Numerous groups toured Woodford Reserve Distillery the day we held our planning retreat there.

On November 4, we held our annual editorial planning retreat at Woodford Reserve Distillery in Woodford County, Kentucky. This is the third time we've held this retreat at this historic central Kentucky site over the past decade or so. Woodford Reserve produces premium small batch Kentucky bourbon and is owned by Brown Forman Corporation. Some buildings on this tiny, wooded site date to 1838 and the distillery was listed as a National HIstoric Landmark in 2000.

We were impressed by the number of corporate and leisure tour groups that came to the facility on this late fall day. Tim Knittel, the culinary program and meeting facility manager here, told me that this was actually a light day for groups. During football weekends, the distillery hosts up to a thousand or more guests on Fridays, he said. Ten thousand guests or more tour the distillery on busy months, he added.

Knittel and Marnie Walters, manager of sales and marketing for the distillery, are working with other entities in the central Kentucky region to package the distillery for meeting groups. We met in their creekside facility, The Dryer House. An adjacent patio offers outdoor seating for meeting attendees beside the tiny creek that runs through this property.  Tours of the distillery are complimentary for groups meeting on the premises. Catering is handled through Knittel's office and is arranged through local chef Ouita Michel, who runs another Woodford County establishment, the Holly Hill Inn.

For more information on Woodford Reserve, visit www.woodfordreserve.com.

Some buildings date to 1838 at Woodford Reserve Distillery outside Versailles, Kentucky.

We planned much of our 2013 editorial for four different publications and online editions in The Dryer House meeting facility.

The Dryer House sits on a creek and has an outdoor patio in the back for casual meetings in nice weather.

The stately Ross Bridge Resort, seen here from the first tee,  holds a commanding

place on the property and is visible from many holes on the golf course.

Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa is carved out of the Appalachian foothills just minutes from busy Birmingham, Alabama.  As soon as you drive onto this resort property that carries a Scottish theme for its namesake, you can feel yourself begin to relax just a bit.  We arrived here after breakfast at FarmLinks by way of a schedule change.  Due to a wet forecast for Friday, our hosts with the RTJ Trail set us up to play this resort's spectacular course a day early.

I've played this course a couple of times with the resort's general manager, Steve Miller, who is a pretty good player.  Steve had planned to play with us at Ross Bridge, but when we switched dates, he ended up playing with us the next day at the nearby RTJ Trail's Oxmoor Valley course.  I had the chance to play with Mike Gunn, a sales executive with the Greater Birmingham CVB, and a couple of fellow writers.  Ross Bridge is one of the longest golf courses in the world if you play it from the back tees.  Not only did we not do that, but I don't remember ever seeing anyone play from those tees in my rounds here.  It measures nearly 8,200 yards from the tips.

The first thing you notice about this course is that you almost always have a great view of the imposing Ross Bridge Resort from anywhere on the course.  This 259-room resort hotel sits on the property's highest point and is a focal point for any round here.  The golf shop is attached to the hotel, so guests walk from their rooms into the pro shop.  Each room has a balcony and the rates at Ross Bridge are very reasonable compared to most resorts of this caliber.  Miller told us at lunch the next day that $189 a night was a fairly good average rate here.  He also estimated that as many as a third of all guests in the resort played the course at least once during their stay.

Ross Bridge has some great holes and its greens are a bit less severe than some of the other RTJ Trail courses.  This is a resort course and if you play it from a reasonable tee based on your handicap, you can score here. 

After golf, I went to my room and opened the balcony doors overlooking the resort pool.  As I got out of the shower I heard the bagpiper.  A lone piper began on the first tee and walked a bit around the property, ending up on the poolside patio.  I listened for 20 minutes or so while I relaxed on the balcony.  This is an evening signature at Ross Bridge and it really drives home the resort's Scottish theme.  Bluegrass music has been described as a "high lonesome sound".  Bagpipe music?  For me it has always been ethereal and haunting. Something best heard from a distant hill.  This tradition makes a lasting impression for any visit to Ross Bridge Resort.

The finishing holes on each nine come in over this lake at Ross Bridge Resort.

The Ross Bridge course measures almost 8,200 yards from its back tees.

Players carry as much of the lake as they can with their drives on 18.  Their second shot will also carry

over water to this heavily bunkered green.

In early morning, mist off the lakes at Grand National gives golfers a memorable look at Alabama's scenery.

We started early on Wednesday, teeing off at 7:00 a.m. on the Lakes Course of the RTJ complex at Grand National in Auburn-Opelika.  Many consider this course to be among the most scenic in the entire RTJ system.  By starting early, we saw lots of holes draped in fog and mist rising from its large lakes.  Llke so many RTJ layouts, the greens on this course are large, sculpted and fast.  If you are above the hole on these greens, lagging a putt anywhere close to the hole is a challenge. 

