Saturday, 5/18 - Maker's Mark

Nana and Poppa like to make sure Dottie and I are safe when we travel, so they always buckle us in:




And when we get tired, we can lay back, put our feet up, and take a nap:




On Saturday, Nana and Poppa visited the Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, KY. Loretto is also home to The Sisters of Loretto Convent, but Nana and Poppa seemed more interested in Maker's Mark.
By the way, Gretchen, you visited here. Poppa wants to know how you found it. he says "it's in the middle of %&#@ nowhere after 50 miles of 1 1/2 lane roads.
Dottie and I aren't old enough,so we stayed in the RV and played cribbage:




I'll let Poppa tell you about the tour.
Other distilleries claimed to be the oldest, but at least these folks took the time to fake a "Guiness Book of World Records" sign:




Maker's Mark recognized that bourbon was a little harsh on the throat, so they changed the recipe a little. It's required by law to be at least 51% corn, but instead of spicy rye for the seond grain, they substituted the more mellow red winter wheat.
Look at this beautiful copper still:




It would make my grandfather jealous. And here are the "low wine" and "high wine" spouts, just a bit prettier than Jim Beam's:




These fermentation vats are 2 stories tall and made of cypress staves:




Nana got a picture of the front doors:




Maker's Mark is famous for the neck of the bottles being hand-dipped in red wax. We saw where they do this, and it shows up in some great advertising posters:








Hi, D&N and R&B:
































Now back to Tigger and Dottie.
Thanks, Poppa. Six cribbage tournaments later, Nana and Poppa came back and we drove to the Elkhorn Campground near Frankfort, KY.
Nana asked the neighbors to help set up the TV so we could watch the Preakness. (Poppa doesn't ask for directions.) Setup-channel-scanning finished in 17th place, 2 minutes after Oxbow crossed the finish line - maybe we'll see a replay.
On a happier note, Pittsburgh is up 2-0 over Ottawa in the 2nd round of the NHL playoffs. GO PENS!!! Maybe we'll be able to see Sunday's game.
Sunday is a relax/laundry/game day. I'll post again after Monday's touring.
- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa