New spirit infuses historic Mount Vernon

MOUNT VERNON, Va. — If it looks like scotch whisky, smells like scotch whisky and tastes like scotch whisky, then it must be scotch whisky, right? Well, sort of.

When it's made in the United States, specifically at George Washington's Distillery and Gristmill in Virginia near Mount Vernon — and not in Scotland, where all scotch comes from — then does it become scotch whiskey with an "e"? Not exactly.

The trick in making it more whisky than whiskey involves a few things. The first is the idea of making it on U.S. soil, which was the brainchild of David Blackmore, the master brand ambassador for Glenmorangie. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Scotch Whisky Association, and in thinking up a celebratory event to mark the occasion, the light bulb over Blackmore's head lit up.

"I thought that we should bring the Scots over to make whisky here," says Blackmore. He began talking to a few people, and before long the idea began rolling around like a barrel of, well, whisky.

A brief history lesson: In the late 1700s, James Anderson, George Washington's farm manager, who was originally from Scotland and a whisky maker, talked his boss into getting into the distilled spirits industry. Washington eventually became the largest distiller of corn and rye whiskey in the nation.

Washington's distillery, painstakingly restored to its 18th century architecture and reopened in 2007, seemed the logical place to make whisky. With the combined efforts of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, the Scotch Whisky Association, the Scottish government and the Mount Vernon Estate, the distilling began.

A few tons of Scottish malt barley were imported to the distillery, where it was milled.

Next came a handful of Scotsman in kilts, including Glenmorangie master distiller Bill Lumsden. On the domestic side was David Pickerell, the master distiller for the George Washington Distillery.

For three days in late March, these forces made scotch whisky the old-fashioned way, with wood-burning fires and copper pots and three-cornered hats.

So how do you get your hands on a bottle of the scotch whisky-without-the-e? For the time being, you don't. In following the rules of the Scotch Whisky Association, the whisky must be aged in barrels for at least three years.

But three years from now, you might have a shot at tasting the whisky: The first 100 bottles — the first scotch ever to come out of the distillery at Mount Vernon — will be auctioned for charity around the world.

Though you may not ever taste the whisky, you can still see the distillery and how whiskey was made in Washington's time.

"The still is primarily an education exhibition by seeing how whiskey was made 200 years ago," says Dennis Pogue, vice president for preservation at Mount Vernon Estate. He added that the story of making scotch on the property "really resonates" because of the connection between America and Scotland.

"The bonds of friendship between the two nations go back a long way," says Robin Naysmith, the Scottish government counselor for North America. "James Anderson persuaded George Washington that whiskey wasn't a bad industry to get into."

A visit to the distillery and museum is the perfect accompaniment to a visit to Mount Vernon and is quite family-friendly.

And perched on a nearby hill is Washington's reconstructed gristmill. Re-enactors in colonial clothing grind corn and wheat into meal, flour and stone-ground grits that are sold at the gift shop.

If you go

Sixteen miles south of Washington, D.C., and three miles from the Mount Vernon Estate, George Washington's Distillery and Gristmill and gift shop are open daily April through October. 703-780-2000, mountvernon.org

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Driving the Lincoln Highway

DEKALB, Ill. — From southern Cook County to the Mississippi River, a road created in 1913 — and still known by its original name — meanders through Chicago's suburbs before cutting a path across the fertile farmland farther west.

It is Lincoln Highway, America's first coast-to-coast highway, and it once stretched 3,400 miles from New York City to San Francisco. Illinois' 179 miles represent just a small portion, but history buffs and others in search of a unique, sometimes quirky road trip can find plenty along it to spark their interest.

"Illinois is fortunate to be the only state to have a designation as a national scenic byway," says Bonnie Heimbach, who as project director of the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition helped secure that distinction. She also helped persuade state transportation officials to fund scores of red, white and blue signs to guide motorists.

Heimbach also deserves much of the credit for a series of 10-by-20-foot hand-painted murals along the highway. The murals, with gazebos that offer historical information and trivia, are coalition projects that can serve as any journey's cornerstones.

"When we're done, it will be a collection of 36 murals," Heimbach said of the project, which began in 2009 and is expected to be completed for the highway's 2013 centennial. They're in communities from Lynwood, a suburb abutting the Indiana state line, to Fulton, on the Mighty Mississippi.

The federal government didn't get into highway building in a big way until the late 1920s, when routes started getting numbers instead of names. Earlier roads were funded by visionary industrialists who recognized the importance of automobiles in America's future.

As the well-signed highway zigzags its way across the Land of Lincoln, the sights to see include this representative sampling:

Cass Street Bridge, Joliet. An early, significant example of what's known as a rolling lift bridge, this span was built in 1920 and carried Lincoln Highway traffic across the Des Plaines River. The bridge is now along U.S. Highway 30, the route the old road follows through several Chicago suburbs.

Blakely House, Plainfield. This 19th century, cubic Italianate home sits on the northwest corner of Division and Ottawa streets. U.S.G. Blakely, a newspaper publisher and early proponent of modern roadways, spent many an hour watching Lincoln Highway traffic.

Auto camp shelter, Aurora. Along what's now Hill Avenue, the city of Aurora has restored the brick shelter that once served the highway's early travelers, who were sometimes called "motor hobos," as signage explains. A hand pump, still there but not functional, provided water for parched throats and radiators. Four fireplaces provided cooking facilities. The shelter is a short walk from the parking lot at the Phillips Park golf course.

Mural, Ashton. The mural in this Lee County village is one of the coalition's newest, having been completed in 2011. It depicts the town's Pavement Jubilee, which in 1920 drew a whopping 10,000 people for two days of festivities celebrating the paving of Lincoln Highway here. Band concerts, street dances and auto races were among the Jubilee's highlights.

Lincoln Highway Association National Headquarters, Franklin Grove. Just five miles west of Ashton — and 95 miles west of Chicago — the village of Franklin Grove witnesses a steady stream of pilgrims who come to visit the national headquarters of this group, which still celebrates the nation's first "interstate."

People from such far-flung countries as Mongolia and South Africa have visited this combination museum and gift shop chock-full of Lincoln Highway memorabilia.

"You never know who's going to walk in the door," said Lynn Asp, who serves as the association's volunteer secretary, answering mail from around the world.

Since 1999, the headquarters has been in a two-story building made of rare St. Peter sandstone quarried nearby. It was built in 1860 as a dry goods store by Henry Isaac Lincoln. He was a cousin of Abraham Lincoln's, for whom the early roadway is named.

Chicago Tribune photographer Scott Strazzante shot these photos with his smartphone, using the Hipstamatic app, which adds borders and creates enhanced, unpredictable color. See more of his photos at chicagotribune.com/lincolnhighway.

If you go

The Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition (866-455-4249, drivelincolnhighway.com) publishes a hefty brochure with listings of what there is to see and do along the road.

The Lincoln Highway Association National Headquarters (815-456-3030, lincolnhighwayassoc.org) in Franklin Grove is open seven days a week year-round.

Northwest Indiana's Lincoln link

When much of Lincoln Highway consisted of dirt tracks, a 1.3-mile stretch through Dyer and Schererville, Ind., consisted of four paved lanes.

Promoted by industrialist Carl Fisher, whose company once manufactured all of America's auto headlights, the so-called "Ideal Section" was a showcase for road builders worldwide.

"This gave farmers a chance to realize how much better their lives would be if they could transport not only their families to church on Sundays, but transport their produce on a paved highway," said Cynthia Ogorek, a historian and author of "The Lincoln Highway Around Chicago."

A marker and a bench on the south side of the highway (across the street from Dyer's Dunkin' Donuts) celebrate the Ideal Section.

One of Ogorek's favorite spots is Teibel's Family Restaurant (219-865-2000, teibels.com), where U.S. 30 crosses U.S. Highway 41 in Schererville. It opened in 1929 as a 12-seat diner near the family's motor court. Patrons were lured by fried chicken dinners selling for 50 cents. Chicken remains one of the menu's top sellers, though it now costs $14.95. That's still a bargain because, as the menu points out, "Our Famous Fried Chicken Dinner is always all you can eat."

Cynthia Ogorek's book is available through her website, centerofknownhistory.com.

ctc-travel@tribune.com

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48 hours in San Francisco

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Reuters

4:01 a.m. CDT, June 8, 2012

By Malathi Nayak

SAN FRANCISCO, June 8 (Reuters) - With its striking

cityscapes and an eclectic offering of food, arts and culture,
San Francisco captivates travelers and residents alike.

Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors
get the most out of a short stay in the city on the bay.

FRIDAY

6 p.m. - Start your visit with a meal at one of the city's
hot dinner spots, Zuni Cafe, a glass-enclosed space overlooking
Market Street that offers Mediterranean-inspired dishes that
change daily. Sample fresh local oysters at the downstairs bar
or grab a table upstairs and try the signature roast chicken
with bread salad.

8 p.m.- See what's playing at the American Conservatory
Theater, which puts on a mix of classical and new productions.
After a show, head to the Prohibition-era inspired speakeasy
Bourbon and Branch. Make an online reservation
at http://www.bourbonandbranch.com to receive a password that you'll
need to walk through a nondescript door on 501 Jones Street.

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Disney's Cars Land feels like walking into a movie

Like opening the door to Oz, walking into Cars Land at Disney California Adventure is like stepping into a real-life version of the fictional town of Radiator Springs from the 2006 animated movie.

PHOTOS: Preview day | Buena Vista Street?|?Cars Land?|?Radiator Springs Racers?|?Mater's Junkyard Jamboree?|?Luigi's Flying Tires?|?Cars Land origins

The enveloping and breathtaking new 12-acre land takes you to another world and makes you forget that the Anaheim Convention Center is just behind the towering, man-made mountain range.

While most people will approach the new land from the impressive photo-op entrance along Route 66, I prefer entering from the Pacific Wharf food court area, where you can truly appreciate the immense scope of the immersive 125-foot-tall Cadillac Range. It's almost as if the 280,000-square-foot, crescent-shaped rock-work mountain reaches out and hugs you.

The last time I was this impressed by a theme park land was when I walked into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando.

REVIEWS:?Cars Land?|?Radiator Springs Racers?|?Mater's Junkyard Jamboree?|?Luigi's Flying Tires?|Buena Vista Street

Visitors who have been anxiously peering over the construction walls won't be disappointed when Cars Land finally opens June 15 as the final piece in a $1.1-billion expansion at the Anaheim theme park. Cars Land is like walking into the movie.

As you enter Radiator Springs along Route 66, you pass Fillmore's hippie geodesic dome and Sarge's military Quonset hut before reaching Sally's deliriously wacky Cozy Cone Motel.

At the center of town sits Flo's V8 Cafe, Ramone's House of Body Art, Luigi's Casa Della Tires and the Radiator Springs Curio Shop on the four corners of the intersection. Off in the distance rise the tailfin-shaped buttes of Cadillac Range.

Convertible sports cars zip by on a nearby track with an audible vroom. The smell of fresh-baked pie emanates from the tables at Flo's diner. Even the manhole covers bear the RS insignia of Radiator Springs. At night the street shimmers with an irresistible neon glow that makes you want to move into the isolated desert town and call it home.?A nightly neon lighting moment will be accompanied by the 1950s doo-wop hit "Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)."

The computer-animated Pixar movie about the journey of an anthropomorphic race car named Lightning McQueen offered few details about what happened inside the shops and down the side streets of Radiator Springs, creating a challenge and an opportunity for the artists at Walt Disney Imagineering to flesh out the back story of the town.

