Wild Turkey

Our next stop on our Kenturky Bourbon Trail last month was the Wild Turkey Distillery. I believe the consensus of the group was that Wild Turkey was the best tasting room as it was small and personal. If I remember right the seven of us were the only people there and the tour guide was not only very informative and you could tell he loved his job, but he was cute!

The gift shop was small but we found some really cool things there - like a real turkey flying around the room!

Now, see, isn't he cute?

Just look how enthralled everyone looks. Really, they can't wait for him to serve the samples! Enough talk now!

There is Kirby, Heather, Jim, Ray and Mollie.  Lucy was taking pictures also.

The two ladies in red that day - Lucy and Mollie

We asked at the distillery for a suggestion for lunch and were really, really pleased that we had.  Talk of the Town was an old small house on the side of the highway that was packed with people.  There was good reason for that too - the food was fantastic!  We did not have a bad meal in Kentucky and we didn't find any grumpy people.  What a special place.  Too bad it gets cold and white in the winter.

This is one of our few group photos from our trip.

Back to Kentucky

Day four found us at the Wild Turkey Distillery where there was a Bucking Bronco for all to ride.

Heather went first and the Thing was pretty calm for her - thank God!

You can't tell but that thing was about to throw Jim off!

The Thing was calm at first and then it got carried away with me!!

This is Heather's picture and I stole it from her because I like it.  Thank you Heather for taking my silly picture!

Miss Mollie seemed to have the right amount of whatever it took to make the Thing happy.

Dental Care

Are you tired of Kentucky pictures?? Well I still have some to share but thought I would give you a little break. And what makes a better break than a dog that makes you smile. Jake needed his teeth brushed so I told him to get busy and start brushing! He did a pretty go job until he broke the brush handle in half!

Bourbon and More Bourbon

Did you know that the name Bourbon came from the name of the county in Kentucky where bourbon was first made?  And no other country in the whole world is allowed to make BOURBON!  The original bourbon was an accident!  The man was making his usual corn whiskey - or moonshine-  in the hills of Kentucky.  He had the perfect oak barrels to age it in but this time before he could get the barrels filled, they all caught on fire!  He was able to save them from total destruction and not being willing to throw out those expense oak barrels, he used them anyway - even though they were chard on the inside!  The result is what you know know today as Bourbon!  Pretty cool story, eh?  All bourbon barrels today are chard on the inside before they are used.  So, see, we did learn some useful (?) stuff on our vacation!

 Here we are sitting inside a large oak barrel!

 Lucy and Mollie - the ladies in red that day - heading out for some touring and tasting.

 And the guys minding us and doing this little thing so we could take their picture!  They were so good about it and took turns being the "Hear no, or the see no or the speak no" for the day.

 They really go all out at these distilleries to sell you on THEIR special bourbon.  But I do believe that the consensus was that the Woodford Reserve was the very best of the best bourbons and Wild Turkey was the most fun tasting room and Maker's Mark was the most interesting of all the distilleries.

 Now you must bear with me and my artsy fartsy stuff.  Loved the ceiling here!

 This is an exhibit of the bourbon at different stages of aging.

And then we were off into the horse country of Kentucky and was it ever beautiful.  Those horses have barns much, much nicer than my home.  And - this picture of the horses - please enlarge it and see what I saw when I downloaded my pictures......all the horses are Horses As...s!

Out the window of the car!  The country roads barely were wide enough for one car, let alone a car coming from the opposite direction!  We couldn't stop for pictures very easily.

Bardstown and Beam

Our first full day in Bardstown - Pure fun and adventure!  We HAD to explore the cemetery right across the street from our little cottage.

Located on the same grounds as the cemetery is this really, really old school house and now I can't remember the dates.  I thought I had a picture of the sign but I don't so maybe one of my good friends will leave a comment and give the dates.  Please??

The roof was just all moss. (enlarge to enjoy)  And no, I did not get a picture of a ghost!  Unless that is what I see in the window!  There were people out there with cameras trying to get pictures of ghosts.  Mine was in the house we stayed in.  Sweet.

I know this has been helped along with the dates, but it is still real and the dates are correct. Lt. John Fitch.

I sort of have an obsession with cemeteries I guess. I just love them.  Isn't this picture lovely?  With the vines growing all over the stones?  Gotta love it!

And then it was on to Jim Beam - our first distillery!  It was also the largest but it's tours weren't necessarily the best.

You would not believe the way the warehouses smelled!  It was devine!  And I don't even like bourbon.  It was just a nice sweet smell and I loved it!!  We all did!

Here is Heather at the Four Roses main offices.  We thought it was going to be the distillery but we were fooled.  But we did get to go to the gift shop!  ( I collected a bourbon glass and a shot glass at each distillery)

Lunch was at the Old Talbott Tavern and Inn.  The reviews weren't very good but it was in the right place at the right time so we decided to give it a try.  It was good!  Not wonderful but good and the place was full of history!

"Talbott Tavern is said to be the oldest western stagecoach stop in America as the westward expansion brought explorers from the east into Kentucky.


According to legend, figures straight from the history books sought lodging here during their travels; as a young boy Abraham Lincoln and his family stayed here, Gen. George Rogers Clark, Daniel Boone, and exiled French King Louis Phillipe and his entourage stayed here, even painting murals on the upstairs walls. There are noticeable bullet holes in the now faded paintings and Jesse James is said to be responsible for them."

In Case You Didn't Believe We Had FUN!!

I am not sure how much commentary is required with today's posting.  We are 7 people in quest of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.  We do know how to have fun and I think the following pictures will prove that!  And all of this happened BEFORE we even ventured out for the bourbon!  Can you identify all of the players?

Vacation - Day 2

Kirby, Heather, Jim and Mollie

We were up early and eager to begin the second day of our trip from Charleston, SC to Bardstown, KY.  Ray and Lucy were in their RV and took a different route than we did.  First stop was breakfast at a quaint little place just down the road from our motel in Maggie Valley, NC.

The restaurant was cute, cute and had great food and a cheerful waitress.  Here is Heather pretending she could play the piano.

We opted for the scenic route so took the Blue Ridge Parkway over to the highway that ran through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN.  The Blue Ridge Parkway was better than we ever imagined!  Gorgeous!  Lots of tunnels and we even got Kirby to blow the horn. 

This is the view from one of the many pull-out.

Do you remember the picture of us last fall at the Appalachian Trail in NC?  I guess this is as close as we will ever get to it.  Click here to go to that post.

This is the trail heading off.  It was so inviting!  Enlarge the picture to really enjoy it. 

After hours and hours of driving through traffic in the tourist towns we finally arrived at our little house.  We stayed in Bardstown as it was quite central to all the distilleries that we were going to tour.  It was about a 9-10 day and to kill time we played games in the car just like kids and it really was fun.  We played some word games, 20 Questions and Heather had Mad Libs on her phone so we played that too.  Mad Libs made us laugh the most! 

Jim and Heather

We met up with Ray and Lucy and all went off to The Old Stable Restaurant and Tavern.  Everyone loved their food, the service was delightful and we got to tour the whole facility....large rooms full of interesting artifacts and gifts.

Lucy, Ray and Mollie

Heather and Kirby

This is the Kentucky Hot Brown that intrigued all of us!  There was a piece of bread on the bottom, then a slice of ham and a slice of turkey topped with tomatoes and a cheese sauce and then bacon.  Decadent!  Most of the others that we saw on menus the rest of the week had no ham and used a white cheese.

Kirby at the Old Stable

The center of Bardstown