Well, today I'm exploring some new spots in the Red River Gorge area, but my first stop is at this cafe located just minutes from trail heads and scenic views.

Let's stop on in for some coffee and see where this day takes us.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] >> The Brick is an ice cream, coffee and pottery shop located in the heart of the Gorge.

Operating out of a renovated historic building, this little shop is the perfect stop for a savory treat.

And we've got the scoop.

The [MUSIC] >> Brick is located here in the Red River Gorge.

The type of services we provide are ice cream, coffee, pastries, and of course, locally made pottery from Turtle Farm Pottery.

The building was built in 1909.

It was originally part of the Alvin Drew Scott Children's Home.

It was basically a self-sustaining orphanage.

They had their own cattle, they had their own pigs, they had their own farms.

It was a self-sustaining school.

In the 1940s or '50s The schoolhouse burnt down and then the Collier family ended up purchasing this building.

And then they left and the building just kind of sat empty and just kind of rotted away.

Kids were partying in here a lot and just kind of tearing it up.

There's a lot of water leaks damage.

And I always thought it was something that could be restored and turned into something beautiful.

[MUSIC] >> When he said that he wanted to buy the building, I thought he was kind of crazy, to be honest.

It was so run down.

I couldn't see the way it was going to turn out, but it looks really good.

When [MUSIC] [MUSIC] >> I was little, I never dreamed of myself being able to help grow our community.

And I feel like working here and stuff, it's bringing more attraction to the Gorge and stuff.

And it just really means a lot because I grew up here.

It's like helping people understand where we are and helping our community grow.

The >> greatest thing about owning a business in this area is the employment opportunities that I've been able to provide to people in the area makes me really proud to offer a good living wage for those people.

Even though some of them are young and still in high school, it just makes me proud to be able to provide something like that for our community.

Not only that, and a place for people to come and hang out.

Over here, you get all the kids after they get out of school, they come over and get their ice cream.

And it just puts smiles on a lot of people's faces, so that's really the best benefit of being here.

[MUSIC] >> Just up the road from here at Turtle Farm Pottery, three artists shape, form, and create handmade items ranging from honey pots to soap dispensers.

Let's see how life in the Gorge has inspired their work.

[MUSIC] >> Art has affected me at every stage in my life, creativity specifically.

If you take pottery, for example, the first time I tried to make a mug like this, it didn't look like this.

It was one of the hardest things I tried to do, and I thought, "This is impossible".

And I had some great teachers that kept me going, and pretty soon I was able to do it.

And there's something that happens with, like if you want to do something with your brain and you learn how to do it with your hands and you struggle and you get through that struggle, there's something empowering about that that doesn't just stay there, it kind of permeates your whole being.

And for me, it helps me have confidence with all areas in my life.

I'm like, "Well, if I could just think about this problem I'm having in my life in a different way, maybe I can get a result that will be agreeable to me".

We started Turtle Farm in 2015, that's when the first piece of pottery was made here.

And that's kind of where the idea of making pottery here sort of began that summer.

>> Turtle Farm Pottery right now is three potters, myself, my wife, Laura Gregory, and our good friend, Noah Broomfield.

>> I moved out here to work with Casey and Laura around the year 2018.

I guess my memory of the early days of Turtle Farm started with meeting Casey in >> college.

I went to Berea College to study ceramics.

I was very lucky to be able to get into that school.

We >> were both in the ceramic apprenticeship program there as our labor position as students.

And we became >> pretty fast friends.

It was our job.

Every student at Berea has a job while you're going to school.

And my job there and Noah's job was to make pottery that they sold in their catalog to people that wanted to support the college.

>> I went along Casey's journey as he went to Berea College, but I stayed here at the homestead.

And I was working a job here, so I would go there on the weekends and help him in the studio making sculptures.

I wouldn't say that we were necessarily like, "Oh, we're going to move to Kentucky".

It was just like, "We're going to see the whole world, the whole country and find what place suits us".

And this was the place that really clicked.

To make pots in rural Eastern Kentucky in our little tiny studio and post them on the internet and be able to sell them all over the country is amazing.

>> We make a wide variety of items here.

I think we make upwards towards 50 different forms.

We do mugs, honey pots, different kinds of bowls, all different kinds of sizes, serving bowls, souping bowls.

I could go on and on, there's a lot of things we do.

>> Most counties in Kentucky don't have a lot of funding for the arts.

My first art class wasn't until my first semester of college.

And it was just an incredible way for me to gain a framework of how to think about what happens to me in my life and think about the world and how to address the world in >> my own creative way.

I would like to see Turtle Farm Pottery grow more in the community by not just making and selling pots, but getting to offer workshops and classes, having a mobile unit that we could take into schools, as well as just having a larger studio where folks can come.

We have folks asking us all the time to do that.

And I think that all three of us are passionate about teaching people about pottery, about creativity in general, and just encouraging them to experience that for themselves.

>> The Gorge is one of the most magical places I've ever been.

We settled down here because of that, because we liked the rock climbing here originally and the beauty of the area, but also the way that we could access it in an intimate way.

We wanted to live >> a simple life growing big gardens and living in this intimate way with nature.

And we wanted to learn how to do that and experience that ourselves.

When we were doing the in-person craft shows, we were meeting people all the time that were saying that they have bought our pottery, they take it home, and it's become their favorite thing.

It's part of their daily routine, they start their mornings drinking out of a Turtle Farm mug and it makes them happy.

And when people started telling us that, we realized that we had a gift.

It's like we're almost accepted into their family or their home in a way, and it's a real gift to us.

And really, that's what keeps me going, knowing that we have this opportunity to make a positive impact in our local community and around the country.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] >> Man, does it feel good to be out in the fresh air and sunshine here at this beautiful spot in the Gorge.

Now, Kentucky is a state filled with beautiful homes, both large and small, but there's a group of enthusiasts in this commonwealth who have an obsession for the very small.

These are folks who work in the world >> of miniatures.

>> Visitors to the Kentucky Gateway Center in Maysville, Kentucky will find an exhibit where they can enter many different worlds from historical homes to humorous gatherings, to fairytale houses.

All these worlds are found in the Kathleen Savage Browning Miniature Museum, displaying an art form that may initially look like doll houses, but for the curator, there is so much more.

>> They're not doll houses.

The way they are built, they're architecturally correct.

And one could walk in and go around the corner and go up a set of stairs or open a closet door.

They're built the same way that a real house would be built.

We just had a group come through this morning.

And when they come in, they said, "We've never ever seen anything like this".

When they look at these things, they're amazed at the detail.

>> This collection is the gold standard for a growing group of folks who have discovered the joy of crafting miniatures, creating little worlds, real or fantasy.

It is an art form that goes back in history.

>> The art has been around since the times of the Egyptians.

The Kings would take into their tombs what they wanted to take with them, but they couldn't take it in full size, so they would have it made in miniature.

>> The Louisville Miniature Club is one of the oldest clubs in America.

We were founded almost immediately after the national organization was founded in 1972, we were founded in 1974.

You create a world, and the world is exactly what you want.

It can be perfect, it can be old and messed up.

And it's fascinating to figure out how to do things or how to make something look the way you want it to look.

>> Much of the challenge of this art form is the exactness it demands to achieve the realism of these recreations.

>> The standard dollhouse scale is one inch to the foot, and that's universal across the globe.

And the importance of making a room or an enclosure or a vignette that looks real is to keep everything in the proper scale.

>> Bob Haven of Lexington is one of Kentucky's leading miniaturists, having just won the blue ribbon at the Kentucky state fair.

But rather than full houses, he chooses another form of miniatures.

>> I like to use the room box idea rather than a full scale house.

I don't have space for huge dollhouse, but I have space for 25 room boxes that can fit on bookcases or on end tables.

>> Haven's collection truly showcases his talents, creating Lilliputian sized worlds in antique like cages, or even in old jewelry boxes.

He shares his experience with club members on design and how to build furniture.

>> Yeah, just glue it on.

See, and then that gives you a nice clean edge.

>> Every year, the Louisville Club holds an annual sale for members and non-members, bringing in vendors from around the country, displaying prebuilt furnishings and enticing additions for collectors.

But for those who previously have enjoyed other crafts like sewing or woodworking, they find these talents are an advantage when making their own furnishings, even in this small world.

>> If you're a needle pointer in full size and large scale, you can be a needle pointer in miniature and you can do tiny little rugs and pillows.

