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Extrapolations whilst on bourbon expedition.

Extrapolations whilst on bourbon expedition.
We used web-based home rental system for our distillery and cultural explorations of Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Illinois. We and the “hosts” are all on a first name basis, In fact, the web communicates your lodge-keeper’s first name only. This opportunity for speculation was only tainted by the welcome repair visit of “Jon” in St. Louis. Otherwise what might we make of these fellows?
Abdul owned a brick 70s tract house in suburban Louisville. From the voice during a check-in call and the wifi name, which might have been Islamabad but isn’t, and the request to not wear shoes in the home, Abdul lived Pakistan at one time. The house was certainly only used for such short stays. The back lawn was shaggy and contained a sagging trampoline. I wonder what liability insurers think about this accident waiting to happen? It was a very sufficient spacious place to spend a night. Abdul - a doctor who moved his family to a more convenient home nearer town and kept this as investment? Reading material: None. Use again. Sure, if passing through.
Chris’ place was past a line of a dozen manufactured homes and adjacent to an RV campground on a Kentucky creek 10 miles from Frankfurt. Upstream from a refinery, uh, I mean a big name distillery. The ETOH chemical plant is not on the tourist maps. The manufactured homes were in better shape than some of the other homes where decay and reconstruction are locked in a long -term wrestling match. No personality shown by the decor or furnishings. But the neighbor, Jack, assured me that Chris and Jenna were really good people. Jack himself had built, from lumber donated by a buddy, a cozy tiny rental cabin across the road from our. My surmise is that they are a young working couple who bought a home and did a DIY gut and rebuild project. Tourist brochures only. Use again: yep.
Joe vacated his suburban Nashville townhome for us. I’d experienced this in Paris when Mme. LaFrance went south to visit friends the week we rented her place south of the Tour Eiffel. From her apartment I was unable to deduce much. From Joe, though… A collage of childhood photos. Shots of he and his daughters, he and his father. Absence of spouse/mother suggests an expensive divorce. Joe appears to be pressed for success. Decor: some casework furniture from his childhood home. “Art” works, faux window grates on blank wall, sufficient seating. Multiple wine displays with bottles of the 10 dollar and under variety. Many dozen athletic shoes in the closet. A refrigerator with a bachelor’s accumulation. In the living room, magazines on golf and guns and just one book: Twenty Shades of Gray…. His teenager’s bible elsewhere on display. In the “neighborhood”, Toiken references in street names, “shoppes” with nothing I can imagine buying. Playgrounds “For Residents Only”, tidy dog feces bagged and dropped three feet from a purpose-build disposal. Busy traffic through ‘burbs to get to the place. Someone has probably written an Americana style ballad about this area. Use again: not my gestalt.
Joe II we encountered face-to-face in Cherokee Street neighborhood in St. Louis. He took my suggestion that he replace the AC/heat control. The system left us cooking at 82 degrees for our first night. Well, I, my companions and Joe are the face of gentrification of this neighborhood just south of downtown. History signs along the streets tell stories of new arrivals, entrepreneurs, suicides, working women, entertainment, industry and change. Joe II called his place “The Stable.” But the sign in front says our building was a millenary shop and that the stable once stood in the empty lot where we parked. This place was rebuilt solely for the purpose of renting out for $125 a night. Strangely scattered kitchen layout and light switches. Steep steep stairs. Down the street, the Chatilon-DeMenil Mansion Museum; back to the west, punk bars, the top-rated cheap Mexican food place, a repurposed theater, antique emporiums and a part-time, used record shop. By far the most interesting neighborhood we were in. Joe II has two “by-the-night” rentals here. Perhaps also owns standard rental property elsewhere? Nary a book or magazine in sight. Use again: if with able and amenable companions who also want to explore the old city.
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