Quite naturally, Flo's became a 300-seat counter-service restaurant serving Route 66-inspired comfort food. Among the menu highlights: pork loin with Coca-Cola BBQ sauce, ugly-crust pies and an apple juice and passion fruit concoction called Red's Apple Freeze (my new favorite drink at the park). With a series of delightful automotive-themed chandeliers that are as creative as they beautiful, Flo's offers panoramic views of the picturesque town out of almost every window.

Across the street, Sally the Porsche has turned her Cozy Cone Motel into a series of walk-up snack stands selling novel twists on traditional theme-park pretzels, popcorn, ice cream and churros — all served in cones. The most inventive of the pun-filled creations: Chili Cone Queso, chili with cheese and Fritos served in an edible cone-shaped bread bowl.

Looking at the Cozy Cone makes me smile. There are cones everywhere, serving as streetlamps, flowerpots and fence posts. There's even a waterwheel out front made of little cones. My favorite touch: the old-school TV antennas atop each of the Caltrans-orange wigwam cones.

Next door at the Radiator Springs Curio Shop, the front of the store bristles with a cacophony of "last chance" signs typical of a Route 66 roadside souvenir stand. The visual chaos of the shop stands in stark contrast to the meticulously manicured environment favored in Disney theme parks. In fact, much of Cars Land looks like just the type of rundown and ramshackle tourist trap Walt Disney abhorred.

The new land features three rides, two that are wonderful and one that's less so. The surprisingly spry Mater's Junkyard Jamboree is a classic whip ride on a spinning teacup platform that packs a wallop. The disappointing Luigi's Flying Tires is a docile re-creation of the 1960s Flying Saucers ride in Tomorrowland. And Radiator Springs Racers combines a dark ride with a drag-race finale in one of the best attractions you'll find at any Disney park.

Disney officials are already preparing for waves of visitors to turn Cars Land into an ocean of humanity during the first few months following the grand opening. Imagine cramming every park visitor into a single land (with plenty of curious annual passholders thrown in) and you get an idea of what Cars Land will look like — at least for awhile. Expect multi-hour lines for every ride to snake throughout the land and spill into the park.

If you absolutely must see Cars Land in June, I recommend a midweek visit as early in the day as possible. Otherwise, it might be worth waiting until the initial traffic jam dies down a bit. Lightning McQueen and his friends will still be there.

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Take a chance on Guatemala

SANTIAGO ATITLAN, Guatemala — Edna Sloan sat at a table open to the street and its vendors, quietly sipping a local beer. Purchase of a beer in this pretty-enough town on Lake Atitlan entitles free access to a bano certified clean by our guide, and in Guatemala that is no small thing.

"We wanted to come to a Spanish-speaking country," said Sloan, who lives near Denver, explaining why she and husband Marty, who shared the table and our fondness for Gallo beer, had chosen Guatemala. "Mexico trips were out ... now."

But, it was suggested, Guatemala, like Mexico, is suffering from well-documented violence.

They came anyway.

"I said, 'I don't want to be held hostage by that fear.'"

So here we were, safely enjoying our cold Gallos and fearlessly enjoying a country that only recently (by 1996 treaty) and unsteadily has emerged from 36 years of bloody civil war. Today it's a battleground of sorts between forces of import, export and transport in a drug war of other peoples' making — and, remarkably, a good place to visit.

Guatemala is a beautiful, fascinating, sometimes challenging place. It remains the center of the hemisphere's indigenous Mayan people and is home to three UNESCO World Heritage sites. This tour, via the motor-coach company Caravan Tours, would hit all three: the Mayan pyramids and temples at Tikal, the ancient Mayan carvings of Quirigua, and the town — all of it — of Antigua, the former colonial capital.

Lake Atitlan and the Mayan market at Chichicastenango are the other essentials that make up the nation's tourist corridor, along with unavoidable Guatemala City.

