Today I'm sharing part two of our honeymoon travels around the USA ....
After leaving New York we had to catch two planes to get from New York to Charlotte and then onto Louisville, Kentucky where we stayed for three nights.
After leaving New York we had to catch two planes to get from New York to Charlotte and then onto Louisville, Kentucky where we stayed for three nights.
Kentucky is known as bourban country and that's exactly what Mr P had on his must see places for the USA which was our main reason for going to Louisville. It turned out that this was the most relaxing part of our holiday as the town we stayed in had a real country feel to it, the people were so down to earth and friendly and the bourbon we drank and southern food we ate was amazing!
I love that we stayed in all sorts of accommodation on our travels - from a city apartment to a ritzy hotel it was both exciting and nerve racking every time we checked in as to what we would find!
We opted for budget accommodation here and stayed at Choice Hotels - Econo Lodge which was clean, the room was massive, it was the only place we stayed at which included daily breakfast and the best part was it was walking distance to town so easy for us to go out for dinner and drinks and it wasn't far from where the bourbon tour left from.
We opted for budget accommodation here and stayed at Choice Hotels - Econo Lodge which was clean, the room was massive, it was the only place we stayed at which included daily breakfast and the best part was it was walking distance to town so easy for us to go out for dinner and drinks and it wasn't far from where the bourbon tour left from.
Day 1 - Bourbon Country
We did a full day bourbon trail tour with Mint Julep Tours in a big motor coach they drove us around the beautiful countryside and stopped at two distilleries: Makers Mark and Jim Beam. It was a really great day and we had plenty of time at each place, sometimes you feel rushed and on a time limit on tours, but we didn't feel that at all on this one.
Our first stop was at Makers Mark in Loretto, Kentucky where we spent a few hours and our group had a personal tour around the entire distillery and saw how the bourbon was made, stored in barrels, bottled, labelled and of course we got to sample the bourbon as well .... this first stop and tasting was at 10.30am in the morning - now that's the breakfast of champions!
The properties these distilleries are on are so stunning, lush green lawns and well kept buildings.
It's such a pretty place to visit, like something right out of a picture perfect postcard!
After a lunch stop at the quaint Kurtz Restaurant where I had my first taste of lemon meringue pie which was homemade by a family of three generations who have run the restaurant for over 75 years!
We went onto our next stop Jim Beam which is located on another stunning property in Clermont Kentucky.
We went onto our next stop Jim Beam which is located on another stunning property in Clermont Kentucky.
Crazy fact .... 90% of the worlds bourbon is made in Kentucky and 50% of that is made at Jim Beam, which is why this place is so massive!
We spent a couple of hours at the Jim Beam distillery walking around the American Stillhouse and seeing the bourbon production from start to finish and of course having a tasting at the end was the best part!
I never knew there were so many different types and flavours of Jim Beam .... my favourite was honey and apple flavour.
I never knew there were so many different types and flavours of Jim Beam .... my favourite was honey and apple flavour.
Day 2 - City Sights and Eats
We did a half day food and city tour around Louisville with City Taste Tours run by two lovely and lively women in their entertaining van with fairy lights and entertainment onboard.
Along the way we were fed all sorts of Kentucky treats ..... chocolate truffles, benedictine sandwich, Kentucky hot brown, Derby pie, hush puppies, fried green tomatoes and more! We also tasted so many different types of bourbon, whisky, wine, port, sangria, mint julep and beer.
We visited the Sluggers Museum where the wooden baseball bats are made and Mr P had a few hits of the ball. We also bought home some baseball bats for the man cave.
We toured around the neighborhoods, watched the horses race at Churchill Downs, discovered the old part of town, St James Court and the Cast Iron district.
We loved the southern food .... We went to Doc Crows a popular BBQ smoke house and feasted on ribs, steak and mac and cheese which is so popular as a side dish in the USA but not often found on the menu at home.
We also had the best pulled pork and angus beef burgers at Down One Bourbon Bar - I highly recommend this place not just for the range of bourbons but the food was amazing!
We also had the best pulled pork and angus beef burgers at Down One Bourbon Bar - I highly recommend this place not just for the range of bourbons but the food was amazing!
We loved this part of bourbon country and this was a really relaxing and memorable stop on our honeymoon travels.
Have you been to Kentucky? What did you love about it?
Check out my other honeymoon travels around the USA here:
Honeymoon destinations in the USA
Tours around the USA
Part 1 - New York
Part 2 - Louisville, Kentucky
Part 3 - New Orleans, Louisiana
Part 4 - Las Vegas, Nevada
Part 5 - San Francisco, California
Part 6 - Los Angeles, California
[All images my own]
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This is such a great recap post! I have only been to Louisville, KY once and it was when our flight was canceled on our way back from Paris (we had two flights) and so we took a flight from Philadelphia to Louisville and then rented a car and drove 4 hours home to STL! So, all I saw was the airport. :) I would love to visit Louisville sometime for some fun and I have heard they have a great half marathon, too! I would love to tour Jim Beam. That pie looks so dang good!
ReplyDeleteCarrie
curlycraftymom.com
You will have to venture out of the airport next time Carrie! It was a really relaxing and friendly place to visit and such a contrast to where we'd come from the busy streets of NYC!!
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