Road Trip 2022 Day 11

By travelerdon on September 23, 2022

Lexington to Louisville KY

Today we get up and do the obligatory breakfast in the hotel before heading out. It turns out the horse ranch we were looking for is only 8 minutes away so that is convenient. We arrive at the Kentucky Horse Park and it is quite the operation. We pay the $18 Senior Discount and start walking the grounds which are quite extensive. Beautiful country around here. There is a “Breeds” show happening in a half hour and we point ourselves in that direction. We walk around several stables admiring the horses before the show begins and find seats for the show.

The ‘Parade of Breed’ show begins and several gorgeous breeds of horses are brought out on display including Halfoff, Creolo, American Mustang, Nord, and an English Shire, all beautiful horses in their own rights! Our cameras are happily snapping photos as the show progresses and the riders proudly display their steeds talents around the arena.

We then walk the grounds some more before moving on down the road in search of a bourbon distillery to do some tasting. When we arrive at the Woodford Reserve Distillery, we find out that you need to reserve tastings at least 2 weeks in advance! Oh my! But we are creative and inquire about a tour. Oh, you can get a tour in a half hour and a tasting flight comes with that! Problem solved!

So we line up for the tour that starts in 20 minutes and all is good. Stacey, our guide, takes us through the grounds and into the distillery, a very hot building where the hot humid Kentucky air will become pleasantly thrilling to come back into later! As we ascend the stairs into the top of the building, the hot acrid fermentation fumes assault our senses but not in a bad way. Looking into the bubbling cauldrons of fermenting grains is actually quite the treat to watch. Then Stacey takes us down a level to the copper stills which were pretty to look at. It was much cooler on this level also.

Down on the ground floor was where the kegs were filled and transported from there to the warehouses for maturation. Maturation is the process where the bourbon ages and smooths out to become great drinking. They are tested periodically by the experts to determine when to bottle them. Today the bottling line was bottling a 6 year old bourbon. Visitors are not allowed in the bottling process so all we could do was look through the glass windows at the process.

After the tour, Stacey walked us back up to the tasting room for an in depth tasting of 3 different bourbons and a mixed cocktail, all of which were fantastic! She showed us how to really taste the bourbon and how to appreciate the different notes of flavor that each different kind of liquor held. All in all, a very enlightening experience!

So our bourbon tasting completed, we drive on in search of something new in Kentucky. We even come across a castle in Kentucky! Who would have thought of that? We point ourselves towards Louisville next and it is only about an hour away. It is now late afternoon and we arrive and check into our Best Western hotel. We ask the concierge for directions to the nearest laundromat, as we have been traveling for 10 days now and it is time to take care of essentials. He surprises us and points to a hallway and says they have a guest laundry! Well, it is our lucky day!

We take care of our laundry and look up locations for dinner. I find “Momma’s Mustard, Pickles & BBQ” on Guy Fieri’s Triple D site and we checked it out. It most certainly didn’t disappoint! Damon was our waiter and he sat down with us and personally described every aspect of the menu to us! He catered to us personally and made us feel at home! We ordered the Smoked Beef Ribs, Burnt Ends, two sides and hot fried Pickles. The food was better than I have ever had, bar none! By all means, if you ever find yourself in Louisville, KY, you have to eat at Momma’s!