well, i did manage to finally meet up with john after all. YAY! i was on the road on the way to the jack daniel’s distillery (and yes, folks, daniel’s, not daniels) and realized i had a voice mail; naturally, twenty miles out of manchester there’s no cell signal. so i went on the tour and called him back afterwards.

the tour was neat. i recommend it to anyone who’s in the region, with the caveat that you ought not to sniff too deeply of the fermentation tanks, no matter if you do really like the yeasty smell like baking bread. turns out, fermentation smells not so good. also, the mash looks revolting. but the tour was nice; the grounds were really beautiful and the operation was pretty interesting to learn about. amusingly, it’s located in a dry county, and so they had to get special legislation passed by the state government to allow them, in 1995, to sell booze in the gift shop at the end of the tour. i wanted to buy a bottle of single barrel, but they weren’t selling it, so i bought a bottle of gold medal instead. it comes with a little medallion to show you bought it at the distillery.

the most amusing part of the tour, perhaps, was the repeated warnings to not smoke, because cigarettes and 140-proof whiskey are not a good mix. interestingly, we weren’t allowed to use flash photography in certain areas for the same reason, although i’d never thought of a flash as a spark. i guess it could.

anyways, drove the 40 miles back from lynchburg to manchester and met up with john and jennifer for a late lunch, around 2:45, at a little restaurant across the street from the ramada i stayed at last night. caught up, “whatever happened to …”-ed for a while. ’twas fun.

got on the road right about 4:30 and headed south. made it in to meridian right around 9:45, and checked in to a holiday inn off i-20/i-59. the price is twice what i paid last night, but the free wireless alone makes that worthwhile. not to mention the general air of relative non-skankiness.

which brings to mind the thought i had this morning: i’m generally not really picky … i’m fairly low-maintenance and usually easy to please (at least easy to make content), but i am kind of a snob. i’m not sure when i turned into one, but i think it’s pretty clear that i am. i mean, not necessarily a snob about people, so much as a snob about material things. like the hotel room that includes, rather than a travel-sized bottle of shampoo, a single-serving ketchup packet of shampoo. i mean, i brought my own and all, but still. and the light fixture in that room’s bathroom — i’m fairly confident its design reflected an intended purpose as outdoor utility lighting (i am not being sarcastic, here… it really was a rectangular flourescent thing that looked like an outdoor wall fixture). not to mention the THREE signs that conveyed their intent to report to law enforcement or charge to my bill any missing items — and lest i wonder, they inventory daily, by god, so i’d better just put that bathmat down. this wary sentiment was supported by the sharpie-marker “RAMADA” labels on both the coffeemaker and the hair dryer.

this hotel room, on the other hand, offers to provide me with a free toothbrush, tube of toothpaste, razor, or deodorant if i have forgotten my own. and free high speed internet access available in two flavors: wired or not. clearly superior. i think snobbery is justified in this case.

but i digress.

and i should probably go to sleep, as i have all of mississippi, all of louisiana, and an hour and a half or so of texas to cover tomorrow.

but before i go: dammit, white sox!