After spending the afternoon at Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument, Tom and I headed to the Charred Oak Grill in Somerset, Kentucky, for supper with Ranger Caitlyn. We were early, so we had a little time to walk around the beautiful downtown area. Of course, it helped that it was a lovely, warm spring day.
Somerset is the county seat of Pulaski County and is the largest city in the county with a population around 12,000. The downtown area is very clean and pretty with a big courthouse and other government buildings. There is a fountain in the town square. The square, however, is difficult to reach because of oddly laid-out traffic patterns. There is almost a traffic circle around the square but everyone stops at very strange places. It was hard to know when to turn and who had the right-of-way.
Nevertheless, due to the kindness of the other drivers, Tom and I parked and walked to the square. We enjoyed the fountain, checked out a statue, and looked at a clock that seemed to operate an old bell. After walking around downtown, we headed back to the Charred Oak Grill where we had parked.
The Charred Oak Grill is known for its whiskey selection. I don’t drink alcohol at all, so I don’t really know much about it, but they had hundreds of bottles of different kinds of whiskey and bourbon lined up behind the bar. According to this website, bourbon has to be made in the United States from at least 51% corn, and aged in charred oak barrels. Hence the name of the restaurant.
Tom and I got a table and waited a few minutes until Ranger Caitlyn joined us. There weren’t a lot of customers in the restaurant. I have a feeling they are busier at lunchtime with the downtown crowd taking work lunches. We all ordered sandwiches. Tom got the pulled pork sliders, I got cheeseburger sliders, and Caitlyn ordered a Cuban. All the sandwiches came with waffle fries.
When I tried my cheeseburger slider, I didn’t like it very much. It tasted like there was sugar mixed in with the hamburger. Tom and I had agreed to share our sliders before we ordered, and I liked his pulled pork slider very much. When Tom offered to switch slider plates with me, I happily agreed. He liked the cheeseburger sliders better than the pork and I liked the pork better. We were both very happy with our sandwiches and Caitlyn liked her Cuban.
The restaurant also had a pool table and some arcade games in the back. We had a great waiter who was very attentive but not too much. We declined dessert (too satisfied with our suppers) and headed out.
It was great to see Caitlyn again, after seeing her in February in Tifton. We enjoyed talking and laughing and catching up. Good food is always better with friends.