Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Kentucky Gallop

If there is one thing I would do differently, it would be spending more time in Kentucky.

We made it to Kentucky on Mr. Rogers' fourth day of riding, hitting Breaks Interstate Park at the VA/KY border before noon. At this point, our paths re-converged; his knees were done and, well, my schedule was dependent on his.

And so it was that I got an hour to hang out in said park ... and then we hit the road.


... Apparently I have a hammock uniform.

Anyway! We aimed for Corbin, Kentucky, home of the original KFC. Why? Well ... 

Creepy.

... because we could, I guess? This was easily the kitschiest stop we made, but it was also recommended by a bunch of people and was kind of fun. I mean, we ate fried chicken in a museum. So there's that.


From there, we aimed to Frankfort (note: if you map this, we are clearly insane) and the Buffalo Trace Distillery, a bourbon distillery that offered crazy awesome tours. And delicious bourbon cream.

Among other things.




My summary of each distillery could be, "And then I geeked out for a couple hours." Seriously, if you want to know anything about those stops, I'm open to actual conversations. For here, let's just say I get a kick out of chemical processes that involve consumable products.

(That is a very true blanket statement.)

The next morning, we awoke in Lexington and headed for a tour of Claiborne Farm in Paris, KY, the place where Secretariat grew up (and was buried) and a still fully-operational horse farm.

If you're at all interested in horses or are just looking for a different kind of experience, I recommend this. For me, this was a stop in honor of my mother (who needs to get her own butt down there because she'd find it fascinating) and a chance to touch a Kentucky Derby champion.

That would be Orb, the 2013 champ...

With Rodeo, groom & tour guide extraordinaire.

From here, it was on to Maker's Mark in Loretto, KY.


Gorgeous spot.


Another fabulous tour (probably my favorite, actually, as far as the content and grounds) and then I got my dad's birthday present...


Yay!

Finally, realizing we could make it back to Nashville if we wanted, we hopped back in the car and hit the road once more, making it in time for Friday night at the Grand Ole Opry.

Where I could only take blurry pictures.


There was so much more that could have been done ... but alas, we were starting to get short on time. So a madcap taster's tour ended up being the whole of my Kentucky experience.

So far. This one almost demands a return trip.

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