We spent the night in Asheville at the lovely and Historic Grove Park Inn, ate dinner at the Sunset Terrace with John and Kelley to celebrate our anniversaries, before heading to Cashiers and a wonderful wedding we attended in Glenville, North Carolina. While walking the streets of Highlands, nary a mask was seen and, when we arrived in Nashville, it was packed and bustling with tourists, making the rounds up and down music joints and honky tonks on Broadway. When we tried to get a reservation for dinner (on a Monday night), we couldn’t get one until 9 p.m., way past my suppertime!

And when we stopped by Mammoth Caves, the largest cave in the world, on the way to our next stop in Louisville, the tours were totally sold out for the next week. Obviously, I didn’t plan ahead well enough, but I hadn’t gotten the memo that the world was open and ready for business! We toured another, commercial cave (Diamond Caverns) and I felt lucky that we were able to get tickets for the Kentucky Derby Museum and the Behind the Scenes Tour the next day.

We went straight to the bar in the lovely and historic Brown Hotel for a drink. The bartender there was totally underwater, his fourth day on the job, one bartender short and trying to split a check between three guys. We finally sat down and ordered a drink. I got a Bourbon Mule, because if there’s one thing Kentucky is synonomous with it’s bourbon. It was cool and refreshing, just what I needed after a long day in the car. We put our names on the list for dinner in the Brown, but didn’t sit down until 9 p.m. again!

We split the Hot Brown sandwich, a dish associated with Louisville and invented in The Brown Hotel. It’s an open faced turkey sandwich, served on toast points with Mornay sauce, bacon, tomato and cheese and it was as decandent and delicious as it sounds.

The next morning, just driving up to Churchill Downs was a thrill and the Behind the Scenes tour was really wonderful. Some of it was outside, by the paddocks, but the other part was inside the stadium, in different areas. I was surprised when our guide instructed us to enter the elevator to the second floor. About twenty of us were crammed into a large elevator, shoulder to shoulder. I looked in my purse for a mask, but didn’t find one, so tried to hold my breathe on the ride up. After staying six feet away from my fellow man for more than a year, this sudden togetherness, with us all breathing the same air in a small enclosed space was like going from 0 to 60 with no warning. I tried not to over-think it, but it felt strange, to say the least. I felt a minor panic attack coming on, but I lived through it.

We left the Kentucky Derby Museum to eat at Biscuit Belly, with biscuits the size of a small baby. In fact, I kept wanting to call it Biscuit Baby. If there was one theme to our Road Trip, a food I saw over and over again, it was Biscuits and Gravy. Zeke got the favorite- Rockwell Supreme with sausage gravy, fried chicken breast, bacon and a fried egg. I got the more petite Mama’s Boy with fried green tomato, fried chicken breast, jalapeno pimento cheese and pickles. Both were delicious! Then it was time for our tour at Four Roses Bourbon Distillery.

I checked many Bourbon Distilleries on the Bourbon Trail to make a reservation, but they were all booked! Probably the only reason we were able to get a tour at Four Roses was because it was Four Roses’ first day of tours since COVID. Four Roses is located in Lawrenceburg, about an hour away from Louisville, in the same town as Wild Turkey. We did the tour, had a bourbon tasting and I checked one distillery off my Bourbon Trail passport (with 36 to go!). Dessert was Derby Pie in our hotel lobby, the official pie of the Kentucky Derby. It’s made with semi-sweet chocolate, walnuts and bourbon and we had it served a la mode. Delicious!

The final food destination I had to make was Skyline Chili, located in Cincinnati, Ohio. This also allowed me to check another state off my list. I’m down to two- Rhode Island and Alaska. We first visited the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati (very cool!), then went to Skyline Chili in Clifton, the oldest one still existing. While I’d heard about Cincinnati Chili for years, I’d never eaten it, so was really looking forward to it.

Skyline is a chain of Cincinnati-style chili that was started by a Greek Immigrant and named for the view of the Cincinnati skyline seen from the original restaurant. The Skyline Diner is just a straight up, old school diner, with stools and booths and cooks in the middle, lining up hot dogs and topping them with chili and mounds of grated cheese, like a factory. There were oyster crackers and hot sauce on the table, as our waitress handed us laminated menus. Obviously the thing to get was the chili, but it came different ways- 3-way, 4-way and 5-way.

I ordered a small 5 way, which was the signature dish 3-way of “steaming spaghetti, covered with the chili and topped with a mound of shredded cheddar cheese”- plus diced onions and beans. I was disappointed in this dish; I’m not a fan of the dish other people rave about. First of all, the spaghetti wasn’t steaming, it was cold, the chili tasted bland, sweet (from cinnamon and chocolate) and watery, there was a lot of cheese and not many diced onions.

After a couple bites, I added the oyster crackers and hot sauce to the dish to try and liven it up. It helped a bit, but really I felt those 450 calories could have been spent on something that actually tasted good. The Peppermint Patty, at the cashier register, was the highlight of this meal for me. I know people from Cincinnati love this stuff, so maybe you have to have been raised on it. As a Miami Girl, I’ll take a toasty Media Noche, creamy croquettas or black beans and rice any day over this dish!

On the way back to Asheville from Ohio, we stopped in Corbin, Kentucky to see the Original Kentucky Fried Chicken location. Unfortunately the museum was closed (thanks, COVID!) but it was still fun to take a little side trip to the birthplace of Finger-Lickin’ Good Chicken. Needless to say, I didn’t need to eat any more fried chicken on this trip, so we stopped, got a bottle of water and were back on the road.

In conclusion, in case you’re planning a Road Trip to any of these locations:

• Best Breakfast: Breakfast Burrito with Potatoes Pucketts in Nashville
• Best Lunch: The Burger at Bridge at Mill Creek , Highlands, North Carolina
• Best Dinner: Smoked Pork Shank with cilantro microgreens, peanuts, sorghum-chili glaze and lime on cheese grits at Deacon’s New South, Nashville
• Best Drink: The Bourbon Mule, The Brown Hotel Bar, Louisville
• Best Dessert: The Derby Pie, The Brown Hotel, Louisville
• Best Old School Dish: The Hot Brown, The Brown Hotel, Louisville
• Most Outrageous Meal: The Rockewell Supreme, Biscuit Belly, Louisville
• Most Disappointing Meal: The 5-way Chili at Skyline Chili, Cincinnati

Up Next: Shrimp Ceviche Recipe

My house is getting really organized. I bought two drawer organizers for my kitchen drawers and organized my kitchen “junk drawer”. All my drawers had kind of turned into “junk” drawers, now they are neat and tidy. I ordered some grey velvet hangers from Amazon and am slowly phasing out the ugly plastic white ones, for the skinnier, more elegant grey ones in my bedroom closet.

I’ve begun weeding and pruning around the yard, a little bit every day. We had a gentleman named Peter come by yesterday and repair our coral rock wall, that had been damaged by a gumbo limbo tree. He also repaired another part of the wall that had started crumbling. Zeke’s been raking leaves every morning, after he comes home (earlier and earlier it seems) from work.

“Look how great our yard looks!” he proclaimed proudly, one day last week.

“But there’s no one here to see it,” I said, sadly.

It’s kind of ironic when our house and yard look so good that we can’t have anyone over, but as a friend pointed out, we are here to see it and enjoy it. And when would we ever have the kind of time for all these cleaning and organizing projects? I still have many more things to do on my to-do list, so much I think I would panic if the stay-at-home orders are relaxed. Of course, that would be a good problem to have.

The highlight of my week was definitely getting to see and babysit my grandson Wyatt. His Dad got food poisoning and was unable to watch him Tuesday, so Gigi stepped in to babysit so his Mom could work. He rode his bike and I walked beside him, as we went to see the stuffed animals on 76 street.

My daughter A.J. was organizing an event for Women Who Rock, benefitting Lotus Children, children with Autism who are staying at Lotus House. The event, Denim and Diamonds, was Friday night and the rehearsal was Wednesday night, which is why I was baby-sitting.

Another milestone, I finally got out of my yoga clothes and wore a dress twice this week. The first was for a Zoom meeting for the Coral Gables Community Foundation. We discussed what the foundation is doing to help the community- distributing meals with Threefold Cafe to workers and their families in the Gables who have lost their jobs- and other topics. It was nice to see everyone (even through the computer), but I have to say there was a weird vibe to the meeting. Serious and the unpredictablity and uncertainty of the future weighed heavily on all of us.

