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Places to visit & things to do while there: Kentucky

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cudakidd53:
Well, after the Bullets and Bourbon Tour, I thought I'd share some of the highlights of our Kentucky adventure!


* Visit Don - Had a great time meeting up with Big D and all that entails; worth the price of admission which is the same as joining this site!

* Distillery Tours - all ages are welcome on these excursions, but they involve lots of walking and climbing stairs so bear that in mind.  Must be 21yrs. to sample the wares.  Some cost $ and a few are free - average around $10.
* Perryville Civil War Battlefield - one of the best preserved pieces of ground that is mostly unchanged since the battle was fought.  Has a great interpretive center with a movie that covers the battle as well as exhibits.  There is a self-guided tour that you can walk and drive with well done interpretive signage for each stop.
* Bardstown - Historic Downtown which was one of the first settled in "Caintucee" as it was called early on as a part of Virginia.  We stayed at the "Old Kentucky Home State Park Campground" which is a wooded part of the golf course there.  Small quiet campground.  In walking distance to the Bourbon Heritage Center at Heaven Hill Distilleries - we did a tutorial tasting here that laid a great foundation of knowledge for the start of our Bourbon portion of the trip; happened totally by accident as we just happened to get closed out at one of the less cordial of venues we'd tried to start at- won't name that place, but part of it's name is what they make the wreath out of that is placed around the neck of the winning horse at the Kentucky Derby.
* Civil War Museum in Bardstown - GREAT stop with an amazing collection of exhibits that covers most major battles and figures of the conflict.  Admission to this museum also entitles you to admission to their sister venues - Women of the Civil War, Pioneer Village and another who's name escapes me!  Could easily spend two hours or more in this one location.  Bardstown is also the place where Lt. General Hal Moore Jr. grew up - portrayed by Mel Gibson in the movie "We Were Soldiers".

cudakidd53:
FAVORITE DISTILLERIES TOURED

Here are a few of our favorites from the trip:

My buddy Ray and I ended up affirming our preference for -

Maker's Mark after touring them all - our #1 in taste and over-all tour experience!  They had the fewest limitations - could photograph everything and had lots of "hands on" portions of the trip (just DON'T touch the polished copper - that is a MAJOR faux pas!) and had a great tasting experience as well as many products available for purchase!

Buffalo Trace - one of the oldest in Kentucky and the tour is FREE as is the tasting!  Many great products which are available for purchase on site.  They make a Wheat Vodka which is amazing, and I'm not a Vodka drinker.  Their version of Bailey's which is made with real cream and can be combined with some rootbeer that tasted just like a float.......with a kick!  The place is built with a majority of brick buildings which give it amazing look and feel - you are touring a working factory, so makes sense!

Woodford Reserve - set in horse country and clearly targets the "hoity toity" crowd with their "image" and vibe.  Could get custom engraved bottles and had a great tasting experience and tour.  Buildings are made of rough hewn limestone that is a very traditional building material and style for Kentucky.

Jim Beam - Great tour and setting with a Smokehouse BBQ Sandwich shop.  The largest Distillery with a vast assortment of products.  Tasting is nice, but somewhat rushed - you get to try 2 samples from all of their product line, so team up with someone and share to experience more.

These are the tops of all that we visited on our 3 days of touring; 4 full days and you can get to experience all of them, if you plan your trip correctly and don't linger as much as we did at some stops! 

moto123:
Sounds like you had a lot of fun!  I still remember the first time I tried Maker's Mark when visiting some friends in Nashville.  I naively assumed it was some local specialty until I got back home and found it at my local liquor store sitting only a few feet away from my typical bottle of Jack.  I was both excited to add variety to my drinking experience and frustrated that my friends tricked me into thinking it was only available down south.  But what good are friends for anyway?

cudakidd53:
Makers Mark Photos

cudakidd53:
Buffalo Trace photos:

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