Drive and reward...

Day one, on the road again…

A ten hour, 592 mile drive took us from the digs to our intended place to RON, Lexington, Kentucky.  We took the normal route over to 301, across the northern neck (and the Rappahannock river)

then survive a brief stint in I95 (which was amazingly traffic free, but average speeds still hover around 80) and then head west on I64, with a slight jog south on I81 then truly west again.

Been a while since we have made this trip in the summer, usually it is part of the Christmas driving tour of the Midwest.  Being used to seeing the mountains clothed in their winter bleakness, we were struck by how green and lush everything was,

There were a few places however that seemed to be suffering from some sort of blight..

Not sure what that was about… emerald ash borer?  Sudden oak death?   Probably never know.

Up hill and down dale with reassuring signage

Anyway, eventually we reached our target of Lexington.  We arrived in good enough time and spirits to make a reservation at a favorite restaurant there, Jonathans at Gratz Park.  Gratz Park Inn is a boutique hotel pretty much in the historic district of downtown Lexington.  Within the Inn is Jonathan’s Restaurant, the liar of Jonathan Lundy where he opened the restaurant in 1998.  The fact that it has been there 13 years says something.  Mr. Lundy started in New Orleans, and worked under Emeril around 1991 before Emeril went star power, and then through Johnson and Wales.

The restaurant (which if you’ve been with me long enough you’ve read about before) is relatively small, but offers bar seating as well as outside dining.  Lots of brick, horsey things on the walls, and proper table décor (note the feeder abhors the word “tablescape”).  In his approaching dotage the Feeder is becoming more demanding, and I didn’t accept the first table offered, which was in a corner by the route from the kitchen to the dining room.  Instead I picked a table near the entrance with a good view of the room.  The hostess mumbled something about a table of ten about to be seated and she wanted to shield us from the noise.  Both tables were about equidistant.

Anyway, we were soon approached by a young lady in white tux shirt and apron, and asked how we were, and when we replied we were getting better she wondered if a drink would help.  Why, yes, yes, it would.  MFO did her usual Bombay gimlet, and I asked for the time honored DMOTRWAT, Jim Beam preferred.  Fine.  Off to the bar.  She returned almost immediately and said the bar tender wondered if I wanted just a little sweet vermouth or dry.  Thank you God.  Armed with the dry option information, she returned with two quite nicely made drinks.  Meanwhile the “table of ten” appeared, from the bar quite lubricated, but in actuality they were pretty civil.  All males, we figured they were there for some University function.. they didn't seem to be much of a factor the rest of the evening although bottles and glasses kept flowing..

Anyway, we got down to considering food after we sipped and soothed a bit.  We picked up the menu.   I thought it was a wonderful piece of work.  Reflected the regional cuisine with things like Burgoo; shrimp and grits; a “hot brown” scallop treatment for an appetizer, and other dishes like Bourbon Barrel Ale Braised Short Ribs.  Most of the items listed the origin from where things came from, like Weisenberger Mill Crispy White Cheddar Grits.  It took a bit of doing (and a second drink), but MFO finally settled on an appetizer of the Sea Scallops Hot Brown, and an entrée of the Shrimp and Grits.  Specials were included as a little slip of paper in the menu. There was one soup, one salad and one entrée.  Not many, that’s why they are specials!  Nice.  The salad was another sucker dish for me (salad wise), an iceberg wedge.  Normally it’s the wedge, some onion, bacon bits and blue cheese dressing.  What made this one “special” was the wedge, with shaved red onions, and get this, fried oysters! Plus Gorgonzola.  How can you pass that up?  The special entrée was grilled swordfish, crispy oven baked fingerling potatoes, wilted spinach and a pineapple, mango mojito salsa.   I fell for that..

We picked a couple of by the glass wines from an equally interesting wine list.  sauvignon blanc and a lovely pinot..

I won’t go through dish by dish, but each one was excellent.  Ham in the “hot brown”, a lovely tangy sauce on the grits (creamy texture); my wedge was crisp, and the oysters were just fine.  What a nice touch.  The sword fish consisted of a couple of “eyes”, maybe two inches thick,  marked on top, and just cooked to be firm.  The salsa amplified the sweetness of the fish.  Short to say, food, service, and presentation was fine.  A great meal, leaving no room for dessert, which I’m sure, must have included bread pudding.  Good for him.  Stay within what you can do..  if you’re ever in Lexington, do it.. 

 But, I caution, I would recommend being

DFD

another day's drive brought us to Jackson, MIssouri, again passing throught the ghost town of Cairo (pronounced Kay-Ro; not Ki-Ro). on the way you pass through the back washes of the Mississippi, and i got some interesting shots.  stay tuned..