There are two regulation size courses here, the Links and the Lakes Course, and a short course (18-hole par three).  This site is dominated by nearby 600-acre Lake Saugahatchee.  Of the 54 holes at Grand National, well over half have water on them from this lake system.  Twelve holes on the course we played were on the lake, including the par-three 15th, which is considered a signature hole for the entire RTJ Trail.  After grabbing lunch and a quick video interview with director of golf, Scott Gomberg, we headed for FarmLinks, about an hour away.

This is one of the great golf stories in Alabama.  FarmLinks at Pursell Farms was envisioned by David Pursell, an accomplished artist and golfer who grew up in the family's fertilizer business.  Pursell dreamed of building a demonstration golf course in tiny Sylacauga, Alabama and inviting golf course superintendants to fly in from across the country for training in turf management.  His vision became reality in 2003 with FarmLinks was completed, designed and built by Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry.  Pursell sold the family fertilizer business in 2006, but continues to oversee FarmLinks, which hosts corporate partners like Toro and ClubCar.  Hundreds of golf course superintendants have already been to FarmLinks, where they study turf management, play golf and enjoy the first-class amenities afforded at this golf resort, which was recently named #39 of Golf Digest's 75 Best Golf Resorts in North America.

The course itself was a contrast to the tight, tree-lined RTJ courses we had played the first two days.  FarmLinks is a great golf course with wide, sweeping fairways that allowed for a few errant drives without as much penalty.  The greens were impeccable, but less undulating and much easier to lag long putts on once you had the speed down.  The vistas on this golf course are farm vistas--broad expanses of wildflowers and fields with trees in shadows on the horizon.  The par-three 5th hole is a signature hole that drops maybe a couple of hundred feet depending on which tees you play.  The 18th, by contrast, is a long par-five that is carved from former cropland and seems to stretch forever back towards the clubhouse.  Pursell told us he loved the 18th because "we used 150 acres of farmland to create that hole."

Pursell joined us for dinner that evening at Parker Lodge, a rustic inn overlooking the 17th green and lake, that has eight guestrooms, a warm great room, complete kitchen facilities, and other amenities.  He spent an hour or so with us over steaks and detailed his vision for this family enterprise.  FarmLinks is about an hour from Birmingham and should be included in any golf trip to that part of Alabama.  Reservations are recommended and for $135 you can play all day with all beverages, range balls and lunch provided. Alcohol is not permitted on the course or sold on the facility.

Water down the left side guards the entire second hole on the Lakes Course at Grand National in Opelika.

The par three 5th hole is a signature at FarmLinks.

I shot this archway from Parkers Lodge overlooking the 17th hole after our overnight stay.

Owner David Pursell used "150 acres of farmland" to build the 18th hole at FarmLinks.

Golfers receive unlimited golf, range balls, lunch, and beverages on the course for one fee at FarmLinks.

The Senator is one of three championship courses at Prattville's Capitol Hill complex on the RTJ Trail.

Last week I joined a group of golf writers and Pam Shaheen of Crossroads Marketing Inc. for a week-long trip to play golf courses in Alabama. We played several of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail courses, plus a couple that are marketed as part of the Honours Golf collection. The RTJ Trail will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year and has been a unqualified success in the mission set out for it by the state's retirement system. The system was built to highlight Alabama as a travel destination and as a prospective site for new economic development. Over the past two decades, golf groups in this country and abroad have found their way to Alabama as a result, and three major automobile plants have landed here. Mercedes Benz, Honda and Hyundai-Kia have all begun production here over that time period. Honours Golf manages golf courses in numerous southeastern states.

Due to flight delays, I missed the first round at Highland Park, a venerable old course in downtown Birmingham. However, I've played this course numerous times with Jim Smither of the Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. This is an Honours course that is owned by the city of Birmingham and it was in great shape. Its heritage includes a tournament won there by Bobby Jones when he was a teenager. Bob Hope also played this course when he was in Birmingham years ago. We made our way that evening to Montgomery, where we dined as a group at Dreamland BBQ, an Alabama institution that began in Tuscaloosa. I had a great pork plate and their signature banana pudding for dessert. Several members of the Montgomery CVB and Alabama tourism office joined us at Dreamland.

The following morning, I played at Capitol Hill, an RTJ complex in nearby Prattville that includes three 18-hole regulation layouts. We played The Senator, a links-style course that hosts the LPGA's Navistar Classic golf tournament.  The Senator layout is immaculate and its greens are treacherously fast,  but I was also fascinated by the course's use of indiginous kudzu.  Several holes on the front that are framed by kudzu-draped forests. As a southerner, I'm familiar with this wild plant that overtakes entire sections of forests and creates eerie backdrops that are as beautiful as they are mysterious. Ravines and glens on some holes were covered by this vine and made for gorgeous canopies along the way. Director of Golf Mike Beverly joined my group and we had a great weather for golf.

