Thursday, June 9, 2011

Bluegrass State

For the past week Janet and I have been sweltering in the...I mean enjoying the great state of Kentucky (no kidding, it has been really hot!).  We are just outside of Lexington which is the center of horse farms and my favorite adult beverage (more about that later).  For obvious reasons this is the horse capitol of the USA.  We toured the Win Star Horse Farm that was just down the road from the campground where we have been staying.  Win Star is home to several champion studs that command quite a large fee (http://www.winstarfarm.com/stallions.html).  We also visited Keeneland Race Course and were treated to several horses in training on the track.  Here are a couple of pics that I took:

We also visited the Kentucky Horse Park in Frankfort.  Now, I am not much of a horse person, but I did develop quite a bit of respect for these magnificent animals.  Here is one of the shows where they showcase many of the breeds of horses at the park:


Now for the highlight (at least for me) was the Bourbon Trail.  We visited 7 distilleries in the area including Maker's Mark (the one I usually drink), Wild Turkey (Janet's favorite), Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, Four Rose's, Woodford Reserve and Buffalo Trace.  If you are ever in the area, I would suggest going to at least one or two as it is quite educational.  Not only do you learn about the Bourbon making process, but there is quite a bit of history built into the story.  My suggestion is to go to Maker's Mark (for the beautiful grounds), Heaven Hill (for the education on Bourbon making) and Woodford Reserve (for the history).  I now have a better understanding of the distilling process and a taste for some really expensive Bourbons.  Yep, they got me!




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