And when I say "I" managed to knock it off the list, I mean "Laura Masters" did because pretty much all the awesome things I do are because she's an amazingly fun human being and often invites me along. Seriously, get you a Laura Masters in your life.
Laura planned this trip for her husband Alan's 40th birthday, and kindly invited our crew along: 17 of us in all.
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| Happy Birthday, Alan! |
I flew in on a Friday morning to meet the early crew in a weekday-only Maker's Mark Immersion Tour. Well, I departed in the morning with that plan, but our plane had other ideas. It's only a 45 minute flight from Chicago to Louisville. I am not a morning person, so I took a half a Dramamine and promptly passed out in my window seat, trying to rest up for a busy day upon arrival. I was woken up about 30 minutes later with a message that we had turned around and were heading back to Chicago. The flight attendant told us that upon take off, our landing gear wasn't coming up properly, but that everything was now working fine, but we were still going back and she wasn't sure the plan after that. Other flight attendants were still passing out drinks, so I figured the assurance was genuine and, under the influence of Dramamine, passed back out.
We landed. Got off the plane. Waited for a new plane, and then boarded at a time after we should have landed in Louisville. I still don't quite understand why we needed to land in Chicago. If there were an issue with the landing gear, we still needed to land. But hey, whatevs.
That meant I did miss the Maker's Mark tour. The gang kindly brought me back the giveaways (because I had already paid for my ticket) and then all weekend said it was their favorite of all the tours. Dang.
Instead of that amazing tour, I went to the Embassy Suites, told my sob story, and was then allowed to check in early to a super huge suite where I took a nap. (Loved this hotel. Pretty. Amazing location. Chill staff. Huge suites. Free breakfast and happy hour.)
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| Copper & Kings! |
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| Loved the Copper & Kings tasting room! |
We had a great dinner at Copper and King's restaurant Alex&nder where we scarfed down the starter truffle fries and then throughout dinner went through bubbly, red wine, cocktails, and sangria. We then headed to Fourth Street, from which I have a lot of foggy memories of NIRSA 2006 and my 30th birthday trip. We're a bunch of 30/40/50-year-old champions, and we danced the night away with a pause for a few of us to ride the mechanical bull because of course we did.
The next morning came early. Like, we actually had to be at the meeting spot at 8:30am to meet our tour guides. Laura and Alan had contracted Bourbon Excursions to take us around for the day. They were awesome. Our driver let me ride up front, as my motion sickness is always bad but particularly bad in the morning and particularly bad in the morning when I've been out the night before. He said to me, "So, I will totally talk to you. But right now, you look like you don't want to talk. So, I'm going to wait for you to talk to me first." What a doll. I half napped all the way to Woodford.
Woodford Reserve is closer to Lexington, a town I've been to many times because we have family friends who live there, and we used to head down 1-2 times a year to go to Keeneland. Woodford is amongst those rolling Kentucky hills that are filled with horse farms. A lot of the mares were foaling, so we got to see a lot of super pregnant ladies chilling in the fields.
Woodford as a distillery is a little pretentious but not so much that they're not also fun. Our guide had some standard jokes, but his very practiced routine led for a very informative yet fun tour. The tasting was informative, and their space is really nice, so we had lunch and hung out for a bit.
Then we were back in the vans heading to Buffalo Trace, one of my favorite inexpensive bourbons. I was back on the horse (hehe) at this point, and our driver seemed very surprised at how quickly I joined the party, especially since I'd only had 3 tiny pours.Buffalo Trace is way less pretentious. Their brick buildings are covered in black stuff, which we learned is mold that grows everywhere in the area because of the sugar that is in the air due to the distilleries. Some distilleries clean it off, and some wear it like a badge of honor.
Our host again had a routine of jokes, but I loved his presentation. He was easy going and taught us quite a bit about bourbons I drink regularly. I was super stoked that I do exactly what he said: drink Buffalo Trace straight or in a cocktail and drink Eagle Rare only straight, because it's delicate flavors are lost in cocktails. I guess I am a real bourbon drinker. This distillery did a great job making bourbon tasting approachable and fun.
Our last stop was Bulleit. Some folks were drinking in the car, but most of us weren't, and we were probably only really 2-3 drinks in over several hours, yet the silliness of togetherness had taken over. We arrived at Bulleit ready for jokes and drinks. Our tour guide wasn't quite down with that. He took us on a very, very slow tour of a very industrial, sterile site, constantly saying, "Guys, guys..." and "Guys, heads up..." as if we hadn't already been to other distilleries and already known some of the stuff he was saying. He clearly had a routine as well and did not deviate form it.
Bulleit tried to be pretentious, despite their nontraditional atmosphere, by making their tasting a "all senses" experience, meaning they changed the lighting and the music with each tasting and our guide asked us to use smelling orbs between sips. It took FOREVER. And we'd all had Bulleit bourbon and rye before. It was nonsense. We were thrilled to be done with the tour and our guide.The bartender there, however, was awesome. She made great drinks and was super friendly. We had a lovely time in their tiny bar area.
Then it was time to head back to the city. As we left the vans, our driver gave us all horseshoes that had been lost on the track in Churchill Downs, so they still had mud and whatever else still caked on them. I loved it. My horse friend Missy loved it. Many other nonhorse people also loved it. What a sweet, sweet gesture. I already have one horseshoe hanging above my door (for luck) from camp, and I was so stoked to have a second from another happy memory.
The plan had been to give everyone a couple hours to nap and get ready for dinner and another night on the tour, but like I mentioned, we're champions, so most of us elected for happy hour instead. We went to a speakeasy (Pin + Proof) our driver had told us about. It had a bowling alley, which was cool, but probably not the quiet atmosphere required of a real speakeasy. Drinks were fine.Dinner at The Fat Lamb was great. Lots of drinks and sharing tastes of awesome food.
Then out. We tried to sing karaoke, but the wait was like 30-songs deep, so we sang our own songs and then headed to another bar. One of my favorite things about this group is that it's tough to get them to move as a group anywhere because someone has always just ordered another round, so we just say, cool, we'll see you there! And then people depart when they're ready. There's never a fuss or a rush. We just move at our own pace. Even with 17 people who have been drinking all day. And then people dip out when they're tired and done. And the rest stay. What a dream group for traveling.
Our last stop was a dive bar with a live band. We rocked out.
The next day most people went to brunch, but I opted for sleep. Then I met Laura and Alan at the Muhammad Ali Center, which was awesome, and we made a nondrinking stops at distilleries on our walk back for Bourbon Trail passport stamps.
Overall, it was the most delightful vacation with people I adore.
