Day 2: Bardstown & Hodgenville, KY

Day two started with us heading an hour south to Bardstown where we took a tour at Willett Distillery. We got to see how they make their whiskey and bourbon. They age each bourbon barrel for a minimum of 4 years. We learned that bourbon must be made of at least 51% corn to be considered bourbon. Bourbon also does not have to be made in Kentucky – the law is what defines it. Because of this, Bourbon can be made anywhere in the U.S. (not just Kentucky).

892 — Barrels are filled and weighed here. Each barrel weighs around 500 pounds.

893 — After filling, the barrels are moved to a storage building where they are stored for at least 4 years.

894 — None of the buildings on the property are climate controlled.

898 — After the tour, we got to sample some of the bourbon. We tried the Willet Reserve (far right), Ronan’s Creek, Kentucky Vintage, and Old Bardstown.

887 — All the water is supplied by a spring on the property which feeds into this pond. The water has a greenish tint to it because of the limestone.

After the distillery tour, we grabbed lunch at Mammy’s Kitchen which was delicious and well priced. We decided we needed a nap. We found a shade tree at the nearby Stephen Foster Park and took a snooze. Waking up feeling a million times better, we set our sights on Hodgenville. On the way, we stopped by Abraham Lincoln’s Boyhood Home at Knob Creek. We took a quick look around before heading on to Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park. We arrived around 4:30 and soon found out they closed at 5:00. They informed us that the gates would be closed and locked at 5:00 P.M. sharp. With the fear of getting locked in the park for the night, we booked it on the trail back to Lincoln’s Birthplace Memorial. Lauren wasn’t about to let Myles waste precious time reading the panels so we snapped a couple photos and raced back down the trail towards the exit. We made it out of there 4:58 and headed to our first campsite, Horse Cave KOA (near Mammoth cave).

We began setting up camp in the 90 degree heat and soon realized we should’ve eaten first. A few angry low-blood-sugar-fueled comments later, we had our camp set up. Lauren commented on how it would’ve gone a lot faster if Myles hadn’t had to have everything perfect. Unfortunately, with all the wonderful excitement *sarcasm* we forgot to snap any pictures of our campsite while it was set up. We watched a show on the iPad and then struggled to fall asleep in the extreme heat and humidity. Our battery operated fans were no match to this August Kentucky night.