That evening, we made our way to Auburn, where I stayed at the impressive Hotel at Auburn University. John Wild, president of the Auburn and Opelika Tourism Bureau, arranged to take us on a tour of Jordan-Hare Stadium, home to the 2010 national champion Auburn football team, and then hosted us at Brick Oven Pizza, a campus icon, for pizza, calzones and beer.

The Senator course at Capitol Hill is host to the LPGA's Navistar Classic each summer.

I loved the kudzu that framed several holes on the front nine.  This wild plant is prevalent in many parts of the American south.

We stopped for a moment to take in the wild foliage that thrived in this ravine on The Senator's front side.

A delightful urban environment awaits walkers on New York's High Line

One of New York's newest visitor experiences is the High Line, an urban trail that is being built on the former railroad tracks that carried freight trains through the city.  It is complete today from 30th Street to Gansevoort Street, almost 20 city blocks.  We walked up steps on 23rd Street and joined a throng of walkers going both ways.  The High Line is meticulously landscaped and has many places to stop and sit on benches or gaze at the city skyline.

We walked until it ended at Gansevoort Street, where a shopping district and several cafes welcome walkers.  The High Line is too crowded for runners, though we saw a few people giving it a go.  This is much more suited to walking.  Apartment buildings line the north side, and some are built over the pedway.  The south side overlooks the Hudson River and New Jersey. 

We had coffee on Gansevoort and then found our way very easily to Greenwich Village and Bleeker Street.  We spent a couple of hours checking out the shops and had lunch at John's Pizza - Bleeker Street.  We could not have had better weather in New York in October.  It was a magnificent day for a walk in America's premier city on its newest offering for walkers.

Two-way traffic works well on this pedway that is replacing old railroad tracks

Meticulous landscaping is one of the highlights of the High Line

Views across the river to New Jersey greet walkers looking southward

Falling water offers a calming presence at this magnificent memorial

It's hard to write about the 9/11 Memorial without feeling like an interloper. This is such a sacred place to so many families that it's hard to feel like this belongs to all of us. But it does and it should. Before we left Kentucky, we got online to make arrangements for four passes during our trip to New York and it added so much substance to our trip. I would not have missed it and I heartily recommend it.

We were there on a cloudless day under a bright blue sky. Airliners leaving La Guardia made a constant pass above us. It was impossible not to connect the dots and think about how that day unfolded for this magnificent city ten years ago.

This memorial is as peaceful a place as you can hope to be. The water that cascades down the walls of both memorials accomplishes its purpose. It is restorative, uplifting and full of hope. It falls into pools that then fall into wells that seemingly have no end. They are eternal in nature. 

The Freedom Tower, One World Trade Center, is well underway and will stand 1776 feet tall at its completion.

An American flag graces a nearby building at the 9/11 Memorial

A single rose is a poignant addition to a victim's name in the memorial

Presently, visitors are alloted 30 minutes to tour the 9/11 Memorial

Protesters gathered at Zuccotti Park in New York for the Occupy Wall Street movement

Wall Street dominates the news these days for lots of reasons.  The market right now is searching for anything tangible it can hold onto that might spark a rally.  Economies in Europe are as fragile as anyone can remember and threaten to disrupt worldwide markets including our own. And the protesters that gather in nearby Zuccotti Park for Occupy Wall Street have sparked countless copycat efforts in other cities around the country.

Thus, it was a particularly opportune time to be in New York when my famiy went October 6-9, so my sons and I decided to take a walking tour of the Financial District with The Wall Street Experience.com.  We walked through a Wall Street that is now as much residential as it is investment banks.  Because of online trading, much if not most of the traditional trading on the floors of the exchanges has been replaced with paperless trades.  The beautiful old Greek Revival buiding at 55 Wall Street once used for the New York Stock Exchange is now Cipriani Wall Street, an entertainment venue for corporate outings and concerts.

When our guide told us the Federal Reserve housed more gold than Fort Knox, as Kentuckians we had to check his facts.  Alas, he was correct.

Personally, the gathering down around Zuccotti Park in the Financial District seemed rather inconsequential to me.  While there may be merit in some part of the messages being espoused here, it was hard to take the messengers too seriously in this environment.  Without getting too far into politics, I think it's safe to say that signs like "Weed, Not Greed" make it harder to consider the more substantive issues being espoused.  In the end, for my money, sleeping bags, hand-lettered placards, street vendors and photo ops for passersby are awfully easy to ignore.

Placards of all types are held up and passersby frequently stop to ask questions

A statue of George Washington stands in front of Federal Hall.   New York was the nation's capital in 1789.

A statue of George Washington stands

A cemetery stands at Trinity Church in the financial district with markers dating to the 18th century.  Alexander Hamilton was buried here after he lost a duel to Aaron Burr.

Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau CEO Gretchen Hall, far left in doorway, and other Little Rock representatives welcomed delegates to the River Market event

Delegates to the Small Market Meetings Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, were treated to a wonderfully--executed destination dichotomy the second day of the event.   Following an afternoon of sightseeing, they were swept off their feet at a reception at this city's historic Capital Hotel.   This graceful old hotel has been meticulously renovated and delegates were enthralled by its approachable elegance. 

After an hour or more of drinks and hors d'oeurvres in its upstairs lobby and adjacent balcony, they barely had time to go to their rooms before a boisterous high school band met them head-on in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel and marched them down the street a few blocks to this city's restored River Market.  This colorful old indoor market has a distinctly Mediterranean feel about it and dozens of small eateries and retail shops line its walls, creating the feel of a middle eastern bazaar. 

In this delightful juxtaposition of settings, delegates relaxed and danced to the sounds of a local blues band, feasted on more foods and had open bars throughout the complex for their enjoyment.  It was as if Little Rock wanted these meeting planners to experience everything it had to offer from A to Z in one afternoon and evening of mind-blowing entertainment.  And it worked!

Blues rifts filled the River Market while delegates enjoyed one of Little Rock's most eclectic downtown scenes

A few of the Sioux Falls, South Dakota delegation took in the fun at Little Rock's River Market

Small Market Meetings editor Vickie Mitchell, left, talked with SMM Conference CEO Joe Cappuzzello and Little Rock CVB CEO Gretchen Hall

Little Rock's Big Dam Bridge is a huge draw for runners, walkers, bicyclists and nature enthusiasts

As delegates to our Small Market Meetings Conference enjoyed a fascinating tour of Little Rock's sights that wrapped up with a reception at the historic Capital Hotel, I took a couple of hours off and went for a walk at this city's favorite outdoor recreation spot, the Big Dam Bridge.  Opened in 2004, this mammoth bridge crosses the dam on the Arkansas River a few miles northwest of the city.  Another pedestrian bridge across the river in downtown Little Rock was to open the week of the Small Market Meetings Conference.  A 14-mile loop now exists between the two bridges for bicyclists and walkers.

The day I was there, dozens of bicyclists, runners and walkers crossed the bridge in both directions as I walked it.  A track team of maybe 20 young men and women from a nearby university ran across as well.  I followed the trail across the bridge and up into the woods that line this scenic river.

This was my second trip to Big Dam Bridge and this time I had enough time to really get the feel of this Arkansas outdoor icon.  At its zenith, it rises 90 feet above the river and features eight observation points.  Little Rock is a town filled with outdoor enthusiasts and they flock to Big Dam Bridge.  But they enjoy downtown nearly as much.  From my perch in the Peabody Hotel, each morning I could see many joggers and bicyclists getting their time in on the trails that line both sides of the the river in this scenic city.

A 14-mile loop trail connects downtown Little Rock with Big Dam Bridge

I watched as runners and bicyclists disappeared into the Arkansas countryside on this scenic trail

Looking westward on the bridge away from Little Rock, Arkansas's Ozark Mountains begin to rise in the distance

A high school band and drum corps welcomed delegates to the William J. Clinton Presidential Library for the opening event of the 2011 Small Market Meetings Conference

A beautiful evening gave way to a spectacular event as the 2011 Small Market Meetings Conference got underway in Little Rock, Arkansas on September 26.  Roughly 225 delegates including more than 100 meeting planners from 23 states gathered for the second annual conference that is designed to highlight second and third-tier cities and distinctive smaller venues across America. 

Delegates were transported from their host hotel, the Peabody Hotel in downtown Little Rock, to the internationally-acclaimed William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library that sits prominently on the Arkansas River in this revitalized downtown.  Only three days later, the former President and his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, would be in Little Rock to observe the 20th anniversary  of his first announcement speech for his candidacy for President at the Old State House in this Arkansas capital city. 

Delegates toured the library and were treated to a rare privilege--almost all were photographed in the resplendent replica of the Oval Office that is housed at this impressive library.  Following an ornate reception, they dined in the facility's ballroom and were treated to a jazz concert and dancing.

A place setting in the library reflects the grandeur of a state dinner in the White House

Delegates poured over thousands of documents, photographs and other types of memorabilia from the Clinton Presidency

The event concluded with a surf and turf dinner and dancing to a jazz ensemble compliments of The Clinton Library, the Little Rock CVB and the Arkansas Dept. of Parks and Tourism