Bluegrass Romance

Chester Wilson is 95 years old. This past mini-mission we made friends with him at the Cornerstone Pharmacy in Versailles, KY. Our original plan for Mini-Mission No.4 was to spend the day in Louisville, but not far down highway 64 our plans changed; where we were headed was not open. It was Monday, Martin Luther King Day and the Mohammad Ali Museum was closed. What to do? Adventure ruined?

We pulled off the exit and hung out at a Shell Station to regroup.

There are a hundred things we could have done in Louisville, but it was a cold and overcast January day, and what Mr. Cecil and I really felt like doing (touring the local distilleries and warming our blood with Bourbon) wasn’t appropriate for a family adventure. If Lucca was 16, we would have made him our designated driver on the Bourbon trail, but alas he is three. As we brainstormed alternative ideas to getting Kentucky tipsy, Lucca hung out in the backseat, wondering if maybe a trip down the candy isle of gas station mini-mart was our big adventure. (He would have been totally okay with that).

After a half hour of mini-mission shuffling (where is our hat?), what felt the most right to do was to just drive. We’ve been in Kentucky almost a year, it was time to experience a bit of the small town America that lies right in Lexington’s back yard.

There is a wonderful story to be told about the life, the experiences, the humor and the drama that unfold everyday in small town America. – Kim Huston, Small Town Sexy

We drove through Lawrenceburg and took a stroll down Main St:

We discovered the Life Adventure Center (also closed on Mondays?)

We admired the old advertising painted on brick walls in Versailles too:

Then we stepped into the Cornerstone Pharmacy for an Ale 8:

We sat down at the counter and ordered some old fashioned refreshments from Judy

Ronnie ate the region’s best Butter Pecan ice-cream (and looked so good lookin’ while doing it)

Lucca at ice-cream and got all over his face

and I sipped on a chocolate malt milkshake. (no picture )

Then, right there at the counter, the highlight of our family adventure happened: We met Chester.

He gave us the best smile I had seen from a stranger in a long time.

Chester comes to the Cornerstone Pharmacy everyday and gets a coffee from Judy. Some mornings he brings his son who is 75.

He moved from Lexington to Versailles in 1931

Chatting with Chester we learned he played played baseball for Versailles semi-professional team, The Independents; he had a job as an inspector for the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms) in the Bourbon distilleries; his wife died seven years ago and he calls the folks at the Cornerstone Pharmacy his family (they are real nice folks; I’d call them family too). We didn’t make it to Louisville but we did enjoy seeing the small towns in Lexington’s backyard. Making a new friends with Mr. Wilson couldn’t have happened anywhere but the Cornerstone Pharmacy in Versailles, and for that I’m glad the detour of mini-mission number 4 took us where it did.

Here is the take home from mini-mission no. 4: I realize now that not all of these mini-missions are going to be successful in that we accomplish what we originally set out to do. We’ll make plans to do one thing (like Louisville museum hopping) and something will happen (like realizing the museums we were planning on visiting are closed). Big hiccups like these in the plans could cause us to give-up. OR…we  could vow to stay committed to the bigger goal and make a detour.

Living this year committed to Bluegrass Romance means choosing the detour before ever giving up. It’s a good lesson for all of us– if your willing to relinquish a little control and to simply vow to make the best of whatever comes your way, you might be delighted by a new adventure.

For us the primary goal of Bluegrass Romance is to experience life with more romance and adventure– whatever form it takes. May this project never become just an effort to cross things off a list of what to do or see in Kentucky! Besides, the museums in Louisville will still be there for us next week.  Mini-mission no. 4 lead us to discover the joy of making a new friend in a small town.

We’ve heard the expressions “life is what happens when we are busy making other plans” and seen the bumper sticker “you plan, God laughs” and today I’m remembering that the truth of this is not always a bad thing. One key to living life with more romance and adventure is to not give up on romance and adventure even when it takes a different shape or direction than you expect. Go with it. Remember that like happiness, romance and adventure is a pursuit, not an outcome or something you can cross of a list of things to do.  Enjoy the surprises–and new smiles– that come when your plans shift. Adventure: the pursuit of life. — Daniel Roy Wierda