Leaving Lexington and on to Louisville (pronounced Lueəəərrrrvul” we are now physically present on part of what might be termed the Kentucky Bourbon Trail (really more a concept than a place – like true love or Hogwarts).
On our way there we stopped at a campground with some pretty cool nature. We saw a stork, which thankfully did not impregnate us, and made a duck friend. We tried to feed the duck in spite of the signs warning to the contrary, but our food was not fancy enough for it.
And – TYL – the wife of Colonel Sanders, a.k.a. “Colonel Sanders’ Wife,” opened her own chicken restaurant based on his recipe, which still exists in an old plantation. You can go there and eat KFC and feel fancy about it. They have KFC-similar-seasoned chicken livers!
There had been protests and unrest in Louisville after the killing of Breonna Taylor by gun-happy Louisville police who were working to make all of our lives a little worse in a farcical attempt to propagate the U.S. war on drugs. Parts of downtown were blocked off and looked a bit worse for wear. There was a curfew our first night there. Still, that didn’t stop us from trying to have a little fun.
We hit a couple on the way to Louisville and a couple in town – here are the highlights in the WordPress slide show I will, I hope, learn to put together right now!
White Castle opened a distillery! It’s Castle and Key. 
So named because their water reservoir looks like a key, apparently. 
And it’s surrounded by stately, well-kept grounds. 
The grounds are not as stately here at Glenn’s Greek but they do have a 7-foot tour guide. 
This was a fun little farm distillery – Three Boys Distillery. 
At 3 boys, spirits are served in these bucolic surroundings by a spirited piece of southern charm. 
Grudging compliance with mask statutes is as Kentucky as burgoo. 
At prohibition craft spirits in Louisville, the tequila is actually good, aged in bourbon barrels! Who knew?
The star of the distilleries in Louisville – such as we saw them – was Copper and Kings. This is a brandy distillery, and they make all sorts of brandies infused with many delicious flavors from there bourbon barrels, tequila barrels, stout barrels … you name it. They age their liquors for years and use a sonic aging technique, wherein they pump in loud music to the barrel room all day and let the vibrations push the liquid in and out of their oaken prison walls. They had some very tasty apple brandy, gins and liqueurs as well. The tour guide was super awesome and gave us many, many, many tastings! We got pretty sloshed there and ended up spending a couple hours chatting and learning how to pronounce Lououaaaavyyl.
After that we checked out one more – Peerless Distilling Company. They make bourbon with a sweet mash process, whereas most use a sour mash. Sorry to say but the flavor just wasn’t there.
Lsvl has plenty of good things to eat, but I’ll just point out one place: Big Momma’s Soul Kitchen. I thought the chicken and meatloaf were pretty good; Ashley was gaga for the cabbage.
Site highlights include the Mohammad Ali center and the Louisville slugger baseball bat factory. Some players have their bates individually custom made and even hand-choose their billet:
But this sign in the museum made me sad:
