Bardstown, KY 10-18 to 10-22, Dexter, MO 10-23 to 10-24, Pittsburg, KS 10-25 to 10-28

 

We are enjoying the beauty of the fall colors on our way to Bardstown, Kentucky.  It's "claim to fame" is that its The Bourbon Capital of the World. Left map shows the locations of all the distilleries in the area.  Bottom right are the black buildings where they age the Bourbon.

We decided to take the tour of Maker's Mark Distillery.  It is known for its hand-dipped signature red wax on every bottle.  The top photo is the photo on the tour pass.  The bottom photo is the current site that was used to draw the picture on the tour pass.

The visitor center building, where you go to check in for the tour, (which has to be booked in advance as they fill up fast!) has some beautiful art.  The art included the wax topped bottles along with some beautiful glass art!!

The grounds of the distillery are beautiful.  We especially enjoyed the creativity of the cutout bourbon bottle in every single red window shutter on the property!

The tour of the distillery was fascinating.  They went through the details of how they determined the mash bill, which is the recipe of different grains used.  Maker's Mark uses soft red winter wheat instead of the usual rye for a bourbon that's smooth and balanced.  They then combine these grains with water (convenient that they have a flowing stream with pure calcium and magnesium rich water surrounding the distillery) and yeast. They boil and mix the mash and allow it to ferment for several days.  The bottom right photo has an actual container of mash. We put our hands over it and felt the heat. They then strain the mash out, put alcohol into the still then distill the alcohol to increase its proof and purity.

Next, we went to view the actual bottling process.  It's all automated but yes, they still hand dip every bottle.  While we were watching one of the bottles got a lot of extra wax.  Our tour guide was standing next to us and whispered, "that bottle is going to be worth a lot more than any regular bottle!"

Everyone received a printed Maker's Mark label.  We were told the story of why the name Maker's Mark.  On their unique collection of pewter there is a maker's mark on every piece hence they decided to use that as their company's name. The shape of the bottle, the look of the label, the signature red wax, the Maker's Mark name and even the bottle cut outs on the shutters were all thanks to Margie Samuels, who started the company with her husband.  The tasting was top shelf as well.  The five glasses of different types of their bourbon in a beautiful setting made for the perfecting ending to this very entertaining tour.

After the tour we marveled at the beautiful Chihuly glass ceilings, the unique gift shop item of Maker's Mark labels stuffed in a Christmas ornament and dipped in the Maker's Mark red wax, and all the art in the bar and gardens.

We really found the bar recipes very interesting, but it was too early in the day for us to try any.  Bottom left is a view of the beautiful visitors' center building.  Star Hill Farm is the property where the distillery is located.

While we were in Bardstown, we just had to experience the Talbott Tavern!  It is actually known as the oldest western stagecoach stop in America.  It was built in 1779.  Famous visitors include Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Boone, and Jesse James!  We started with the Cheddar Cheese garlic biscuits - they were fantastic!  When you are in Kentucky you need to experience their most famous dish, a Hot Brown.  Its smoked turkey and sugar-cured baked ham on toast points smothered with Mornay cheese sauce and melted cheddar cheese topped with bacon and tomatoes.

You can see how proud they are of being the Bourbon Capital of the World.  All the tables in the Talbott Tavern displayed the logos of the many distilleries in the area.

While in Bardstown we could not resist playing golf at "Old Kentucky Home" golf course.  As it was close to Halloween many of the holes were decorated with Halloween monsters!  The leaves changing colors just added to the beauty of the day.

On our way to our stop in Dexter, MO we truly enjoyed our lunch at Patti's.  There is a long and beautiful story of the family that started this restaurant.  You can find it at www.Pattis1880s.com.  The waitstaff all had the same beautiful dress.  The restaurant is decorated from floor to ceiling.  How can you pass up the bread baked in a flowerpot and the stuffed pepper soup!  Dexter was a short stop, and we found a great company to do an alignment on the RV in Dexter, so no photos from that location.

We planned our stop in Pittsburg, KS for Mark's college fraternity, Sig Ep's, 50th Anniversary.  This is the only photo he got for me.

While in Pittsburg we had dinner with Mark's brother Mike and his wife Shelia at a local favorite, Shooters.  But I forgot to take a photo.  Mike and Shelia are building a beautiful new home but no pictures yet because it was a work in progress when we visited.  I did get a photo, although from a distance, of niece Vanessa and her soon to be husband, Kevin at their new digs.  The three garages are not for cars.  The entire space behind them is filled with Mark's mom, Pauline's belongings that Vanessa is still attached to!  She is a sweetheart.  We brought pizza and had a mini party.

The weather got cold and extremely windy, so we ditched the last week of reservations and headed back to winter quarters in Arizona with quick stops in Abilene, Texas and Las Cruces, New Mexico.  This is the end of the 2023 summer tour!