And They're Off!

"Previously on... my vacation..."

On mid-afternoon of day three, my husband and I were just heading to our second event at Bardstown Bourbon Company, Rickhouse Thieving. A guide led us across the grounds and inside one of the distillery's many rickhouses. There, he talked about the distillation process -- with an expected emphasis on maturation -- as we were served samples of three bourbons pulled straight from the cask. That itself was not a completely new experience, as we've attended the annual Cask Thief event at Stranahan's in Denver several times now. Still, the massive scale of this rickhouse, with its seemingly endless rows and towers of barrels, was quite a sight to see. (And for me, Bardstown Whiskey in pretty much any form is a delight.)

While we were in the rickhouse, another afternoon downpour opened up like it had on our first day. The rain on the roof made quite a roar inside the massive building, and the claps of thunder echoed throughout the space in a slightly eerie way. Our tour waited inside as our guide called for a cart driver to come shuttle us all back, a few at a time, to the main building.

Even though the rain let up before too long, it left mud everywhere -- and continued to come and go over the next hour. So we had to cancel a short hike we'd found in the area, one of our planned non-whiskey activities. But... checks notes... beer is not whiskey. So after making our way back to Louisville and regrouping for a while at our hotel, we headed out to hit a couple of breweries that came highly recommended by online enthusiasts.

The online community went two for two this time. First up was Atrium Brewing, where a whole flight of taster glasses we shared didn't have a single dud in the bunch. One of the apparent regular beers there, Key Lime Cheesecake Boy, was delicious -- and the focus that day of a special release of variant flavors. Sadly, all but one of the variants had already kicked, but there were too many delicious alternatives on their beer list to fret much over what we'd missed.

Second was Gravely Brewing -- a music and retro themed spot -- where there was one thing in particular I wanted to try: Sable, a dark cream ale. I'd never even heard of such a thing, but it was a delightfully different mashup of a cream ale and a... porter, maybe?... that gave "dark beer" richness and "light beer" drinkability. We sat at the bar and slowly enjoyed vintage reruns of The Price Is Right played on the TV. (Staying home sick from school had never been like this.) Dinner that night was at Parlour, a great pizza place in walking distance of the hotel that I'd never hit on my work trips. (But if I go back for work again, before GAMA moves to Baltimore, I definitely will go there again!) And with that, we called it a night.

We were heading home to Denver the next afternoon... but with just enough time after breakfast for something else. So we headed to Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. Absolutely perfect would have been to see a horse race (and place a small, utterly uninformed bet). No races were scheduled for that day. But we did the next best thing. We cruised through the on-site museum, and went on a brief guided tour that took us out the stands to overlook the track itself.

Between the museum and the tour, we learned all kinds of fun, random tidbits about the 150-year history of the Derby. (Fillies have won three times; general admission in the center of the track on Derby day unofficially makes that field the third-largest "city" in Kentucky; no horse has ever won starting from the 17th position.) And though I've never in my life had a Mint Julep before this, it felt as though when you're at Churchill Downs, that's the drink you have to try. (I liked it far more than I expected. Let's just say they'd be dangerously refreshing on a hot day.)

 

With our souvenirs padded the best we could inside our luggage, we finally headed back to the airport, dropped off our Bette Midler karaoke car, and brought our Louisville trip to an end. We had a great time, and I especially enjoyed seeing other places beyond a half-mile from the convention center. But as soon as I pickup that set of cylinders and eye droppers for whiskey blending, I'll be able to revisit the trip any night I want to.