So anything you can do full size, you can do in miniature.

And then you make a wonderful little world that's all yours.

>> Haven teaches these enthusiasts to look at everyday objects as having the potential in the miniature world.

>> Someone starting in the hobby or the obsession of dollhouse miniatures, you don't need a lot.

You need some imagination.

A lot of what I build now is made out of recycled materials.

You just have to look at things differently.

A coffee creamer that you get at a restaurant makes a perfectly usable large flower pot for a tree or a bush or a shrub or something like that.

They're perfectly scaled for that.

>> And for all these miniaturists, there is a pride to be found in their own masterpieces they have created.

>> You will have satisfaction and joy like you never believe when you can make something.

When you look back and think, "Oh, I did that.

I envisioned it.

I pictured how I wanted it to turn out.

And it did just how I wanted it to be".

That is a feeling of satisfaction and joy that just can't be duplicated.

[MUSIC] >> Kentucky is known worldwide for its contribution to the bourbon industry, but there's another spirit that is putting down roots.

Sake is a fermented rice beverage, sometimes referred to as rice wine, and has been made in Japan and Asia for millennia.

But a brewer in Lexington is proud to be the first to bring the drink to the commonwealth.

We [MUSIC] >> are in The Void Sake Company.

The brewery was founded in 2020, and then we opened up to the public in June of 2021.

>> So in the front we have the retail space, bar tasting room.

And in the back is our production area.

Me and one of the other owners, we have been in the craft brewing industry on the beer side of the craft industry for, want to say like six, seven years.

And we did different small batch beers with Japanese ingredients in them, one of them being a koji beer.

And that's the first time we've ever grew, heard of, tasted koji.

That is the organism that we culture on a portion of the rice.

Well, they also use it in sake making, and we're like, "Let's try some sake too".

And then we just decided to keep making it just as a fun pet project.

And then several years later, we decided to pursue Kentucky's first and only sake brewery.

I am the head brewer, or togi.

It's not like I went and got trained at a certain sake brewing school in Japan.

We had to wade through a lot of stuff.

And a lot of the stuff when we started this wasn't translated.

So we had to either use Google translate to try to get a rough idea, or rely on some other brewers in the US that also dealt with the same thing, but they had translated stuff, or they had contacts in Japan that they brought back with them that helped us.

It was frustrating starting out, just because there wasn't a lot of material to get into the depth that we wanted.

Cell and developmental biology is what I did in grad school.

So there is a lot of microbiology and chemistry to this.

It is a very hands on process.

You have a deep connection with whatever you're making.

[MUSIC] So we get the rice, once it's washed, then we soak it.

So that's kind of the prep for the next step, which is steaming.

And then from there, we split the rice into one or two places.

It goes to make koji.

A lot of care needs to be taken for the koji, otherwise you don't get a good fermentation.

We'll lay the rice down on this table to cool.

We need a hot humid environment for the mold to grow.

From there, we'll put fresh steamed rice in a tank with the water that we need, koji, and yeast.

These are our big fermentation tanks.

We'll load rice, water, yeast, and koji.

The fermentation lasts about 30 days.

We'll actually come in here every day, gently mix the mash just to kind of homogenize it.

From there, we press it.

We have of a more traditional style of press, it's called a fune press.

Fune a just means boat in Japanese.

That liquid that comes off goes into a tank.

And at that point, that's sake.

And then once it's hit the age that we want, then we go to bottling.

Our standard sakes, we do a standard clear sake, we do a cloudy sake or nigori sake.

And then we do a genshu sake, which just means uncut barrel proof sake, if you will.

We do things like horchata, which is our nigori with vanilla and cinnamon.

We do a cold brew infused nigori.

We've also played around with other nontraditional ingredients, like we'll add gold leaf or silver leaf to certain things.

We do a lot of fun flavored sakes that are familiar to a lot of American palettes to bring people in.

And then once they're in here, then we can teach them about sake, introduce them to more traditional styles.

In 2021, we entered into a wine and spirits competition.

It was in New York.

So it's the World Wine and Spirits Competition.

And they had just opened up an American sake category.

So we entered our, The Messenger, is our clear Junmai sake.

And then our Opalescent, which is our Junmai nigori sake.

And we won silver in both those categories, which we were really, really excited about because we were not even opening here and we got those awards and got to compete with other breweries, both in Japan and in the US.

So being the first and only in Kentucky does have its challenges.

The main thing is just educating people.

People's preconceived notions about sake, maybe when they've had hibachi or sake bombs, which are fun, but sake can be so much more.

So main thing is educating people about what sake can be, changing people's conceptions of it, expanding their understanding of what we think is a magical beverage [MUSIC] [MUSIC] >> Louisville born actress, Irene Dunne, was the daughter of a steamboat inspector and a concert pianist.

And her dream as a young girl in Kentucky was to become an opera singer.

Well, this dream was not realized, however.

But luckily for us, she eventually became one of the most sought after movie stars of her era.

She was nominated for an incredible five Academy Awards.

And it's easy to understand how she came to earn the nickname, the first lady of Hollywood, [MUSIC] [MUSIC] >> Will you come in mystery challenger and sign in, please?

>> Irene Dunn was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1898.

So she came from fairly humble origins, but her career was long, her career was varied.

She worked in a number of different genres and she got a lot of accolades.

She was nominated for best actress five times.

As >> Greta Garbo, everyone would remember her.

And Irene Dunne, in spite of her five Academy nominations for best actress, never received one.

But her response to that was, "Greta Garbo never received an Oscar, and she's a legend".

>> Well, what was really wonderful about her appearance on What's My Line?

is just how >> light and easy going she could be, you really get a sense of her ability to charm.

>> Are you in New York at the present time of Mm-hmm.

ever also ventured into comedy?

Uh-uh.

[MUSIC] >> She had great comic timing.

You can really see this in something like Lady in a Jam.

The final scene of which is remarkable >> in a few different ways.

I couldn't tell you how I felt before, because that other woman was in your life.

But now that you're cured, I feel I can speak freely.

I think you're awfully foolish about a lot of things, but then none of us can be perfect.

And I want someone to take care of me.

I want it to be you.

And she's talking faster and faster and faster.

And >> he is kind of embarrassed about what to do and how to deal with her sitting on his lap as she's talking and looking at him and talking.

And it's just amazing how she has caught him, captured him as this character completely.

>> Why don't you say something, alright?

It's a wonderful relief.

Go on, say something, see how much better you feel.

I spent four years in college, four years in medical school, two years as an intern.

Yes.

Keep talking.

All I ever wanted to be was a man of science.

I wanted to do something for humanity.

I Know you did.

I don't know why this should have to happen to me.

No, I know you Shouldn't have happened.

It couldn't have happened.

Keep talking, keep talking.

>> I would say that she had an extraordinary deliver.

You can see that especially in her comedies.

Now that I have this, you needn't buy me any more rings.

Well, if you don't want [MUSIC] >> anymore.

What I'd really like now is a nice diamond necklace.

>> It's unfortunate that she's not remembered as much as some of the other famous movie stars from this period.

She certainly is not as famous as Cary Grant, for instance, with whom she starred in multiple films.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] >> My name is Arden.

Oh yes, Mr. Arden.

Sorry.

I believe that Hmm?

Nothing.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] >> These comedies took on topical issues of the day, including such issues as divorce and remarriage.

The philosopher Stanley Cavell identified the screwball comedy, the comedy of remarriage specifically, as an important moment in the development of gender parody in America in the 1930s and '40s.

And Irene Dunn was absolutely central to those pictures.

[MUSIC] >> I'd like to have another [MUSIC] room.

Well, certainly sir.

Thank you.

Very much.

What a man.

>> Are you a dramatic actress?

Hmm.

[MUSIC] I'm not in love with you.

I thought I was, but I'm not.

>> For Irene Dunne, I think the camera is an adoring lover, that when it sees her beauty, it shows that wholesome goodness within her.

>> You know, it's a funny thing, some people seem prettier when you dream about them than they really are.

But you, you're even prettier than the dream.

Thanks so much for >> coming to see us in Thank you.

I've loved every minute of it.

Thanks a lot.

Good to see you.

Bye-bye.

>> I sure have enjoyed my trip to the Gorge today, but I needed to grab one last treat for the road.

I'll leave you with this moment.

And as always, I'm Doug Flynn enjoying my ice cream and life, Kentucky life.