MORE BOURBON!

It's now Saturday morning (it took a second to figure that out, not having had vitamins yet). We are now just south of Lousville, KY, In Sherpardsville. This was about a 70-mile drive east. It would have been quick and easy, except for the downpour we hit that slowed us to 40 miles per hour on a 70 mph highway. We landed in a pretty decent KOA campground to spend a couple of nights. Fortunately, it had not rained nearly as hard south of Louisville, and it was easy to drop the trailer and get set up.

As planned, we had a quick little lunch and headed to one of our favorite bourbon distillers--Maker's Mark. The drive here was, again, pretty, along a narrow two lane road through woods and farm land of rolling hills.

(Note in the picture that it is fall and Weber was able to capture the brilliant yellow fall color of the sign on side of the road.)

This place was started in 1805 and is really cool. Several of the old distilleries (Four Roses and Woodford Reserve, for example) are on the National Register of Historic Places, but Maker's Mark was the first to be placed there in 1974. The office is an old home which was established on the property, now encompassing 600+ acres.

While a light rain was falling, it was nice walking around the grounds, moving from building to building on the tour. 

Walking through the old barrel warehouse, you pass under a 36' X 6' Chiluly glass sculpture installion. Beautiful. 

As we went through the bottling building, posters of old Markers Mark advertisements hung in the wall. A couple caught my attention.

After leaving the distillery, we headed back and decided to stop in Bardstown. We had passed through here on the way and thought the town quite nice looking and deserving of a little walkabout. We happened into the 3rd Street Tap House to try a local beer or two. There we had a great time. The place is an old brick building, which originally was a children's clothing store. The owner Troy spent quite a bit of time talking to us and telling us (with rightful pride) about the renovation and making the place what it now is--a really cool, quaint bar with a wonderful vibe to it.

Oh, and I noticed the laws here are less strict than in Utah. Check on the born after date. 

Today we are headed to the Bulleit and Evan Williams distilleries. And, by the way, the tastings at each distillery are small, but very nice, because each tour guide leads you through the proper way to taste their bourbons. All in all, very fascinating.