Kentucky – Riveted

Sad Sad Spartan – Redux

Laura Domela — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 14:11:21 +0000

Some nice people on the internets decided to do a little makeover on our Sad Sad Spartan from Kentucky.

I think it looks much happier now, don't you? Here's the original, in case you missed it:

Abandoned Kentucky Distilleries

Laura Domela — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 12:26:00 +0000

On our way out to Woodford Distillery yesterday we passed these two abandoned distilleries: Old Crow and Old Taylor. Whoa. Wish I could've gotten in there to take more photos! We just snapped these from the car but check 'em out:

From abandonedonline.net (a really interesting site!):

Constructed by E.H. Taylor, Jr. in 1887, Old Taylor was known for a fine, quality product that was the first to produce one million cases of straight bourbon whiskey.

When the Old Taylor Distillery was constructed, it was considered a showcase of bourbon making in the entire state. A peristyle springhouse, sunken gardens, stone bridges, gazebos and castle-like buildings adorned with turrets surrounded the 82-acre property, giving it a charming and imposing feeling. The main offices and plant were constructed entirely of Tyrone, Kentucky limestone, giving the structure a castle-like appearance.

Inside the buildings were gardens and rooms were Colonel Taylor would entertain guests and important officials from the state capital. In the early 19th-century, Old Taylor was as much as a tourist attraction as the capitol building. Visitors arrived on the “Riney-B,” or the Richmond, Nicholasville, Irvine & Beattyville Railroad, where they would be given a tour of the facility. Each were given miniature bottles of Old Taylor whiskey. The close proximity of the Old Crow Distillery was a boom to both distilleries, as both shared warehouse and some production machinery.

Love this signage:

The Old Crow Distillery Company has its history traced back to the early 1800′s. Once famous for producing Old Grand Dad, Bourbon DeLuxe, Sunny Brook among many others, it has been closed since 1987 as a result of a buy-out from competitor Jim Beam. (Also from abandonedonline.net)

Kentucky Bourbon Trail

Laura Domela — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 00:05:01 +0000

Today we began our day back at Rick's White Light Diner for "The Best Eggs Benedict." A wonderful meal and a great atmosphere and fun conversation with Rick…same as before, only this time Kevin got to go! He thought it was was even better than I'd built it up to be. Plus, Rick made our eggs benedict with his homemade bread instead of the regular english muffins he uses and I think that's really what made them The Best (that and the perfect eggs and perfect hollandaise). My opinion is that he should ditch the english muffins and charge an extra dollar for making this dish using his bread. Thanks again Rick–your place is a gem!

We headed over to Woodford Reserve Distillery next (it was almost noon). The tour at Woodford was good, in that it was informative and the grounds were beautiful.

Not so good in that our tour guide was a bit cheesy and garnered many an eye roll from the captive audience, and the tasting at the end was pretty impersonal and not really much of a tasting. (After paying $7 per person for the tour/tasting while all the other distilleries are free to tour/taste–we expected a bit more). But when you return from the tour, you just walk cattle-style past the bar to pick up your little plastic shot glass with a taste and move on. No one was there talking to you about what you were drinking, and all they gave you to taste was the Woodford Reserve that you can buy in the store — none of the Four Oaks or Double Oaked — which had we been able to taste them we might have bought, but we instead left with nothing.

The Distillery:

Fermentation:

Copper pot stills:

Barrel with stenciled logo:

Barrel rolling tracks:

It was interesting…this facility is fairly small, yet they were just cranking out the tours. There were tons of people (it was a Saturday, I realize), with a tour about every half hour or 45 minutes. They had a shuttle bus that went from the upper house to the lower distillery, aging warehouse, and bottling room. They called your tour number on a loudspeaker and you were ushered into a large room to get set up with your personal receiver and headphones that you wore around your neck so you could hear your tour guide even in the way back. It was all so efficient and organized (which was kinda cool) and made it feel like a much larger operation than it was. But it also gave the feeling like you were just moving through a machine and not like you were at a craft bourbon distillery to see how they do stuff and taste what they make. (And I'd have preferred the walk rather than the hassle of getting on a shuttle bus just to ride down the hill, honestly.)

Beautiful facility though (and the bourbon's good). There's a big porch and patio outside the tasting room/gift shop with a long row of rocking chairs looking out over the grounds.

These glasses were part of a display of bourbon history and (sadly) not in the gift shop:

After Woodford we headed down to Four Roses. We did the 2pm tour which started in a room with a film about the distillery, its history, and how they make their bourbon. They started the Buffalo Trace tour with a film like this, too, and I think it's a great idea. Even if it's really just a long commercial, it gets across some of the key concepts (that people might or might not know) at the beginning so the tour guide doesn't have to start at Step 1 every single time.

We then headed outside with our tour guide (she was great!) and wandered the distillery.

The Four Roses Distillery was built in 1910 and has a unique Spanish Mission-Style architecture rarely seen in Kentucky. (It's also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.)

Fermentation:

Distillery:

We ended the tour in the tasting room for a proper tasting. We tasted the Four Roses Yellow Label first (basic, or as our tour guide/pourer says: "your Monday through Friday bourbon"). Next came the Four Roses Small Batch (Tour Guide: "your Saturday bourbon), and then the Four Roses Single Barrel (Tour Guide: the "Sip All Day on Sunday and hide when relatives come over" bourbon). We bought a bottle of Small Batch and Single Barrel…both were great.

Of the three bourbon distillery tours we did during our time here in Kentucky, we rated them #1 Buffalo Trace, then #2 Four Roses, then #3 Woodford–in case anyone was wondering. We have not yet rated the bourbons, just the tours.

We grabbed some barbecue in Lexington at City Barbeque (it's a chain, but it had good reviews and it was yum) and then we headed bank to Frankfort.

We got back the Airstream and the Saturday Potluck at the campground here was going full force (live country music and everything!) We decided to make a fire in our fire pit and sit out on the deck behind the Airstream (the deck right on the Kentucky River!) and enjoy the music and party sounds with a little bourbon in our new kitschy tasting glasses that we picked up today. Aren't they cute?

It's was really a perfect last day/night in Kentucky!

We're kinda bummed we still haven't gotten to the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville though, so I think when we leave tomorrow we'll stop there on the way out since they've got a big parking lot.

Today I Just Worked

Laura Domela — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 22:25:33 +0000

Today, I just worked all day and didn't do anything very fun or interesting. I drove up the hill to make some phone calls (yay, cell service!) then drove back down the hill to get the printer out and print some DMV forms to fill out and mail. I went to Walgreen's to pick up a little sewing kit so I could mend a shirt. I moved all the shorts, tank tops, and flip flops out of the closet to make room for the bulkier jackets, sweaters, and boots we needed to buy. Booooring.

I hate when I don't have something interesting to blog about. (Tomorrow's Saturday though and we plan to do some quality exploring!)

Rick’s White Light Diner in Frankfort, Kentucky

Laura Domela — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 22:29:41 +0000

I may have mentioned that we stopped by Rick's White Light Diner on Monday and it was closed. Today after picking the truck up from the shop (it's actually fixed now, pretty sure) and running a couple errands, I decided to stop in for a late lunch/early dinner at around 3:30pm (they're open 'til 5pm).

I walked in and was greeted by Rick, who handed me a menu. I sat at the bar and Rick asked me where I was from. I told him Portland, OR and he said "Oh, so you've only got a short drive now to get your weed." (On the television behind him I could see on the news a story playing about newly legalized marijuana in CO and WA…) Current events.

Several things on the menu sounded good so I asked what I should get. Rick said "Oh, maybe the muffaletta or a po'boy." Jennifer (cook, server, and probably a lot of other things because it's a small place with a small staff) said "Muffaletta" so I went with that and a side of fried green tomatoes and horseradish sauce.

Since it was late in the day, I was the only customer right then and it was fine with me because I ended up hanging out shootin' the shit with Rick until just about closing. It was a great way to spend my afternoon.

We talked about Rick's bread recipe, about when he was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and that he attended the Culinary Institute of America. (Seriously, go watch that video of the episode. You'll get a good feel for what Rick's like. He's awesome.)

We talked about sustainable ingredients. He only uses the best ingredients he can find: farm eggs, grass-fed hormone-free beef, fish from fishermen he knows, as many local things as he can, etc.

We talked about politics and photography and people-watching, and how the diner is a little like a theater and the customers are the audience. He told me some hilarious stories of crazy customers.

He told me about a customer who came in once and said he changed his mind and wasn't going to eat there after all. When Rick asked him why, he said "Because it's too expensive." Rick said "Too expensive for what? You don't know me, you don't know anything about my food or my ingredients or how I do things. I think you're right, you'd better leave." Or something to that effect. Rick is that guy who is solid and frank and says what he thinks. He stands strongly behind what he makes and how he makes it…like every artist should. ("That painting? Hm. I don't like it. It's too expensive." Lame.)

Perhaps it's the diner ambiance that makes some people feel that way, but the food is solid and the place has a wonderful vibe. Outside it's this cool little retro tile building ("Ladies Invited" "Courteous Service" … click image to enlarge).

Inside it's a bright chaotic hodge podge of…well…probably of Rick Paul's personality.

Toward the end of my visit a boy about 13 or 14 came in holding a few bills in his hand and asked "How much for a burger?" Rick said "Twenty dollars…..nah not really. How much y'got? I'll make you a burger for….$2.50." Kid said okay. Rick asked if he wanted cheese. Kid said "Sure." Rick said "That'll make it seven bucks" and smiled at the kid.

