Jack Daniels Distillery & Harvest Hosts Sasquatch Farm!

Hello everyone, how you doing? So, it's day 54 and it's not just any old day, no, today is leaving the British Army day for Gary. So, it's your last day isn't it babes? How long have you done? I've done 39 years, joined in 1984. Oh my gosh, 39 years in the British Army he's done and today is the final day isn't it babes? It is. We're so proud of you after so long. Thanks. And we're going to do some special stuff for Gary for his birthday tomorrow and his last day in the military but that will come in next week's video. Coming up in today's video we've got loads of fun stuff starting with our usual map that we'll play shortly but we also visit a Sasquatch farm. Oh my gosh, you don't know what's coming up. And then we're off to the Jack Daniels distillery. So, if you want to watch all that and more stay tuned but here's our map. We're just loving that map app aren't we babe? We are. How many miles have we done in total? Um, 3,757. Oh, you're like a walking like Carol Borderman you are. Anyway, so we had a week last week didn't we? Started off in Atlanta obviously and we headed up to Chattanooga and we went to Ruby Falls. Oh my gosh, it was beautiful wasn't it down in Ruby Falls and we had a brilliant guide there, a guy called Bo. But there was lots of pictures of Ruby Falls on our Facebook page so we can't put everything in the videos. Oh, we'll drive you mad. So, if you want to see some extra pictures and a few extra posts go to our Facebook page, A New Life in the Van or you can go on our Instagram for some little reels and that's A New Life in the Van 2023. Um, so coming up now where did we go then? Well, we headed off to a Sasquatch farm and honestly this is quite freaky so be careful, be warned. So, we've come to the Sasquatch farm and it's really, really foggy. It's quite creepy around here. I haven't seen anything just yet but I'm keeping an eye out for anything remotely Sasquatchy. I feel quite nervous. Oh, hang on, what's this? Oh my gosh, what's? There's definitely something there. Did you see it? I saw something. I wonder what it is. Oh my gosh, it's huge. It's absolutely enormous. Oh, and it's really attractive. So, as you can see I grabbed myself a Sasquatch and here he is. Oh, he's very well trained already, I can tell you. Oh, thank heavens for that. Oh, on his face. It's a really good stay at the Sasquatch farm actually, wasn't it, Bab? It was really good. So, we booked with the Harvest Host and the quid pro quo is that you'll spend twenty dollars on some of their goods and we used their shop. There was a shop there, there was electricity, there was washing machines and a tumble dryer. We got all our washing done. I've dried my hair, got my hair down for a change because we could we could plug in and it was all sort of included and we had a great little spot. It was perfect, wasn't it, Bab, really? It was a nice gravelly spot. So, although it rained all night, there wasn't waterlogged in the morning because it had all soaked away. Yeah, and it's been raining actually the whole time we've been here. If it hadn't been raining, there was some great walking trails by the look of it, wasn't there? Yeah, and I think four waterfalls amongst the waterfalls. It would have been amazing, but we've had to be on our way. So, I've got my Sasquatch with me. We then went on to the Jack Daniels Distillery. Now, get this. It's in a place called Moore County, which is actually the smallest county in Tennessee, but Moore County is a dry county. Go figure. We couldn't believe it. So, anyway, there is a certain process to making Jack Daniels itself and there's some things that have to be done, but it has to be made in Tennessee to call it Tennessee whiskey. But there was a couple of other bits, wasn't there, we learned? Yeah, it has to be charcoal filtered and then it has to be made by the water that runs through those cave systems at the Jack Daniels factory. And actually, the Jack Daniels factory was a bit smaller than we were expecting, wasn't it? Yeah. To produce the Jack Daniels across the world, you know, 130 countries or whatever. Anyway, we met a lovely guide called Anthony, who was very comical, and you can see him in our next clip. See what you think of this. So, we're driving down to the Jack Daniels distillery and you can see there's a really, really thick fog ahead of us. So, I mean, Gary's having to go quite slowly and carefully because it's quite twisty and turny, isn't it? Like really concentrating. You can't see much either. No, you can't really see much ahead of you, actually. It's awful. This is the first time we've seen it like this. It's been so hot and sunny. So, you know, this is the only sort of rain and certainly the only fog we've seen since we've been here. Just at the Jack Daniels distillery and you park over one side. We've parked over where the RVs are and there's like a visitor centre just there. But there is a shuttle bus that takes you over, but we don't really want to hang around waiting for the shuttle bus because it looks like it's going to rain. So, we're going to take a walk over to it, but there's lots of rules. Not allowed backpacks, large bags, weapons, stroller. You're not allowed a stroller. Open container. You are allowed a purse, clutch wallet, a service animal, a camera and a baby sling. Dress for outdoor tour. Wear walking shoes. Right, okay, here we go. The entrance now and there's like loads of little barrels and stuff out. It's really cute. Gary's shrunk. So, we've just arrived at Jack Daniels. Gary's just checking us in. We bought the tickets online first. This is like the waiting area. There's obviously the man himself. Let's have a quick look at the plinth. 1850 to 1911. And this is a dry county, so that means there is not a liquor store in the county. The only place that you could come and buy a bottle of Jack, or if you're old enough, taste Jack in a group like we are, is here inside the DeSilvery. Now, folks will call me on that and say, well, Anthony, that's not what a dry county is. And I'll agree. Yeah, we're definitely not as dry as we always have been. For a long time, I would say that this was a damp county, but not everybody likes that word, so I just say we're a moist county. All right, now down in here, this is the rickyard and this is where we make that charcoal for the stacks of wood all down through there. Those are the ricks and that wood is sugar maple, hard sugar maple, and that is the same tree that makes maple syrup. Here in Tennessee, here in the south, it just doesn't get cold enough for maple syrup, but it still reuses this tree a little differently and makes charcoal. We found that, Anthony, really comical, didn't we? So that's it really for this week, apart from to tell you what we're doing now. So we're headed to Memphis. Where are we going, Gary? Graceland. We're going to Graceland because it's Gary's birthday tomorrow. He's the big 5'5", but he only looks 25. I think you'll all agree. I wish. So if you want to wish Gary a happy birthday, get in the comments, you know, happy birthday, Gary. Congratulations on your 39 year service. We're extremely proud of him and you're going to have a happy time, aren't we? Yep, we're going to have a great time. So we're heading there and then we're heading to Nashville as well next week. So catch up with us next week. If you're interested in seeing how we get on at Graceland, make sure you ding that bell and subscribe. I don't really know what I'm saying, but anyway, hopefully you know what I'm saying. But subscribe along, see us on Facebook, see us on Instagram, but wherever you do, have a great week. Love you loads. Bye.