Day 3 - George for the Holidays at DennyGibson.com

Day 3: December 23, 2011
At Nashville's Mercy

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The near door in the first picture is my room, the Thoroughbred, at Clearview Horse Farm. The interior is here. The large deck in the second picture is on the other side of the building. It's a little too cool to use it now but it must be great in the summer. Though it was still quite gray, it wasn't actually raining so I could walk around the farm and visit the stables. The horses are ready for Christmas and a few have their stockings hung. That's owner Marie Lloyd in the next to last picture. Originally from Manchester, England, she is both a gracious host and a hard working rancher. The last picture is a look back up the lane while leaving.

This morning I learned that Blondie ran off with one of the cowboys last night. She took the twins along so he may soon regret roping this particular filly.

Being about a dozen miles from Lynchburg, Tennessee, made a visit to Jack Daniel's Distillery a rather natural thing to do. Tours are free with tickets obtained at the visitor's desk. They start with a bus ride. That's our guide, Betty, standing by the bus. It didn't surprise me that no photos were allowed in most of the buildings on the tour but we were also cautioned to power off cell phones because of flammable vapors. The statue is appropriately titled Jack on the Rocks. It's a great photo op and a prop for one of Betty's jokes. A story I particularly liked involved the safe. Jack's assistant usually had the safe opened when he arrived in the office but one day Jack went in early. Jack tried to open the safe but couldn't quite remember the combination. After several failed attempts, he kicked it in frustration. That kick injured his toe and it never healed. It's believed today that Jack was an undiagnosed diabetic and the injury led to the amputation of the toe and eventually part of his leg. He died of infection several years after the incident with the safe. The moral of the story: "Don't ever go into work early. It could kill you." The last picture is at tour's end in a wing of the visitors center where plenty of free lemonade is available and commemorative bottles of Jack Daniel's whiskey can be purchased. The distillery is in a dry county but a special legislative act has made this the only place in the county that alcohol can be purchased in any form.

Downtown Lynchburg is only a couple of blocks away (and only a couple of blocks big). Back at Clearview, Marie had suggested lunch at BBQ Caboose when I told her I was going to Lynchburg. It's a very busy place. I first stopped in at 1:00 and it was packed. I walked around town for awhile and even headed off for a bit to fill the car's tank. I returned and, although the place was still pretty busy, it had calmed down some. I got a seat and a pulled pork sandwich. Their slogan is "The Best You Ever Ate" and maybe it is. It's pretty darned good.

I arrived at Mercy Lounge about an hour before the Long Players show. The place was fairly empty but filled up quickly. The Long Players perform entire albums and tonight it would be George Harrison's All Things Must Pass. Nineteen different vocalists appeared. All excellent but none of which I knew. Consequently I have some semi-good pictures of some very good singers with no names to go with them. Bill Lloyd introduced each one, of course, but I wasn't taking notes and my memory is worthless. Other than the Long Players, I believe the only performer I recognized was saxophonist Bobby Keys who played on the original recording. Keys stood in a back corner and his face was often obscured by a trombone slide. The fourth photo here is about the best I have of him. He is also visible at the far right of the fifth photo. Of course the Long Players did everything from the album's first two discs and even included an abbreviated version of the "Apple Jams" on the third. Following that, all the singers returned for a most entertaining ensemble performance of Harrison's Handle With Care from his Traveling Wilbury days.

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