Here's a telling statistic: In 2012, Caravan will lead 34 motor coach tours through Guatemala. In 2012, the company will lead 350 tours through Guatemala's Central American neighbor, duller but eco-loaded Costa Rica.

Why? Lots of reasons. A prime one: "People aren't afraid of Costa Rica," said Velvet Luna, handler of meetings and conventions for INGUAT, the Guatemalan national tourism office.

Afraid? Another telling stat, this one from the U.S. State Department's travel site: "In 2011, an average of 40 murders a week were reported in Guatemala City."

OK, let's deal right now with Guatemala City. It has museums devoted to antiquities and textiles, if you're into that. Like many Latin American towns (and more intriguing for most travelers), it has a classic central plaza and, behind the obligatory old cathedral, a covered market. These are not the places where slayings routinely happen.

Yet bus tours, Caravan's and others, typically skip this market and treat the square like a (pardon the expression) drive-by. Caravan tour director Jorge Fuentes kept his 42 clients sealed in the bus as it crept alongside the plaza. "In the main square," he explained later, "unfortunately, they have incidents."

But he also said this: "If you go on your own with a camera that is not so conspicuous, you will be like a fish in water."

On a Sunday morning, on my own, with a compact digital that fit in a pocket, it went swimmingly. The plaza was full of families emerging from mass or just celebrating life, its edges home to temporary restaurants. Children chased pigeons. Vendors sold pineapples, coconuts, ice cream and other treats. Great photos happened.

In the indoor market, more of the same, except for the pigeons. One of the little restaurants within the market is called Comedor Mary. Not sure if Mary was on site, but Sara, who works tables, spoke English and served advice.

"Don't keep that camera there," she said. My camera was exposed. "You don't want to be seen as a tourist. You have to be careful."

"The problem with tourists," said Luis Mich, in charge of INGUAT's tourist-assistance program, which includes a 24/7 hotline, "is when they are walking in Guatemala, they usually don't take care of themselves.

"The pickpockets of Guatemala are really, really smart. They are the cleverest in the world."

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Mountaineers to return to Disneyland's Matterhorn when ride reopens

The Matterhorn Bobsleds ride at Disneyland features a peak 100 times shorter than the Swiss peak. (disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog)

By Mary Forgione Los Angeles Times Daily Travel & Deal blogger

8:10 a.m. CDT, May 9, 2012

I'm such a sucker for anything having to do with mountains -- hiking up them, watching climbers ascend? them, snapping pictures of them -- that even phony peaks give me a thrill.

Disneyland announced Tuesday that the Matterhorn Bobsleds, the iconic roller-coaster-type ride that's been closed since January for a redo, will have mountaineers once again scaling its slopes when the ride reopens June 15.

"Having real mountain climbers on the mountain is a tradition started by Walt Disney in 1959 when the attraction opened," communications manager Shawn Slater writes on the DisneyParks Blog.

Fans seem pretty happy with the news:

"I remember during the 50th Anniversary they had Mickey scaling the peak! I have some great pics from that. I love how Disneyland embraces their history while always looking to the future – always nostalgic while always innovative. Pure Magic." -- Adam

"The Matterhorn climbers have been missed these past few years, and I am so happy to hear they are returning. It is fun and mesmerizing to watch them climb, and they add a touch of realism as well as fantasy to the park’s iconic mountain" -- Matthew

The ride will reopen with a new fleet of bobsleds with three seats each and hitched together two at a time. The Matterhorn, which has two runs, stands 100 times shorter than the real Swiss peak that's 14,700 feet tall. The ride made its debut at the park in 1959.

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Vegas sign a tourist attraction in its own right

LAS VEGAS — It sits along a stretch of median on the less-glamorous south end of this city's glitzy gambling Strip, a stubborn holdover from another era. Yet, as the days turn to night and back into day, it beckons as many tourists, human tumbleweeds and adventure-seekers as any newfangled casino.

