How can you visit Kentucky and not visit some the bourbon distilleries and Churchill Downs? We couldn’t?

Bourbon

There are 10 well known distilleries that make up the Bourbon Trail, so you can spend days going from place to place. We decided to limit ourselves to two, Marker’s Mark and Woodford Reserve.

We chose Woodford Reserve because reviews claimed that the bourbon was excellent and the property was extremely scenic. Both were true. Rolling hills of grass with beautiful old buildings and they even had their own Thoroughbred horse farm.

We visited Maker’s Mark because it’s a bourbon standard with it’s hand-dipped red wax bottles.

Since we already went on one tour, we decided to take the Behind the Bar Tour. This is a guided Distillery tour and instead of a typical tasting of neat bourbon, our guide showed us the steps of creating hand-crafted bourbon cocktails. We all got a sample of what we made. Scott was the teacher’s pet, as he knew all the bartending tricks. The tour was a blast with a wonderful guide and wacky attendees.

Horses

One of the reasons we decided on a visit to Kentucky, was the Breeders’ Cup World Championship was being held in Louisville at historic Churchill Downs. The Breeders’ Cup World Championships is the culmination of the horse racing season worldwide and the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic is the defining event of the international racing season. The Breeders’ Cup Classic is run at 1 1/4 miles, draws the top international Thoroughbreds year after year, and is open to horses 3-years-old and older; but limited to 14 starters.

We jumped at the opportunity to watch the races and take in Churchill Downs.

Next stop a brief layover in Tennessee, then on to South Carolina’s Congaree National Park.