The chair of the Gala, which was to be “La Vie en Rose”, a Paris-themed gala at the Biltmore Hotel, poo-pooed the idea that the gala would not go on in October. But the rest of us were silent, because really, who knows?

Things that we’ve lost.

And it dawned on me around the same time, that there will more than likely be no UM football games to attend this Fall. My husband and I are season ticket holders and really look forward to going to the games and tailgating with friends and family. Now, that doesn’t seem likely; and that makes me really sad. Going to UM football games and supporting the ‘Canes is part of what makes us, us.

Also, my Pinecrest Garden Club, which meets the second Tuesday of the month in the Hibiscus Room of Pinecrest Gardens, doesn’t seem likely to reconvene in September. Many of our members are elderly and we normally have around seventy people crammed into the room, eating, drinking and chatting in close knit groups, all things that don’t seem advisable until a vaccine is available. I’ve been sending photo cards to the members with a quote from Emily Dickinson, as a way to keep in touch.

So, the second time I donned a dress was Friday night for the Denim and Diamonds fundraiser my daughter was the event planner for. I put on a denim dress and my diamond earrings for the occasion. No one saw me but my familia, but that’s ok. The event was held on Facebook Live and many people joined in the fun, via Zoom. My nephews, Mike and James Gerrard, played their guitars from their living room and sang two songs; I was also able to see my sister Elise watching with her boyfriend. If you would like to donate to this worthy cause, check out TheLotusChildren.org.

Dinners this week consisted of a Vegetable Lasagna on Sunday (with bread, roasted garlic and salad). The inspiration came from a lasagna I saw on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It was made with one layer red sauce, then lasagna noodles, one layer of ricotta and spinach, then noodles, one layer of pureed sweet potatoes, then noodles and another layer of ricotta and spinach, and topped with mozzarella and parmesan. Since it made a lot, I shared some with my sisters Kelley and Elise and my neighbor Maggie.

One day, we just ate leftovers, Thursday we had Chicken and Vegetable Tikka Masala my sister Elise made, which I served with white rice. Friday, I had Wyatt, so we just had pasta. My enthusiasm for cooking interesting meals is waning. I made two pizzas on Saturday, made with a two-ingredient Pizza Dough that doesn’t require any yeast. Yeast has been a hot commodity in the pandemic.

Our take-out this week was from Root and Bone in South Miami. The Family Supper consisted of one fried chicken, biscuits, Mac and Cheese, coleslaw and corn for $40. It was all delicious and pick-up was curbside and easy. I also ordered Ribs, fried green tomatoes, sweet potato croquettes and a watermelon salad, all yummy, although the salad was a little wilted. I highly recommend Root and Bone‘s Family Supper. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

You know how they always ask chefs what their last meal would be? I asked Lauren and Zeke last night, where the first place they would want to eat when restaurants open again. Lauren said Hillstone, where she likes to meet a friend to get the Spinach Artichoke Dip and get a glass of wine. Zeke said Capital Grille to get a dry aged steak, with sides and a nice bottle of wine. He really is a meat and potatoes guy. I think I would like a nice seafood dinner, somewhere in the Keys, on the water. With music and the perfect margarita.

We finished two puzzles this week (well, it was really Zeke) and watching McMillions. We liked McMillions, but it’s no Tiger King. We also started watching a corny show- Listen to Your Heart on ABC, part of the Bachelor franchise, to sate our Monday night Bachelor withdrawals. I finished reading the book for my Book Club, Blood, Bones & Butter. It’s written by Gabrielle Hamilton, the chef and owner of a popular Soho restaurant named Prune. She wrote an article about closing her restaurant in the pandemic and what the future holds for Prune. Read about it (or listen to it on the Daily) at www.nytimes.com>closing-prune-restaurant-covid.

Emma just took her last exam and is set to graduate from F.S.U. this Saturday; Lauren’s in the middle of finals online at UM Law School. Other good news: our tenants in our Keys condo are finally leaving! They stayed an extra month, due to the pandemic and we’ve been dying to go down to our “little slice” of paradise.

Zeke and I are doing well. We’ve gotten into a pretty good system. He cleans the kitchen, I do the laundry. He cooks one night a week, we get take-out one night and I cook the other five. It’s starting to get a little dangerous though, because he’s getting used to this situation (me as hausfrau) and likes the fact we’re saving money by eating in and not having a housekeeper. He said:

“I like the way you fold the laundry. I don’t think we even need Isa anymore.”