They come to see, touch and photograph the iconic "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada" sign, a 1959 scramble of colors, typefaces and flashing light bulbs. They come in droves, as if on some obligatory Vegas pilgrimage, arriving in taxis, rental cars, stretch limos, golf carts, pickup trucks, motorcycles, double-decker tour buses. One woman even arrived on foot, pulling a suitcase — a wanderer defying the scorching desert heat.

The reason: There's just something, well, fabulous, about this sign.

For one thing, it's survived 53 years in a town with a penchant for bulldozers, wrecking balls and spectacular building implosions, where a 20-year-old resort is considered as ancient as the pyramids.

Designed by sign-maker Betty Willis, who never sought a copyright for her work and instead donated it to her beloved city, the 25-foot-tall kitschy cartoon has become a full-flush symbol of this gambling mecca, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"I just think it's cool. Who knows if those Rat Pack guys once stood here," Utah resident Marsha Hatch, 48, said on a recent Saturday evening. "It's like the Hollywood Walk of Stars, but it's ours. This sign belongs to Vegas."

Willis, now long retired, doesn't speak to reporters anymore. But in past interviews she said that back in 1959 — when Wayne Newton was a teenager and Frank Sinatra joined Dean Martin for the first time on stage at the Sands — the sign's diamond shape was unlike anything on the Strip. She added "fabulous" as the most fitting word to describe this 24-hour resort town.

In time, the sign became somewhat of a problem child for Las Vegas civic fathers, enduring more than one demolition attempt to make way for a more modern roadside greeting. The sign has been moved several times, deployed farther and farther south to remain on the outskirts of the latest casino development.

For years, picture-takers parked their vehicles on the shoulder of northbound Las Vegas Boulevard and dashed across traffic to the sign. While they were gone, thieves sometimes ransacked and even stole their cars, which were often left with engines idling. In 2008, the city built a small parking lot to handle the nonstop traffic flow.

The sign's reputation has risen in recent years. In 2009, city officials celebrated the sign's 50th birthday with a bikini parade. A few years before that, the sign's image was featured for the first time on the Nevada state license plate.

On that recent Saturday evening, the campy old sign sat impassively, like an aging rock star signing autographs.

The sign worshipers included stoners and freaks, with muscle shirts and tattoos in painful-looking places. There were clutches of women, dressed in colorful bridesmaid dresses, pouring out of limos with champagne glasses in hand. The languages spoken included French, Spanish, German and an African dialect.

Unlike the Grand Canyon or Empire State Building, this tourist site compels people to do something. Cameras snapping, they pick each other up, raise toasts, do handstands and cartwheels. Couples hug and kiss, groups of female friends line up like the Rockettes. Some lovers are even married here on the fake green grass.

Most visitors wait their turn patiently, as if in a holiday line to see a shopping mall Santa, anticipating the moment when the sign will be theirs alone — for that perfect Vegas memento to grace a refrigerator or work cubicle.

A number of them pose with Elvis impersonator Tim Ritchey, who says he works the sign a few hours a day for tips.

Ritchey says visitors have done crazy things here. Men have taken off their clothes; women have bared their breasts, Mardi Gras style. One malcontent tried to douse the sign with a bucket of paint.

Ritchey never tires of working the sign, often sharing the photo-for-tip business with faux showgirls and Big Bird look-alikes. "The question," he sighed in a drawl that was the real deal, "is whether I ever get tired of being Elvis."

He adjusted one of the fat rings on his hand. "Some days, this is just like any other job; you don't want to come to work. It's hard to be Elvis when you don't feel like being Elvis. But here I am, back at the Las Vegas sign."

Just then another carload of tourists careened north on Las Vegas Boulevard. If they cared to look back at the fabulous sign, they'd see a message scrawled in the same descriptive neon, but meant for those probably-now-penniless visitors heading southbound, out of Sin City.

"Drive carefully," it says. "Come back soon."

john.glionna@latimes.com

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