Bardstown, Barrels and Bourbon

Two weekends ago, we headed to Kentucky for a Bourbon Trail Weekend. You're probably thinking that sounds like an odd choice for a weekend getaway for a 7 month pregnant woman and if I were the kind of person who liked bourbon when not pregnant that might be true. But honestly it didn't bother me a bit that I had to skip the tasting part of the trip and I think hubby was quite pleased that they still set out tasting glasses for me so he got to try double! 

We went with my parents and my aunt and uncle, my aunt being the travel agent extraordinaire for all of us. She found us a great Airbnb in Bardstown which was the best location! It was right by so many of the places we wanted to go. She also planned which distilleries we'd visit on which days and made the necessary reservations and basically without her we would have been lost.

Despite the fact that I don't love to drink bourbon, nor could I on this trip, I hadn't ever been to any bourbon distilleries and found it really fascinating to see the whole process, the impressive buildings, and the row upon row of barrels. And while obviously the process is much the same at all of the distilleries you visit and the tours have a similar feel, there was always something about each of them that made it just a bit different from all the rest which I loved! And my hubby was there to answer the other 100 questions I had that weren't covered in the tour. For example, why is this distillery so unbelievably hot and the others weren't? A very pressing question for a pregnant person. 

And of course at the end of each tour, or sometimes during, there is a tasting of some of their product and these tastings are obviously set up ahead of time so my spot always had a tray ready to go which meant hubby got a few extra sips along the way. But my favorite part of the tastings is that they almost all came with chocolate! So I settled for just smelling all of the bourbon, to get a feel for it but I definitely ate all the chocolate that was in front of me and also some that was in front of various family members kind enough to share! 

We enjoyed delicious meals, including a birthday dinner out for my uncle at a local steakhouse! And went to Mammy's Kitchen twice. On one of those occasions I ordered multiple slices of their homemade pie and I do not regret it one bit. There are some perks to being pregnant...no one questions you when you order both the chocolate and the butterscotch pie. 

And while I definitely felt like we were on the go most of the trip between the distilleries, meals and browsing the local shops,  there was also some downtime for watching the basketball games and playing cards which made for an overall delightful weekend. 

We came home with local prints from a darling shop in Bardstown, a tray for our bar made from a bourbon barrel top, several bottles of bourbon to add to the collection hubby is building and of course tired feet and happy hearts.  

Hubby is still hoping to get a whole barrel (not a full one- but for decoration) at some point. So I guess that means we'll have to go back right?