SEC Softball Tournament

Lexington, Kentucky

We left Asheville on a Monday and settled into our rental house in the heart of Lexington, Kentucky. It was a nice neighborhood on a dead-end street. The softball tournament was to be the main event of this leg of the trip. But we were in Kentucky, so we were bound to find a lot more than just softball to experience.

We were so hungry when we arrived and had dinner at Desperado’s Cantina which featured some super spicy tacos. After eating, we went to the Elkhorn Tavern for a buttered bourbon Old Fashioned made with bourbon from a local place, the Barrel Distiller. All of this was located in the Manchester Distillery District which was just minutes from our house. We got a little splurgy because we knew the rest of the week, we would be so busy and eating at the stadium.

Our friend, Donna met us in Lexington and from Tuesday-Thursday, we saw a lot of softball, a total of 11 games. Missouri was knocked out on day 1 so we adopted Auburn as the #14 ranked underdog, and they made it until losing on Thursday to Florida. For those of you that don’t follow softball, the SEC is a powerhouse. The talent level this year was truly remarkable. The tournament was a lot of fun!!

Friday, we finally had a lazy morning and went back to the Distillery Complex for lunch. We each had a smash burger and tater tots. Then we did a tasting at the James E Pepper Distillery.

The semi-final games started at 5 PM. Alabama run-ruled Florida and then the Texas-Georgia game was exciting but, in the end, Texas won. We got to see our favorite color commentator, Holly Rowe (who also does a lot of WNBA games).

On Saturday, the three of us ate lunch at the Sedona Taphouse. We then returned to the stadium for one last game. The final game was Texas vs. Alabama, and the score ended at 7-1. Tegan Kevan, the Texas pitcher dominated.

Sunday, we drove through horse country. I promised my wife we would see lots of white fences but apparently due to the cost of maintaining the classic white fences, the fences are now painted black. It saves the average farm about $50,000 a year. We also made a stop at the Kentucky Horse Park.

We were fortunate to see some of the original stone fences. Only about 10% of them still remain.

We really crammed a lot into this two-week trip. It felt like a typical vacation in a way that our more leisurely, longer trips don’t. I didn’t have much time to read or do any writing at all. I am working on two novels, and I have this Substack as well as two others that I write. I hadn’t really taken two weeks off completely in a long time. It was nice.

In the coming weeks, I will be looking back at our 2008 New Orleans trip as well as a few other St. Louis activities that we enjoyed this spring. Visiting New Orleans this winter made me nostalgic about that very special trip. I hope that your Memorial weekend was a good one and happy almost June.