Ugh, yes we do! My housekeeper texted me last week. I was hoping it was to tell me she was coming back, but she was just checking in. Hopefully, when restrictions loosen up, she will back at our house.

When Zeke and I first started walking together, we talked about which of the kids we thought would disregard the social distancing rules, and come home and give us the dreaded coronavirus. We had different theories of who the most likely suspect would be. Living in the pandemic is like being in an Agatha Christie murder mystery, where we sit around the living room and look at each other suspiciously. Emma has even turned the tables on us and said: “How do we know where you guys have been? You’re probably going to give it to us.” And every time someone goes to the grocery store (I’m still Instacarting), my heart drops. Twenty-four Publix grocery stores have employees who have tested positive for the coronavirus.

One thing about being in such close quarters with your spouse are the smells. Normally, we aren’t together 24/7, but now that we are… I had a friend who insisted separate bathrooms were the key to a happy marriage; I now know what’s she’s talking about. I now also know one month is the amount of time it takes for a toilet ring to develop. And Zeke has this habit of taking his socks off, and leaving them wherever he happens to be that is really starting to get on my nerves.

I saw a meme with a husband and wife on the couch where she says: “You’re breathing too hard” and I get it. It especially bothers me when he comes into the family room after dinner, with a glass full of ice cream and I hear the clink, clink, clink of the spoon hitting the glass. For some reason, it reminds me of my ex-husband and really bugs the s**t out of me. He knows this and persists on doing it. I just have to leave the room. Deep breaths.

And, even with all the ice-cream eating and wine drinking, Zeke’s lost seven pounds. Another reason to want to kill him.

On the day we had Wyatt, he biked, swam, took a bath, ate dinner and was still up around 9, with no nap. He was exhausted, but refused to sleep. I gave him apple juice and milk (his drink of choice) in his sippy cup, let him watch one of “his shows”,(which are inane) but then turned on ours (McMillions) and he was furious. He started crying. I told him he could either watch our show or go to bed.

“I don’t ever want to be in this family ever again!” he said.

I feel you baby, but our family is all we’ve got right now. We may even eye each other suspiciously, but at the end of the day, we all go to bed under one roof. Luckily, after his outburst, he promptly went to sleep.

So, here’s the Two Ingredient Pizza Dough from the Food Network. One of the ingredients is Greek Yogurt. The recipe called for full fat, but I only had 2% and it turned out fine. I made one with Fig Jam, carmelized onions and Gorgonzola cheese, the other with marinara sauce, mozzarella, basil and parmesan cheese. These were all things I had in the fridge. If you don’t have a pizza stone, you can use an upside down cookie sheet. The hardest part of this recipe, is you have to knead the dough for eight minutes, but I find it’s good therapy and we can all use some therapy right now.

Two-Ingredient Pizza Dough Food Network Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 2 cups self-rising flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
• Pizza sauce and shredded mozzarella, for topping

Directions:

• 1 Put a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet on the center rack of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.
• 2 Put the flour and yogurt in a large bowl and mix with a fork until a shaggy dough forms. (The dough may appear dry and crumbly at first, but it will come together as you mix it.) Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until the dough is smooth and slightly elastic, about 8 minutes, dusting with more flour if neccessary. If the dough feels too dry, add water, a tablespoon at a time and continue kneading until it is soft and pliable. Divide the dough in half, roll into balls and then use a rolling pin to roll out into two 10-inch pizzas. Dust the back of another inverted baking sheet or pizza stone with more flour and place a circle of dough on top.
• 3 Top the dough round with sauce and shredded cheese as desired, leaving a half-inch bare border around the edge. Slide the pizza onto the preheated stone or baking sheet, top as desired and put the sheet in the oven to bake. Cook until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling, 8 to 10 minutes. Using a large spatula, transfer the pizza to a cutting board and let sit 5 minutes.

We are all human beings. We all have a role to play and together is the only way we will make it out the other side. Be kind, be present, be well.

Micheal Beltrane, chef at Ariete, Taurus. Chugs

Up next: Fun Kitchen projects and How to Shop Safely at the Grocery Store