Total miles: 286
Hours Driving: 5 hours
State Count: 9 - Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia
After waiting ineffectively to see the skydivers at Robert Newlon Airpark, we headed on our way south west toward Mammoth Cave and home.
This is where another big change in our plans came up. There was a hike in Mammoth Cave that I really wanted to participate in - a tour though the cave in the evening with only lanterns and flashlights. So I had planned two nights at Mammoth, figuring if we didn't get in early enough on the first night to make the tour, we could go the second night. What I didn't realize was that reservations for the tour booked up the previous week :o(
So, with that in mind, we decided to spend only one night in Mammoth Cave. This would give us time to go to a new destination along the way: New Orleans!
Since we called ahead and found that all of the tours for the day were already booked, it also gave us a little more time on the road.
We passed a small home time funeral; it must have been someone very important, because traffic was stopped for the long procession of tractors, trailers, and wagons that passed by.
And driving through Amish country, we did pass a few horse driven carts.
And since we were driving through Kentucky, with some extra time on our hands, what better way to spend it then touring a whiskey distillery!
●●● Maker's Mark Distillery, Loretto KY
For a last minute plan, this side trip turned out to be a very enjoyable stop along our way.
We arrived at the distillery shortly after lunch.
The tour started in a small house set up to replicate the time in history when Maker's was first making their mark! The boys had a good time exploring!
Then they called for the actual tour of the distillery. The total tour was around 45 minutes long and it took you through the entire distillery.
Unfortunately, one month every year, they shut down the whole distillery for cleaning and maintenance. So, normally we would have seen the distillery in full operation, but because it was August, the distillery was not currently in use.
But they did take us all the way through - from where they brought in the grain to where the bottled it up. It was fascinating!
The whole distillery had the fantastic smell of bourbon... but as you can see below, Kyle WAS NOT a fan :o) He held his nose through most of the tour!
But he did find a friend along the way.
However, the kids did get to try a bourbon chocolate which they loved!
The tasting included three different products. The clear one was the unprocessed whiskey - better known as moonshine ;o) It is not available for sale except in the giftshop at the distillery. It was pretty rough!The second was the standard Maker's Mark, and the last was the high end version (Makers Mark 46). I have to admit, I rally wasn't a fan of any of the whiskeys, but Dave enjoyed the last two!
The end of the tour finished up in the gift shop (of course). We purchased a bottle of the Makers Mark 46 to keep.
As a privilege for purchasing it in the gift shop (and at in inflated price), we were then allowed to dip the bottle in the red wax ourselves.
It turns out the Maker's mark has patented the "drips" of the red wax. Who knew?
Overall, this was an unexpected, but totally fun side trip!!
●●● Mammoth Cave
The museum was pretty neat, it was set up like a cave hewn out of fake rock - and it gave us all sorts of information we didn't know - like this was the largest cave in the whole world -- and not by a little bit. Kyle earned another Junior Ranger badge!
After setting up camp in the campground, we were going to check out a ranger talk. But the truth was, we were so tired, we just called it an early night and slept (or tried to at least - this was another night where revelers in a nearby camp were up until 2am :o( )
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