It was a sweet exchange. Rick got up from his chill spot on the counter and made the kid a burger. A burger with cheese. For $2.50. You won't get it for $2.50, but I'm sure even for $8.50 (remember: grass-fed, hormone-free beef, comes with a large side) it's a damn fine burger.

p.s. I think Kevin and I will head over on Saturday morning to try "The Best Eggs Benedict" (says so right on the menu) before hitting the bourbon trail. (Check out the menus here.)

The Versailles Municipal Building and William Shatner

Laura Domela — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 23:45:08 +0000

I forgot this image in the last post about Versailles, KY. The municipal building downtown, with its outdoor weather warning siren on top:

Also, when trying to research this building I didn't find much, but I did learn that a notable resident of Versailles, KY (and Saddlebred owner) is/was William Shatner. Really?

More Horses, Versailles, and a Sad Sad Spartan

Laura Domela — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 21:48:48 +0000

Today was the day to drive around and look at horses and horse stuff. First, I went back over to the gift shop at Buffalo Trace to get a couple of bottle stoppers (like the one in yesterday's post) for my mom. Then, I called to see if I could get a tour of Three Chimneys stallion farm in Versailles but they are not doing tours during the breeding stock sale that's going on right now over at Keeneland Race Course. Here's some info about their stallions and stallion fees. They did tell me I could go over to Keeneland and the sale was open to the public, so I did.

Keeneland is a gorgeous facility. I wandered around a bit and watched the foals and fillies as they were walked and shown (Three Chimneys, below):

Denali Stud showing some of their horses:

The area around here is so beautiful. I drove around for quite a while just enjoying the landscape:

I drove into the town of Midway and checked out the historic downtown area. (Midway was the first town in Kentucky founded by a railroad, and there's a bunch more history here.)

The railroad tracks go right down the middle of the main street so one side of the street is on one side of the tracks, the other side is…um…on the other side of the tracks. Anyway, it's quaint.

I decided to stop and get a bite to eat here at Wallace Station. Cute place, food just okay, but convenient, since it was right there when I got hungry.

Next I headed toward Versailles (pronounced: Versayles…my GPS got it right).

Versailles was founded on June 23, 1792, on 80 acres of land owned by Hezekiah Briscoe, at the time only a child. His guardian, Major Marquis Calmes, named the town after Versailles, France, in honor of General Lafayette, a family friend. The city was officially incorporated on February 13, 1837. It was briefly occupied during the American Civil War by both Confederate and Union forces. (Source)

I wandered up and down the main street and took a few photos.

A yarn-bombed telephone pole:

Little gold horsie in the window:

I stopped and went in this store because of some cool jewelry in the window (still want that necklace) and it was a great little shop with some unique things. 5 Seasons on Main Street in Versailles. Stop in if you're in the area and check it out.

I left with a pair of really cute one-of-a-kind wrist/hand warmers (like long fingerless gloves with thumb holes). I can't seem to get a decent photo of them tonight, so I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

I headed home and saw this poor old Spartan on my way out. Awwww, needs a little lovin' don't you think?

Quiet Morning on the Kentucky River

Laura Domela — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 12:15:00 +0000

It rained a little earlier this morning and now the deck is wet with leaves and there's just a little bit of fog over the water, traveling slowly with the current.

It's completely silent except for an occasional bird chirp, or if something disturbs the white geese down on the riverbank….they seem to disgruntle easily, but for now they are asleep.

Not a bad office environment for today.

Bourbon and Horses

Laura Domela — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 10:20:46 +0000

Top: Our bottle of Blanton's from Buffalo Trace Distillery (Frankfort, KY)
Bottom: Churchill Downs at night (Louisville, KY)

The Capital of Kentucky: Frankfort

Laura Domela — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 09:54:47 +0000

Last night we drove into Frankfort to see the older historic area and to grab some early dinner. We were originally going to go to this place below — Rick's White Light Diner. Online it looked like it was open today until 5pm, but it was closed when we got there…apparently there are new hours and those hours don't include Monday at all anymore. Oh well, nevermind then.

We ended up at a Mexican place on the other side of the river called La Fiesta Grande and it was really good. We wandered around town a bit and I took a few photos of some of the architecture and surrounds:

Some nice details on these old (mostly empty) buildings:

This is the old capital building (just as the sun came out from behind the clouds) — the new capital building is the one in the first shot, above:

We are still loving our campsite, even though we have basically no cell service at all. I hear (from the service secretary at the Ford dealership) that if we walk up to where the main office is we can get a couple bars.

It's been pretty chilly in the mornings here (28 degrees Farenheit this morning) but has been warming up nicely by midday (mid 60s).

Here are a couple photos of the river this morning before the fog lifted: