Disclosure: Recently, I was hosted on a 3 day Kentucky Bourbon Trail Tour, stay at Shaker Village + visit to Bardstown, KY with the Moonshine Mamas/Traveling Moms. All opinions are honest + my own. Scout’s Honor.
Morning came early on our third day but it was time to say “Bon Voyage!” to our comfy little space in Shaker Village. Our last day left us to explore Bardstown on our own as we made our way back to our respective homes.
Bon Voyage to Shaker Village
We started the day with another great breakfast at The Trustees’ Table, but this time with a treat!
The resident bee keeper stopped by for a quick educational class. I’d always been a little terrified of bees, but the more that I learn about them, the more that I appreciate them! We’ve been using local honey much more in our household to help with allergies + health issues. She brought out a beehive to explain more about the health properties of honey, the benefits of bees + what we can do to help them thrive. The hive was a year old but the honey was still fresh + delicious; I actually left wanting to put a beehive in our backyard!
Breakfast was delicious + we were thoroughly educated on so many things, but alas, it was time to head out + make our way home. Goodbye for now Shaker Village…
Welcome to Bardstown
We headed back into Bardstown for the last tasting of our trip + to have lunch with our new friends before we headed out. We took a quick visit to the Heaven Hill Distillery/Bourbon Heritage Center.
After the previous day, we were surprised that we weren’t doing another walking tour, but not mad at all that we got to sit down for this one! We participated in the Whiskey Connoisseur Experience + got the opportunity to taste some whiskeys that I’d heard so much about. Again, I just dipped my finger, but did get to taste some fancy bourbon 🙂
I also learned the difference between the tastes when you have your spirit “straight” or “on the rocks.” The addition of water can drastically alter the taste + I certainly prefer mine with a touch of water! I used to just think that ice made it cold…
We Needed to Eat…
After tasting such fine whiskey, we headed right off to lunch! The whole crew met up at the Old Talbott Tavern. Places like this are why I can’t lose weight…
Barton Distillery
After eating to our stomachs’ content, we headed over to the Barton Distillery. We were a little late, but one of the employees took it upon herself to take our group around on a private tour. It was awesome! After the lunch we had, I know at least I was glad that this was another walking tour…
Even one of the kids in our group decided to jump in + help! He was so excited to be able to be a part of our adventure 🙂
We toured the actually distillery + then were taken into one of the many rick houses on the property.
These things are massive! See that guy in the blue shirt? He’s like 6’2″! Once we got inside, it was really cool + dark…the conditions needed for producing the finest bourbon in the world. The camera tricks that we learned from our professional photographer really came in handy + I got some pretty cool shots inside:
Can you guess what was after the tour? That’s right, more bourbon + bourbon balls! How’d ya know?! We headed over to the gift shop for another tasting. I was still not excited about the bourbon, but I tried it anyway. YOLO + all… I must say that Barton’s pleasantly surprised me! They have a chocolate bourbon ball cream liqueur that was just fabulous! Very creamy, I immediately thought about putting it into my morning coffee. I guess it’s really good that I work from home, huh? And since it’s only available at this particular distillery, it would have been a crime against humanity to not go home with anything… 😉
After all of that, we headed back to Memphis. The trip was completely worth it. We had new experiences together + I had a blast hanging out with hubby for 3 days. We didn’t even make it back to the city before he was making plans to head back up with his guys!
I highly recommend this adventure! Central Kentucky Tours + the Traveling MOMs were amazing! No matter that I didn’t like bourbon or whiskey, I had the best time + it was a much needed break for both of us. If you’re trying to figure out if you should take this excursion to visit Shaker Village + Bardstown, just take a quick look to see if you fit into any of these categories. If you do, then you should say “YES!”
- Needing a girls getaway
- Needing a guys weekend
- Bachelor/ette party
- Mom/dad needs a getaway
- Couple’s getaway (umm, it’s the perfect opportunity to spend time with just the two of you!)
- Just because you’re human + sometimes we all need to just get away for a bit…
Interested in going? I can’t wait to do another similar trip + to head back up with my girls! Check out the rest of the adventure here + here…it was worth every memory! Head over to the album to see more pics of our last day on the trail!
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