Raining steadily this morning as we packed up to leave. This
RV park was lovely, and as we were about to leave the geese we have heard
chatting in the mornings brought their row of new babies cruising past on the
creek.
We had a frustrating drive to Makers Mark distillery. The
GPS kept taking us down narrow country lanes, so we had to turn around. Would have
been fine in a car, but not in an RV this size. The minor roads in Kentucky don’t
have shoulders and often have a drop off into a drain. There were a few times
when we met people driving the other way that the outside back wheel was over
the ditch and we were hanging onto the road with the inside one. BUT… we got
there in the end. We are learning to ignore the GPS when the road looks dodgy
and keep driving while she (her name is Samantha, she tells us) recalculates and
finds another route.
By the time we got to Makers Mark it was lunchtime, so we
skipped the tour and went straight to tastings. We started in the tour
headquarters with their Mint Julep – bourbon, simple syrup and mint in a
bottle. Quite yummy. We had a walk in the rain down to their café bar room and
tried the sample flight of 5. The white whiskey, Makers Mark, Makers Mark 46, a
barrel proof, and a private select blend. We both thought the 46 and the
private blend were the pick of the pack. The bar was nice, we sat under the
veranda with the drinks overlooking the picturesque stone wall and creek.
It rained
steadily, and it was very pleasant drinking bourbon and watching the rain
falling. A bluegrass band was playing in a marquee next door, and lots of
relaxed and friendly people around.
We visited the gift shop on the way out. When you buy a bottle
they let you dip it into the distinctive red wax, and add the makers mark seal to
the top. Lots of people were lined up to do that and have their picture taken
doing it. We didn’t buy anything, but it was interesting to note as a valuable marketing
tactic!
Driving on, we were in the homelands of Abraham Lincoln, who was
born and bred a poor country lad in Kentucky. We stopped briefly at one of the
places he lived as a boy, then stopped in at his birthplace. The sweeping
pathway led us to a flagpole with a view of a staircase and a stone monument.
Inside the monument building is a log cabin symbolic of the one Lincoln was
born in. Before the monument was constructed in 1909-1911, the cabin was believed
to be the actual birthplace of Lincoln but testing in 2000 identified it as constructed
in 1840s and thus too recent to be the real thing. Impressive, none the less.
We are set up for the next few nights at Cave City, just outside
Mammoth Cave National Park.
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