4/9 and 4/10 Happy Birthday Brad (30 years old today)! We feel so old! Left the Horse Park in the morning and headed west to Frankfort the capitol of KY. Stopped by the capitol which is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the country set between two bluffs overlooking the city. Very impressive and the tulips that they have all around it is stunning. Drove by the Frankfort Cemetery which overlooks the city where Daniel Boone and his wife Rebecca are buried as well as 17 KY governors. Then drove to one of the distilleries Buffalo Trace which is on the KY Bourbon Trail. Since KY produces 95% of the whiskey and bourbon in the US – this is a big deal. What a place! Friendly tour guide Fred and they give such a great tour and end it with tastings at the end. I swallowed some White Dog and almost passed out – it was like moonshine. George had to buy some and a glass.
Headed down south but stopped at another distillery 4 Roses and we were planning to stop at Wild Turkey but we had thunderstorms and hail. They were predicting tornadoes again so after 4 Roses we headed on the KY Blue Grass Parkway to Bardstown where we were staying the next two nights at My Old KY Home State Park. Once we were on the parkway heading southwest the sky turned blue and was clear as anything. Very hot when the sun came out! Drove past the campground to visit another distillery Heaven Hill and the Bourbon Heritage Center. Nice museum and great tour. The Bourbon Trail is a big tourist attraction here and they give out passports to get stamped every time you visit – very similar to the CT Wine Trail booklets. On Sunday we plan to visit My Old KY Home at the park where Stephen Foster stayed visiting friends when he wrote the song that everyone sings at the beginning of the KY Derby. Then we are going to visit another distillery on the Bourbon Trail - Maker’s Mark which is listed on the historic places – cute place and we were allowed in where the vats are and the yeast was bubbling away. They also allow you to dip any bottles of whiskey that you buy to seal the bottle. We wanted to visit the Jim Bean Distillery but they are redoing their visitor center in three parts and it will not be done until 2012. Jim Bean is also in a dry county so no tastings especially on a Sunday. Monday we will be headed out of KY towards TN and I hope the weather gets better. Even though we have had sunny days lately in the high 80’s there is always a threat of a thunderstorm, tornadoes and hail. Those who live around here are just used to it and the sirens that go off when one should go to a shelter. Beautiful state though and so much to see! The campground was cute with 31 sites and an 18 hole golf course is all around it. The club house is walking distance to our site and you can camp here and just walk over to start playing.
Just a note of thanks that the government is not shutting down on Monday so that we can camp at the COE, National Parks, and National Forest sites that we have reservations for next week and the rest of our trip. We were making alternate plans but when I heard that our President considered the Cherry Blossom Parade as essential but the military wasn’t we were a little upset. Where is this country going?
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