Jay, Rob and Tom met me in Edinburgh, Indiana. (There's a nice outlet mall there if you're ever traveling through.) I hopped into the car and we all took off. This year was interesting. We had already been together the two previous weekends. I had refused to talk to them at the gatherings to save all conversations for the road trip.
We took I65 south past Louisville and turned off on to Clermont Road. Immediately we saw the Jim Beam distillery. I was excited because I thought we were just minutes away from Maker's Mark. Then Tom pointed out that Jim Beam was the end of the Bourbon Trail and that Maker's Mark was at the beginning, which was about 50 minutes away. He failed to mention it was 50 minutes on a winding two lane road that wove in and around the hills of Kentucky.
After passing about five other micro distilleries (how do they all stay in business?), we finally arrived at Maker's Mark. It is beautifully nestled into the hills and looks like nothing has changed since the distillery was built in 1805. The scene was perfect. They had already decorated the place for the holidays (this early in November, really!?!?!) and the sky was blue and sunny with no clouds in site and a slight chill in the air. If I was tailgating at a football game it would've been perfect.
We took the tour and learned all about the distilling process. It ended with a tasting and then finally we exited through the gift shop. Traditionally I grab something for my daughters on these trips, but I wasn't going to decorate them in whiskey garb this early in their lives. So we all bought our bottles of Maker's Mark and dipped them in the iconic red wax.
Saying goodbye to Maker's, we took off down the trail heading back home. We decided to pass the other five distilleries and make a stop at Jim Beam. Now if I described Maker's Mark as quaint then Jim Beam is industrial. It was about four times the size of Maker's Mark. We skipped the tour and headed straight to the gift shop, because once you've seen a distillery you've seen them all. Corn gets mashed it's distilled, put in barrels and walla....you got whiskey!
We bought our goods and continued our trek home, but there was still one more thing to do. We needed to stop for our traditional meal. The rule is simple, it has to be local and not a chain. The last two years we've had BBQ and I decided to continue the tradition. We turned off I65 and traveled 15 minutes out of the way to downtown Charleston, Indiana. I got a tip on a place called Bare Shoulder BBQ. The food was delicious and the price was right. I highly recommend it to anyone who happens to be passing through. It's worth the extra 15 minutes to go out of your way.
The day finally ended when Jay, Rob and Tom dropped me off with my car in Edinburgh. Usually our goodbyes last an extra hour, but since we've seen so much of each other lately the goodbye was quick. We would see each other again in a couple of weeks for Thanksgiving. Gobble Gobble. Next year, it's Rob's turn to pick a destination. He's already leaning towards Louisville Bats and Churchill Downs. Look out Louisville, we'll be back with our tourism dollars next year!
