can do with so much time left before the big day. Now we can begin the small stuff! 


This week is sure to be a good one because it is a 4 day week!! We have Verteran's Day off- I am very thankful to all of the past and present soldiers fighting for our freedom- on Thursday and unfortunately have to go back to school on Friday. Oh well, any day off is better than none! Time is ticking by...after this week we have a full week of school, then only 2 days and it's Thanksgiving Break! Time sure does fly when you are having fun!


I am off to have pictures taken with my brother and sister...hopefully we will be all smiles when finished...when we were younger it was always a fight to get us all on the same page and looking exactly like Mom wanted us to! Until later, everyone have a fabulous week! 


Love, Jessica