Bourbon and beautiful scenery

Photos to follow:  Have been waiting to post until I got good enough wifi or cell signals, but its not happening, and I am getting behind!  

Tuesday  July 3

Frankfort, KY , about 30 miles away, is home to one of the distilleries we wanted to tour, as well as a candy tour.....yum!...... and the State Capital, so we set out to explore.  As we approached, we rounded a bend in the road and up popped this lovely little town of red  brick buildings, nestled between lush green hills!  A lovely, unexpected sight.  

 First stop was the State Capital Building, sitting up on a hill, the median lined with beautifully planted gardens, each  boasting different colorful displays.  We opted for the self guided tour, as it was nearly an hour until the next guided one, but were given a pamphlet with good directions and information to read. Built in the early 1900’s,  the building is quite lovely, with lots of marble and granite, and a beautiful rotunda with a statue of Lincoln. Since neither house was in session, we were able to get a good look into the House and Senate rooms.  There were a couple of paintings of Daniel Boone, and I learned his grave site was nearby, but we had other places to see, so I reluctantly agreed we could skip backtracking to the cemetery.  Our curiosity piqued, we later did some research and learned that Boone was born in Pennsylvania, but became a legend in his own time with his great contribution to Kentucky, and 200,000 people followed the trail he forged leading to the state.  

These colorful gardens lined the entire median leading up to the capital building

 We have Passport books in which to collect stamps of the National Parks, and the Presidential Libraries, but nothing to check off those State Capital Buildings!  Maybe I will have to create one! 

Our next stop was for a tour of the Rebecca Ruth Candy company,  a 99 year old company started by two teachers, in a time when women didn’t own businesses, and it is still owned by their descendants.   A goofy skinny teen with his hat on backwards was “up” to take us, and it was the worst tour experience ever,  but the sample of the famous  Kentucky  Bourbon Balls, which the ladies invented,  were delicious, and we bought some before beating a hasty retreat, feeling like we had wasted our time and the money for the tour.  

A ribbon candy machine was in the antique display! 

Toys, still in the box, I had never seen! Reminded me of touring someplace where I played Lucy along a fake candy line for a photo op!  

The extreme opposite was encountered on our  tour of the huge Buffalo Trace Distillery.  Our tour guide was knowledgeable and entertaining, we watched a very well done and informative video, then got to go into the “rick house” and see some of their 7 million barrels of aging bourbon!  Longest operating still in America, even operating through prohibition for “medicinal purposes”, and on the National Register of Historic Places, it was beautiful and contained numerous buildings.  We had enjoyed a BBQ lunch at their old Firehouse, built before sprinkler systems were invented, before starting the tour.   The tour ended with a tasting of several bourbons, and another delicious chocolate covered Bourbon Ball.  I do like those sweet treats with a little kick!  

A Kentucky soda I had to try....but didn't like! 

But the pulled pork and root beer were good!

Truck full of barrels passed by, and driver saw me taking shot and waved.  Cute!

You can smell the bourbon when you enter the room!
I loved the aroma, though in this case, it got me a bit high!

Filling and boxing the bourbon

Very high end bottle features a race horse stopper

Some like to collect one of each horse stopper, and of course the display made for them!

Break time, and they all sat there on their phones!  I found this quite amusing!

The tasting

They actually just crossed over to 7 million just before our visit. 

I had been curious about the distinction of bourbon vs whiskey, and we have learned that all bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon!  By law, it has to meet certain requirements to be called bourbon:  it must be made in the United States, be at least 51% corn, it must be aged in new  charred oak barrels, and it must be distilled to no more than 160 proof, and bottled at 80 proof or more.  Aging varies, as does the product it produces.  

I loved the aromas wafting from the barrels and rick houses!  While in one, I was actually feeling it in my head!  Clem  did always call me a cheap date.....I guess I can get high just from the vapors!  

All of this also explains the vast amount of corn we have witnessed growing in the Kentucky fields!  The limestone in the ground makes for perfect corn growing conditions, as it does for the water filtration for distilling, making Kentucky a perfect place for making bourbon. 

On the way back to Lexington, we took a scenic drive along the Old Frankfort Pike, about which friend David had sent information, and it was absolutely gorgeous!  While neither of us actually see the blue cast that is supposed to be in the grass in this area, it did not disappoint with its sheer beauty, rolling hills, grass covered pastures filled with horses from the Horse Farms that dot the area.  Huge, sprawling, fenced and gated, beautiful horse farms, with names often reflecting the Champion stud horse that resides there.  Narrow roads with no shoulders or places to pull out for a photo, we were able to pull into a side road for a shot, but my attempts at moving photos didn’t work out so well, and none of them do justice to the beauty anyway.  

There is another scenic drive that goes around the city, which intersected the route, and  we returned via one leg of that, on which our campground at the horse park  is located , and got back just before the heavens let loose!  We had heard threatening thunder while at the distillery, but were so fortunate to have sunshine and good weather for our drive! 

When the rains let up, we walked around the campground in the “cooler” air, to check it out.  Boy, it is packed for the holiday!  Too bad about the rain, which has left sites a bit muddy, and the heat advisory for tomorrow.....both of which could put a damper on holiday plans for all these people and their kids!