Baronstorming Tour

Six locations in 12 days=countless moments and musings, ruminations and ramblings. From the serious to the whimsical, here are a few that stand out from the first half of our journey.

Today’s the last full day of a 12-day vacation trek covering 2,000 miles in 1-2-3 fashion.

One day in Cincinnati, two days in Beckley, West Virginia, then three days in Charleston, South Carolina.

Rinse and repeat: one day in Greenville, South Carolina, two days in Asheville, North Carolina, and now three days in Louisville, Kentucky.

Lots of driving, unpacking, re-packing, taking photos, learning history, enjoying unexpected delights, taking more photos. Too much to sum up in one column, so of course I’ll give it a try over two installments.

The first one is below, recapping in one-day-late fashion a smattering of the Baronstorming Tour’s first six days:

Day 1: May 14, Cincinnati, Ohio

Although my resurgent five-month period of mustache-hood ended in February, I am pleased to report that ‘staches are alive and well in this neck of the American woods. For example, a few nights ago, a gentleman the next table over in the restaurant had one that outdid actor Sam Elliott’s in his prime.

And on our trip’s first full day, at The Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Bridgett snapped this pic below of me and a gentleman named Ben, who consented to having the image posted to the American Mustache Institute’s Instagram page.

Here was AMI’s caption, understandably focused on its own mission, hence why it failed to give a shout-out to my Montreal Expos baseball cap: “Our Mustached American of the Day heaping pity on a barefaced mortal.”

I also timed this photograph to capture J.J. Bleday slamming a home run to right field, part of the home team Reds’ 15-1 thumping of the Washington Nationals:

Baseball zealots will recognize that the Nationals are a descendant of the Montreal Expos.

I spotted only one other person wearing an Expos cap—a fellow selling 50/50 charity tickets who told me he played a state championship game at Boston’s Fenway Park while in high school and attended the first Expos home game in 1969 while he was a college student in Montreal.

Two Boston natives wearing Expos hats at a Reds game…there’s got to be a haiku for that.

Days 2 & 3: May 15-16, Beckley, West Virginia

The word “gorgeous” comes from around 500 years ago, from the Middle French word gorgias, which meant “elegant” or “fashionable,” Google tells me via the Oxford English Dictionary.

But it could also have derived from the New River Gorge National Park & Reserve. Two photographic pieces of evidence:

A short while later, we saw a choo-choo chain meandering along the shoreline!

Completed in 1977, the New River Gorge Bridge is the longest single-span steel arch bridge in the United States.

Being in West Virgina is fun—I was smitten two years ago when I first drove through it and stopped for a night in a charming small town called Hurricane (pronounced hurry-kin). But you also run the risk of catching a case of “Country Roads” earworm in no time flat.

Thanks, John Denver!

Days 4, 5 & 6: May 17-19, Charleston, South Carolina

Here, we went to Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired and the Confederacy took occupation within two days—and held it for nearly four years.

But the highlight was spending a day at Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens, in neighboring Mount Pleasant. It’s an experience I cannot recommend highly enough, providing among other things a compelling insight into the evils of slavery and the resilience of those who persevered through it.

A row of tiny cabins where multiple generations of enslaved people resided at Boone Hall Plantation.

Also, on a lighter note, I’ve never been inside a place like Griffon English Style Pub before. This is just one sliver of the dollar-besotted establishment. According to an April 2025 story in the local newspaper, The Post & Courier, the business donates the money to non-profits periodically, including over $11,000 last year.

More to come next week, covering the triple-ville last stretch of our journey: Greenville, Asheville and Louisville.

Humans 11, AI 0

My column last week on being a commencement reader wrapped up with a poll asking folks if they preferred humans or AI for that role. Didn’t get a chance to read it or cast your vote?

You can do so by clicking on “read full story” immediately below.

What's in a few hundred names?

Now, I expected “humans” to be the overwhelming answer, but I am still slightly and pleasantly surprised that it was beyond overwhelming: so far, it’s a 11-0 shutout in favor of humans.

The issue has picked up more steam in recent days, including coverage of an AI flub at Glendale Community College in Arizona that’s gotten traction with various media outlets.

After students’ names were skipped, the college’s president, Tiffany Hernandez, said, “We’re using a new AI system as our reader. That’s a lesson learned for us.”

A Few Last Things…

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