Road Trip: Kentucky, Not as Planned

Escaping the heat and making friends

at a Lexington, KY fountain.

We patiently waited for the freshest wild salmon in Seattle, the tenderest BBQ in St. Louis, and Kentucky was to be my mecca for Bourbon. At 9:45am we left the St. Louis area for the 5-hour drive straight to the Woodford Reserve distillery in Versailles, Kentucky. We were making excellent time and the GPS indicated that we'd arrive with at least 15 minutes to spare before the final, 3:00pm Sunday tour and tasting. Excellent timing, that is, until we crossed into the Eastern time zone and suddenly it was already 3pm with 45 minutes left in the drive. This was a very sad, very serious miscalculation that I'll never again repeat.

Crushed, I thought I might find salvation at the Bluegrass Bourbon Bar in Lexington, KY. There, I'd at least be able to chat with a knowledgeable bartender, learn about some obscure makers, and enjoy a well-crafted Old Fashioned or Mint Julep. But the misfortunes continued when we discovered the bar, described as lively on weekends, was actually closed. Lexington was a ghost town at 4pm on Sunday. It was 95 degrees, nothing was open, no one was on the streets, and bourbon country seemed to have dried up for my arrival.

Ale 8-1 or "A Late One" soda.  Apparently a Kentucky classic.

I couldn't find refreshment in a glass, but we were determined to find it in a lake. The next stop was Twin Knobs Campground on Cave Run Lake in the Daniel Boone National Forest of eastern Kentucky. We parked the Van, who, by the way, we've named Ruby, and headed straight to the water, Parker leading the way. We plunged in without even bothering to change into swim suits. The evening swim helped wash away the whiskey sorrows of the afternoon and we enjoyed a relaxing night at the campsite.