Accompanied by some of the country's best bartenders, Signal Mountain native McLain Hedges is completing a motorcycle journey from New York City to New Orleans, hosting pop-up events at bars along the way as part of "Wandering Spirits." The annual tour raises money for No Kid Hungry, a charity that funds free summer meal sites for children across the U.S.
"Every part of the journey is about having a great time and hitting it home with our charity, raising as much awareness as we can about childhood hunger," Hedges said.
He recently passed through the Scenic City, stopping at Easy Bistro and giving Chattanoogans a taste of a few of the creative cocktails on the menu at RiNo Yacht Club, the Denver bar he owns with his wife Mary, also from Chattanooga.
This is his second year participating in Wandering Spirits, which began in Denver last year and ends in New Orleans at Tales of the Cocktail, the world's largest gathering of hospitality professionals.
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Learn to mix McLain Hedge’s craft cocktail creations in the September issue of Chatter magazine. To follow the rest of their summer journey, visit wanderingspirits.co.
This year, the group convened in New York City to begin their journey at Holiday Cocktail Lounge. Though the famous East Village dive bar was recently redone, Hedges said it was rowdy and perfect for the trip's kickoff. Other stops included Washington, D.C.'s Columbia Room and The Crunkleton in Chapel Hill, N.C., opened by STIR cocktail consultant Gary Crunkleton. After breaking in Asheville, Chattanooga and Pensacola, they'll end up at Tales, where Snoop Dogg is playing the final party.
"It's a great opportunity to learn and get more involved with the industry," said Hedges, who also owns Denver specialty bottle shop The Proper Pour. "You meet a lot of great people and have a lot of fun."
His traveling companions include Charles Joly, who won the Diageo World Class 2014 competition, earning him the title "World's Best Bartender"; James Beard Award nominee Ricky Gomez, a bartender at Compere Lapin in New Orleans; Sean Kenyon, bartender at Denver's Williams & Graham, named the best cocktail bar in America at the Spirited Awards in 2015; and Leo DeGroff, son of legendary bartender Dale DeGroff and head of logistics and operations for Diageo World Class, the maker of Don Julio and Johnnie Walker and Wandering Spirits sponsor.