Drew's Epic Planning E-mail

Dates

 

We've talked about dates, and it sounds like the most likely time this trip could happen is May or June. I don't care one way or another as long as we go. If I had a say, I'd say early, because I don't want it to be too hot. A quick look at average temps for Louisville has it at 56 in April, 65 in May and 73 in June, so maybe it's not that bad. I still vote May, and early May at that. Taking out work, which of course will be an issue, I'm sure you social butterflies are going to have weddings that will take these weekends out one by one, so hopefully we can find one that will work.

Length

 

I don't think anybody wants to turn this into a week long trip. If we ever did that, you can question my manhood, but I would have to take it easy for about half of the trip. 4 days, including travel, sounds about right. So including the weekend, Thursday to Sunday is probably easiest, but Friday to Monday shouldn't be ruled out. On my last trip, I went Thursday to Monday, and getting back early on Monday and then having a short week to come back to is kind of nice.

 

To make it easy, I vote Th-Sun, though. That gives us (most likely) Thursday night, 2 full days of travel/tours/ahhhh!!!/concert/whateverelse and Sunday as a travel day home.

 

 

Transportation

 

We need to look into how we're getting there and how we're getting around once we're there. For flight info, I searched Thursday-Sunday flights to both Cincy and Louisville in May and June on kayak.com, and this is what I found for the cheapest flights:

 

Des Moines-Louisville - $393

Minneapolis-Louisville - $329

Denver-Louisville - $190

Omaha-Louisville - $254

Des Moines-Cincinnati - $440

Minneapolis-Cincinnati - $293

Denver-Cincinnati - $488

Omaha-Cincinnati - $428

 

Again, these were the cheapest listed, and could easily end up being more expensive. I would've preferred Louisville anyways and this makes that decision look even more clear. Des Moines' prices are the worst, and so Omaha becomes an option, looking to be about $140 cheaper at $254. At that point, though, heading two hours in the wrong direction, does roadtripping it from Des Moines become an option? It would complicate things, but Google has it at 9 hours, and it took me longer to get from Chicago to Rock Chalk. Clark?

 

Renting a car gets complicated, but for 4 days, it looks like a mini van would be about $250, and a full-sized van would be $510. These places aren't hours apart, so gas wouldn't be ridiculous.

 

 

Itinerary

 

I think the best start would be to begin in Louisville on Thursday. It's in the heart of the area, we could easily have a hotel there that night, go out on the town and then hit the road Friday.

 

Here is a list of the region's distillers/tours:

    - Maker's Mark - nation's oldest working distillery

    - Jim Beam - world's largest

    - Woodford Reserve

    - Wild Turkey

    - Heaven Hill - America's largest, independant

    - Four Roses

    - Buffalo Trace

    - Tom Moore

 

These places are mostly based around Bardstown and Frankfort, but can be 20 minutes away from those anchor towns. At some point, if you've seen one, I'm sure it will feel like you've seen them all. So we could go to 2-4 each day. Not all have tastings. On one of the links at the end of this ridiculous email, there are some good pictures of these places and the trail in general.

 

Other things to do could include (but I need everyone's help to come up with more):

 

    - Churchill Downs

    - Keeneland Horse Racing Park (I don't know if it's this one or another, but I've heard there's another cool     track to see)

    - Horse farms

    - Bars that will have us

    - Go to Lexington

    - Finding a good local concert

   

 

 

Hotels/B&Bs

 

We can try to stay economy-style, but I think we should be a B&B at least one of the nights, preferrably Friday. I saw one priced out at $110-170 for doubles. I vote 2 nights in a hotel room, the other night at a b&b.

 

 

So a theoretical itinerary could be:

 

Thursday

    - Arrive in Louisville

    - Have one (or multiple) room in downtown hotel

    - Urban Bourbon Trail Bars - The Bar at Blue, Bourbons Bistro, The Brown Hotel Bar, Maker’s Mark         Bourbon House & Lounge, Park Place on Main, Proof on Main, The Old Seelbach Bar, Jockey Silks             Bourbon Bar at The Galt House)

    - Take in local music

Friday

    - Possibly Churchill Downs in the morning

    - Drive southtowards Bardstown (1 hour away)

    - Possibly tour Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, Heaven Hill and Tom Moore

    - Local watering holes including Old Tabott Tavern

    - Stay at Arbor Rose B&B

 

Saturday

    - Drive NE towards Frankfort

    - Possibly tour Woodford Reserve, Wild Turkey, Four Roses and Buffalo Trace

    - Whatever else we find in the area

 

Sunday

    - Drive back to Louisville