We were in Kentucky for about four days.

Denise's daughters live in Kentucky, and one of them has a few kids of her own, so we spent most of our time driving back and forth between Bowling Green and the Ft. Knox area, visiting both families. I had a great time seeing these folks again (I'd met them all last Christmas) and meeting their spouses. During that time I got acquainted with a few new critters. One daughter has a cat...



And the other has a dog. The cat was a lot of fun to play with, but the dog was a real workout. She's got the temperament of an overgrown puppy, jumping up on you every time you come into the room, as if she's forgotten that she just saw you a second ago. She's encouraged to be that way by the kids, who love to play rough with her. I have to admit that I loved it too.



I'd lay on the floor and shove the dog away, hiding my hands under my face while the dog bit and chewed at my arms and head.



It sounds bad, but it was hilarious fun. It reminded me of the sort of fun I used to have with our family dogs when I was a kid.

While we were there in Kentucky, Denise took me to check out the Makers Mark distillery. She'd toured the place before and wanted to show it to me.



We'd looked the place up online and were thinking that we weren't going to be able to take the full tour because the distillery was going off line due to maintenance. We planned to just check the place out quickly and then maybe do a tour of one of the other distilleries you pass on the way to Makers Mark.



It turned out though that we got there just in time to see the whole tour, and it turned out to be a better tour than the one Denise got years ago.



They took us through the house that belonged to the family that started the distillery, and through the process of making their good, smooth tasting booze.



How cool would it be to have a rack of these out in the garage?



At the end of the tour they take you into a bar/gift shop and let you sample the goods. They give you a glass of day old booze and let you taste the bitterness of the stuff, taken before it's fully matured. Then they give you a taste of the smooth goodness of the final product. You can really smell and taste the difference.

Then having gotten you liquored up a bit, they cut you loose on the gift shop. I think we spent a small bundle on booze infused Chocolates that we planned to give away to as gifts to lots of folks, and a few booze dipped cigars for me.



It was a great trip and tour. I recommend it to all of you, whether you enjoy the product or not.

Once again, I've uploaded more shots to FlickR, so go here and check them out. Cheers.