~Monday, June 28, 2021~
Day 379
Oh dear, cell phone troubles have arrived. Jeff has an Iphone 6+ (I know, a little outdated), and right after putting a new case on it over a year ago, he dropped it on a concrete sidewalk, lightly shattering his screen. But, yesterday’s “elbow” incident sent it over the edge. While he was tossing the ball to Sadie at the lake, the phone was in his pocket when he slipped and fell. The elbow is a bit painful, but healing, and as of today, only ½ of his screen seems to be responding when he logs in. So it looks like we’re in for an Apple store visit in the next few days while in Indiana. Hopefully, the verdict will be a positive one, not forcing us to buy a new phone. I have to say, it’s quite something that in all the years of owning a cell phone, Jeff and I have not had to purchase a phone outright, either because of it being a work related purchase, or a hand me down. I could even use a new phone, since mine is even older than Jeff’s…..an Iphone 5S. So who knows, maybe we’ll be walking out of an AT&T store with 2 new Iphones. Stay tuned!
Another scorcher of a day, but we have a solution. Do a Bourbon tour! Yep, we’re trying it again. After all, horses and bourbon go together, right? We’ve definitely done a lot of driving while staying in Mt. Eden, Kentucky as we’re in the perfect region where bourbon and horses come together, but, an hour away (near Lexington). We had a hard time finding the building for the Bluegrass Distillers, so we arrived 3 minutes late for our tour. As we found a group outside, our group, they were already on to their 2nd sample…..😳Man, that tour guide was on it!
He was quick to recap what we missed (in those 3 minutes) and thank goodness we had a bourbon flavor wheel at our table, since I’ve always had a hard time describing what I’m tasting, be it wine or bourbon. Jeff and I both liked the 2nd out of 4th sample, but a bit strong as it was 113 proof. The 3rd one wasn’t quite as strong, but had a wonderful flavor. As we were “sippin’ the corn”, we definitely decided we prefer wheat bourbon. We learned about the storage of the bourbon in white oak barrels (mainly because of its abundance). The humid, hot summer climate of Kentucky pressurizes the Bourbon into the soak layer of the barrel, rich with sweet vanilla, caramel and toasty aromas. The natural wood layer imparts oak and nutty aromas and flavors. The charred layer adds smoky, charred and wood aromas and also filters out impurities as the Bourbon passes back through the toasty layers of the barrel. The cold, dry winter climate depressurizes the barrel. Because most high proof spirits minimize the ability to pick up flavors, the brain however, quickly acclimates quickly to flavors. With bourbon tasting, there is the 3 Sip Method.
🥃1st sip: “Preparing the Palate” which will be “hot” as your mouth’s pain receptors say “no” to that first sip
🥃2nd sip: “The Kentucky Chew”-swish that 2nd sip around, and you’ll no doubt find it to be much gentler where some of the flavors will start coming through.
🥃3rd sip: “The Tasting Sip”-where you’ll get into the deeper flavors of the bourbon. Do not judge a bourbon, until you’ve had your # 3️⃣sip!!
This being our second Bourbon tasting in Kentucky, Bluegrass Bourbon won our palates, enough so, we bought a bottle.
We ended up buying the 3rd sample Bourbon which was their Kentucky Straight “Wheat” bourbon, with the idea that we could share it with our bro-in-law Tim when he’s visiting us in Michigan and our son Shane when he’s visiting us in New York…..both Bourbon fans.
We love the little unplanned, unexpected things. Today, it was the town of Frankfurt, the capital of Kentucky. On a whim, after we learned about Bourbon Balls on our Bourbon tour, we thought we’d check out the candy store that started it all…..Rebecca Ruth’s Candies. Jeff and I had never even heard of a Bourbon Ball, and hoped to do a last minute tour at one of their 3 facilities, but we had to let the candy shop suffice. We mentioned to the clerk that we knew nothing about this unusual candy, and asked her to put together a half-pound box of their best. We even tried an apple flavored Bourbon candy, which tasted divine! The invention of the Bourbon Ball started in 1936 where Mrs. Ruth Booe set out to make it the “single best taste in the world”, combining a sip of bourbon with her Kentucky Chocolate. We’ve discovered a new favorite candy!!
After our confection treat, we took a drive around Frankfurt and stopped at the Capitol building which had just closed to the public for the day.
So we just toured the grounds where hundreds of U.S. flags had been placed on the entire back lawn, likely for the 4th of July holiday.
When we got back, we took Sadie on another swim at the lake before we worked on cleaning the truck and the trailer. Jeff worked on cleaning the awnings which looked like new when he was done, except for one over the slides. That one appears molded where normal suds and water won’t cut it. But, when we have the next opportunity, we’ve got a homemade solution we’d like to try that we saw online which appears to do the trick…..a solution of bleach, dawn and water. After we get them all done, then we’re going to seal them with a special protective coating. Wrapping it up around dark, Jeff was wiped out, so decided to turn in early. For me however, I was just getting started. Our neighbors from Connecticut, Jim and Sue invited us over for a little campfire time, where I arrived solo. It was great just enjoying the bugless, nice evening, exchanging our travel experiences. I felt bad as I didn’t make my exit until midnight, slightly overstaying my welcome. An early travel day tomorrow.