Bourbon capital of the world

It has taken  me awhile to start to catch up on the places we visited on our recent trip.  This is mainly due to the time we have devoted to our new Grandson -Nico since our return.  While three weeks is not a long time, it is nearly half of his life so far, so we wanted to make up for lost time.

We decided that we would stay an extra day in Bardstown, KY to see some additional sites. Bardstown has several claims to fame.  They consider themselves to be the bourbon capital of the world and have been voted to be the most attractive small town in American. I was not able to determine just who did the voting for the latter, but we did find it to be a very pleasant place.  There are several historic buildings in town as well as some very well preserved homes.  You cannot not help but notice, as you stroll around town, that nearly every shop, no matter what they sell, have bourbon products displayed in their windows.  Even the family diner where we enjoyed a breakfast had a large bourbon display.

The first thing we did after exploring the downtown area, was checkout a new campground for our second night.  Staying at the state park was not an option.  We found the White Acres campground  just a few miles west of town .  The owner was very friendly and also provided us with several suggestions of other things we might like to explore.  The sites were full hookups with level ground and some shade.  If we ever are here again, this will be our home base.

We visited the Jim Bean Distillery, as we had heard that they had a new and interesting tour.  We were here in 1988 and the tour consisted largely of looking at the outside of some of the warehouse and some static displays on how the bourbon was made.  This time the tour was very detailed and at the end there was free sampling. In 1988, samples were not allowed since it was a dry county.  During the tour, we were able to see every part of the production and storage operation and given a very good explanation of how each  type of bourbon is produced.  Some of the fun facts mentioned was that 90% of all bourbon made in the world is made in Kentucky and that Jim Beam  is the largest producer. We have been through several distillery tours and I would have to say this was the most extensive.  During the tasting portion of the tour, the samples were dispensed by a electronic bartender. You were given a kind of debit card good for two shots. It was well worth the visit.

After the tour, we made one final visit of the day to the Bernheim park and  garden that was recommended by the campground owner. This was a very large private nature and art park that is open to the public free during the weekdays.  On weekends, it regularly has special nature and or art events on the extensive grounds.  It was a very relaxing place to spend some time.