Monday, 5/20: Four Roses, Wild Turkey, Woodford Reserve

Dottie and I woke up this morning to the news of the horrible tornadoes in Oklahoma. Our thoughts go out to all those people waiting to hear news about their loved ones.

Rats!!! The Pens lost last night in double overtime to Ottawa. We didn't get to watch it on local TV - they don't seem to care about hockey. The best we could do was watch for online updates from bleacherreport.com during the game. They were very prejudiced toward Ottawa, so it was like a Cleveland fan listening to Hillgrove/Cope broadcast the Steelers vs. the Browns.
Poppa says that we couldn't see the hockey game because people in Kentucky don't understand the concept of ice in May unless it's crushed in a Mint Julep (whatever that is) or cubed in a beer cooler in a bass boat. He's just glad we haven't run into a dry county like they did on a house boat trip with Dave&Nancy, Rich&Bonnie, Dave&Cinda, Bill&Linda, Sue&Fritz, Bill&Connie.

Most of the time today was spent at distilleries, so Dottie and I spent most of the day playing Rummikub in the RV:




Nana and Poppa saw the Four Roses distillery - who thought of a Spanish-style building in Kentucky?




The fermenting tanks are made of cypress from the Suwannee River in Florida. Now the cypress is endangered, so they will have to find a different wood:




The "four roses" came from a corsage the owner's girlfriend wore when she accepted his proposal:




Next was the Wild Turkey distillery. This one ranks "best sense of humor". First, what's wrong with this parking job? Look closely and click on the picture.




Dottie and I got to go to the outside of the distillery for a ride. We want Poppa to get saddles for the turkeys in the backyard at home:




Nana wants some of these chairs:




Notice how pictures come out better when you say "whiskey" than when you say "bourbon"?




A sign with an attitude:




Next was Woodford Reserve - definitely the classiest stop on the Bourbon Trail (OK - one stop left tomorrow at Town Branch.)
Woodford is small, but beautiful. The buildings are limestone:












































People with Minoltas, Canons, and Olympuses were laying on the ground on their stomachs, backs and sides getting crazy angle pictures of the buildings, shutters, and barrels. Poppa said that if iPhone photos were good enough for director Ron "Opie" Howard, they were good enough for him.
Before we left, Dottie and I got a ride on a horse:




Back on the road tomorrow.

- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa