Jason and I woke up early to set off for our random and much needed trip to Bardstown, Kentucky. It has been a very emotionally trying week and a difficult year for us, so this trip (more than most) was one we couldn't wait to set out for. We ate some breakfast, showered, dressed, and finished packing. Jason and I dehydrated some strawberries and apples for the road trip, which Jason collected before we left. He also was kind enough to make us matcha, just to start the day off right. We needed it, as our air conditioner had gone out the night before. Again--a much needed break. Below are pictures of the special treats.
A few weeks ago, Jason and I popped into the Spice Market and found some strawberry soda. I haven't had many, so Jason reminded me to grab one for the road trip. We put the dehydrated strawberries in it, which made it all the more sweeter.
We stopped at a quick trip up the road to get drinks and fill my tires up with air. Jason grabbed some cheese-- nothing goes better with dehydrated fruit. We listened to Beirut on the way to quick trip--perfect way to start an adventure.
Filling up the tires...
After quick trip, we officially set out for Kentucky. Jason amazingly bought us an ipod and filled it with music and audio books for the trip. We decided to begin "The House of the Seven Gables." I started reading it a few weeks ago, but decided to wait so I could read it with Jason. We both love reading books together and discussing them afterward. It was a slow book. The story was good but the plot was not as active as most stories. It's a tale of a family's redemption, told through an old woman's struggle for relevance in a changing world. Although slow and difficult to focus on at times, it was a story I think we both could relate to rather well. This year especially, since our smalls worlds have been changing rapidly.
Part way to Kentucky, we decided to stop for a restroom break. We found a Loves and went in. We were originally going to grab lunch here, but it didn't feel right. The food didn't sound good. We hopped in the car and resumed our book. An hour later or so and we found ourselves needing gas and lunch. Jason pulled off at a Kroger gas station, conveniently located nearby a CookOut. Soon we found ourselves eating a scrumptious (to quote Jason) "Dogs of various types." Jason's bacon and cheese dog, along with my corn dog. Perfect lunch.
Back on the road. We returned to our story. I snapped a couple pictures of us enjoying the journey.
In no time at all, we were arriving to our destination. Jason and I looked up a few distilleries we wished to tour, but we realized that many might be closed on a Sunday. Before arriving, we learned that Willett Distillery was open until 4p.m. today. We decided to hurry and make it before closing. It was 3:35 when we finally arrived in Bardstown. We didn't even check into the hotel first; we went straight to Willett Distillery. Below are pictures.
Just in time. We parked next to someone who drove the exact same type and color of my car. Twinsies! We walked in to purchase tour tickets, but were saddened to discover they were "booked up." She said they were also booked for tomorrow. Looks like Monday morning will be our only chance at seeing Willett. Turns out it was a "won't it." We were sad, but determined to make the most of the beautiful day that was set out before us. The weather was perfect--sunny but breezy. Blue skies and fluffy, white clouds as far as the eye could see.
We headed toward the hotel. As we walked in, a little person made his way toward us. A small boy no older than the age of 3, wearing a full on suit. He was adorable. We checked in and made our way to the room. We relaxed a while from our journey, regrouped, and then planned our day. Jason mentioned that he saw free cookies in the hotel lobby--how I missed that is beyond me! We quickly went down and grabbed our oatmeal raisin cookies.
We decided to walk down Bardstown's squares and visit shops. We popped into "Bourbon Marketplace." We browsed but purchased nothing. Below is a picture of Jason in the shop.
After walking a little up and down the street, we decided to grab dinner at our favorite restaurant, Talbott's Tavern. This is the same place Lincoln, Washington Irving, and Jesse James stayed at. Beautiful spot with amazing food.
We were seated and met our waiter. We hoped to try their Pappy bourbons, but they were completely sold out. Jason ordered a Blanton's instead. It was very good. We both ordered Kentucky Fried Chicken. Also very good.
