The best time to visit Kentucky is in the spring. Besides the spring meetings at Keeneland and the running of the Bluegrass Stakes, and the Kentucky Derby and Oaks at Churchill Downs, it is the most beautiful place on earth to see the cycle of life come about. The Bluegrass is so green and the cherry blossoms so delicate and pink. Black wooden fences frame the pastures and frolicking beside their mom's are the year's crop of foals, squealing and bucking, all blazes and socks, rearing and kicking. Sometimes they race around so fast they frighten themselves and you can see the shock in their big brown eyes when they screech to a halt and snort having discovered just how effective those long legs really are.
The bird life is wonderful and the little back roads and stone fences will bring you upon some of the most incredible stud farms in the world. Not to mention the occasional distillery and an exceptional bourbon too. My favorite is Woodford Reserve in Versailles, the heart of the Bluegrass, surrounded by horse farms, but I like to collect the tops from the Blanton's bottles. Blanton's, have a racehorse figure depicting every action of the gallop from straight-up to flat-out on their cork. Underneath the horse's offside hind leg is a small circle with a letter from the spelling of Blanton's. At the distillery, Buffalo Trace, in Frankfort, you can buy the whole lot mounted on a barrel stave but I thought it would be more fun to drink my way to a collection.
If you are not accustomed to bourbon don't let anyone tell you a Mint Julep is the way to go. Single barrel bourbons are as fine as Scotch malt whiskeys and mixing them with powdered sugar, water and mint has destroyed their respectability. Some, like Maker's Mark, have a slightly minty flavor naturally, and a drop of water is said to help open a bourbon up, but stay away from the sugar and simple syrup concoctions unless you just want the souvenir glass. I might even see you at the Derby this year.
Luck at the window,
Annie Wade
No comments:
Post a Comment