After eating, we decided to go to a nearby park that we've always wondered about. It turned out to be a golf course, but it was a perfect place for walking! Just beautiful. We walked up and down the hilly landscape and enjoyed the lovely weather and the cool breezes.
The next few pictures I'm super proud of. This was not on the golf course's property. For the first time in my life, I threw caution to the wind and jumped the small barrier to go see it. I as super proud of myself. Below are pictures.
Below are a few more pictures of the beautiful walkways. We left shortly after this to head back to the hotel.
We went back to the hotel, but just for roughly 20-30 minutes. We had purchased ghost tour tickets earlier in the day, but it wasn't for a little while later. We rested, did some more walking to finish some steps, and then set out for the Talbott's Tavern again--where we would meet our tour guide. She was a lovely, kind, blond woman with sparkling eyes and a jolly demeanor. She was a certified ghost hunter as well. She firmly believes in ghosts and says she's been ghost hunting for numerous decades now.
She told us the story of Talbott's Tavern--who's stayed there and what kind of ghosts haunt it. Of course, Jesse James haunts it--he was, after all, shot here. She actually took us into the room Jesse James stayed at. Apparently, one night he was drunk from bourbon, pulled out his gun, and started shooting. The owner of Talbott's decided not to fix the room up, however. We actually were able to go into the room and see the bullet holes! Of course, they mentioned some things about him haunting the place and they passed a picture around as evidence. The picture was clearly one of a real-life man who had moved quickly--giving the impression of a ghostly figure rather than a poorly taken picture. Below are our well documented pictures of the room and the bullet holes.
The woman had a machine to test the magnetic fields in the room. She and her partner would stand at different parts of the room and wait for the devices to blink. They would then ask the "spirits" questions. Blinking one was for "yes" and twice was for "No." At one point the tour guide asked the spirits if any of them were little girls. She said "are there any children here." A young child being held by her father directly to my right said, "Yes!" The room laughed but the tour guide seemed irritated because it messed her story up. It was pretty hilarious. The tour guide also had a tape recorder from previous visits to the room. She played it for us. She asked the spirit what his name was, and the response was "nevermind," or at least that's what she says it was.
After visiting this room, she took us into a room down the hall from Jesse James' room. We were asked to sit while they dimmed the lights. They tried to use the lights as a way to have the spirits communicate with us. If they blinked off or on, then the spirits were talking to us. They never did anything. They also had a woman stand in front of the room while everyone took pictures around her. The tour guide asked the spirits to move toward the woman at the front. Then for the next 10 minutes we listened as everyone was discussing their "Good orbs." It was hilarious. She also recorded the room for 30 seconds and then played the recording back to us. It was completely silent in the room but when it was played back there was a man's voice. Jason and I laughed quit a bit to ourselves--it sounded like "kill everyone." Apparently we were the only ones who heard that though.
After leaving the Tavern we went to the Jailer's inn. Here she told us a story of a woman who was being beaten by her husband when he was drinking. One night she ran away, he went after her, and he killed her. He was then arrested and brought here, which was a jail at the time. He died from supposedly unknown causes while in jail (Although Jason and I think it was alcohol withdrawal that killed him, if he even exists). The tour guide said the dead wife's soul followed him to the jailer's inn and now she haunts it. Below are pictures. Also I got a picture of being locked in the stocks in front of the jail.
After this, the tour guide took us to a cemetery behind the Jailer's Inn. Honestly we didn't really hear much of the story--at this point it was so far out there we had trouble listening. Jason also was able to grab dirt from the cemetery for our historical cemetery collection. We were pretty excited about that. At one point, we see a sign that tells the real history of the cemetery. Jason and I walk over to read it while joking about the ridiculousness of the tour. The guide was discussing her classes that teach people how to be ghost hunters, which triggered us to joke about it--not very loudly but we did. We didn't notice but the tour guide's partner was close by and heard us. Jason said she gave him the stink eye a bit. Oops. Below are pictures... caught a demon in the last pic ;)
After the tour, we headed back to the hotel for the night. What a wonderful first day in Bardstown!
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