BOURBON TRAIL GIRLS GetawaysGetaways ATLANTA PAGE 61 Plus one for ASHEVILLE WATERCOLOR the guys! SAVANNAH

THE KIDS HAD THEIR SPRING BREAKS IN MARCH, and your husband’s watching golf anyway. So now is the perfect time to grab your girlfriends and savor some much-deserved R&R. Whether you feel like shopping, sightseeing, or just chilling on a beach, we’ve got the perfect itinerary for you. Your man doesn’t golf, you say? Send him and his buddies to visit the bourbon distilleries in Kentucky. Of course, a bluegrass jaunt isn’t a bad option for the ladies either. GIRLS GETAWAYS

pools and winding boardwalks. If that’s the the peekaboo shower in your guest room, its Books stocks shelves of beach reads. case when you arrive, sink into the quiet eye level tiled with clear glass for ogling the Duly tempted at breakfast, we headed arms of the Inn’s “adults-only” pool. There waves while shampooing. back to Fish Out of Water for dinner. Our you’ll find no crying babies or cannonballs The spacious rooms also come with a server, a knowledgeable Luke Wilson dop- to distract from tanning or heart-to-hearts plush queen bed and queen sleeper sofa, pelganger, steered us to a silky tuna tartare, in the hot tub. We settled onto its patio our fitting four comfortably. But if your crew playfully punched up with soy vinaigrette, first night there, as waiters from the Gather- is bigger or prefers more privacy, sorbet- and a locally caught grouper, tender and ing Spot sushi bar fetched us the requisite colored vacation cottages wind out from paired well with a creamy corn pudding. rum drinks and tiger rolls made with fresh- the Inn and can be had for about $100 more. Throughout our stay, there was not much caught Florida hopper shrimp. Strains of Banish the thought of kitschy, paint-peeled temptation to venture from the resort. We guitar from an acoustic set inside floated up hovels: These are the 1 percent’s House were so relaxed, a set at the Tennis Center to the balconies. Despite its four diamonds, Beautiful–worthy vacation homes, some seemed too much work. But before we left decked out with private pools and two- town, we drove toward Destin to reach story porches. the Silver Sands Factory Stores. I had so far The cabana boy fetched You might be farther from the beach resisted adorable sundresses and sandals in a cottage, but most come with bikes, as at the boutiques within the resort, choosing margaritas so we didn’t does the Inn. Nearby, the Boathouse lends instead to splurge on a tension-relieving have to lift one submerged kayaks and canoes for exploring the reedy Balinese massage at the small but attentive toe from the water’s shores of the sprawling coastal dune lake, InnSpa. At Silver Sands, I didn’t blink at sugary depths. a geographic anomaly only seen in the U.S. the likes of Coach Factory and Saks Fifth here in Walton County and in Oregon. Avenue’s Off Fifth, but Le Creuset was my Cyclists swished past us down 30A, but we waterloo. Who returns from a blissed-out this place feels more like a gracious man- stayed close to home, venturing westward beach trip with an insanely discounted sion on Martha’s Vineyard than the tony only to the mountainous dunes of neighbor- French oven? I do. Cloister at Sea Island, I thought—and thank ing Grayton Beach State Park, and eastward We set off on the six-hour road trip home, goodness. Formality has no place at the fire to Seaside, where food trucks line the per- and as we passed the Dothan, Alabama, pits that warmed our feet. fectly manicured town square and Sundog National Peanut Festival and the antebel- In the morning, we devoured toothsome lum mansions of Eufaula, the tether to bourbon-vanilla French toast at the resort’s home tightened once more. Chili cooked in Fish Out of Water restaurant next door. Our my new pot would soon replace dinners at deckside perch only furthered my hunch four-diamond Fish Out of Water. If I wanted SANTA ROSA BEACH, FL that the Inn’s designers, including famed a drink while on my front-porch swing, I architect David Rockwell, had conspired would have to get up and get it myself. n to draw attention as often as possible to Misty WaterColor the pristine oceanside view—a theory con- firmed again as the BeachClub Grille’s WaterColor Inn & Resort cabana boy set up our lounge chairs and Memories (from $370 fetched margaritas so we didn’t have to lift • in April), A DREAMY BEACH REFUGE ON FLORIDA’S PANHANDLE by Amanda Heckert 34 Goldenrod Circle, one submerged toe from the sugary depths 866-426-2656, of Santa Rosa Beach. And you’re a more watercolor­- resort.com mature woman than I if you don’t giggle at

The Gathering Spot We arrived at WaterColor Inn There was nothing so tall here. The WaterColor and Fish Out of Water in late afternoon, racing to Inn, rising just four stories, is the only resort-style both 850-534-5050

drop off our bags before night hotel along 30A, a ribbon of highway stringing Grayton Beach State overtook adjoining Santa Rosa together more than a dozen picturesque vacation Park 357 Main Park Road, 850-267-8300, Beach. We ambled by the ebb- communities. In fact, neighboring Seaside is so graytonbeach.com ing saltwater, watching the perfect that its picket fence–lined streets famously sunset dance on the peacock- served as the set for utopian movie The Truman Sundog Books W 89 Central Square, green Gulf. It was November, and Show in 1998. WaterColor Resort, with its metal- Seaside, 850-231-5481, the pink-tinged beach was practically deserted. A roofed clapboard cottages, is a more contemporary sundogbooks.com lone sandpiper ran back and forth over the sand, take on Southern vernacular architecture. Built Silver Sands Factory as mesmerizing as a hypnotist’s watch. The traffic, a decade ago, it spreads over nearly 500 acres Stores 10562 Emerald Left: BeachClub pool. Above: With metal Coast Parkway, Destin, roofs and wide porches, cottages at Water- the jobs, the schedules left behind, all grew hazy, between the Gulf and a coastal lake. 850-654-9771, silver- Color are contemporary takes on Southern like the condo towers we spied shimmering some In spring and summer, teens on school break sandsoutlet.com vernacular architecture. PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF WATERCOLOR INN & RESORT twenty miles east along the shore, in Destin. and families on vacation swarm the resort’s six InnSpa 850-534-5010 ILLUSTRATIONS BY NEIL WEBB 63 GIRLS GETAWAYS

ASHEVILLE, NC the multilevel New Morning Gallery, a sort enough for grilled pimento cheese sand- of department store for fine crafts—where wiches at kitschy Early Girl Eatery, though we unanimously adopted a crazy-haired the long list of vegetables and shelves of tin angel named Ramona as our weekend layer cakes were tempting distractions. This totem (metaphorically speaking, given her trip, we skipped the Cinderella Castle–like $700-plus price tag). Biltmore House—though we might have Corner Kitchen 3 Boston Way, As I discovered over the next two days, relented had it been time for this spring’s 828-274-2439, thecorner- ­kitchen.com Asheville is the perfect destination for Festival of Flowers (April 7 to May 20). Atlantans who love to shop. We don’t need Instead we explored Grovewood Gallery, an Biltmore Village biltmorevillage.com another Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, or artisan community behind our hotel. Saks Fifth Avenue. What we’re lacking back Never ones to miss a meal, that night our Fig 18 Brook Street, 828-277-0889, figbistro.com home are quirky, pedestrian-friendly neigh- party headed over to gritty West Asheville borhoods full of handmade objects, vintage to check out the Admiral for dinner. We’d New Morning Gallery 7 Boston Way, 828-274-2831, finds, and affordable art. Asheville practi- summer. It’s as close as the Blue Ridge gets read the buzz in Garden & Gun; how scruffy newmorninggallerync.com cally invented the genre. Its famously bohe- to the monumental National Park lodges. could it be? Yikes. With the attached barbed

The Chocolate Fetish mian culture has matured into a sophisti- Unfortunately, on this night the lobby wire–enclosed auto lot and occasional drift- 36 Haywood Street, 828-258- cated milieu, with a gallery or sidewalk cafe was so chaotic with conventioneers and a er, I questioned the wisdom of bringing my 2353, chocolatefetish.com seemingly on every corner. Just comparing nondescript bar singer that my mother and mother here. But we were driving a rental French Broad Chocolate Lounge chocolatiers—the Chocolate Fetish versus I beat a quick retreat to our room. We had car and found a parking spot beneath a 10 South Lexington Avenue, 828- 252-4181, frenchbroad- French Broad Chocolate Lounge—kept us chosen not to stay in the relatively spar- streetlight—so we soldiered on. chocolates.com happily entertained. tan historic section, but our comfortably Inside the tiny cinder block building,

Table 48 College Street, The culinary scene has likewise evolved decorated room had one great retro feature: the seediness was more endearing. Vintage 828-254-8980, table- from hippy to hipster. Our first night we screened windows that cranked open, help- nautical plaques, a console TV–turned– asheville.com visited the James Beard–nominated Table ing us savor the panoramic mountain view. planter, and a neon Budweiser sign with The Grove Park Inn (from $199 downtown. The industrial-style space— The next morning, after lingering too only three letters still illuminated created a in April), 290 Macon Avenue, 800-438-5800, groveparkinn. with its glass-block wall and cozy butcher- long at the hotel’s indulgent breakfast buf- vintage bowling-alley ambience. PBR, you’d com block tables—is designed for intimate din- fet, we explored downtown’s Art Deco expect, but Marcho Farms Veal Tomahawk

Grove Arcade grovearcade.com ing. A beet and arugula salad, garnished district. Jazz Age storefronts of glazed terra- Chop with Anson Mills farrotto, parsnip, with almonds, proved a cool start for flavor- cotta tiles, such as the S&W Cafeteria and maitake mushroom, thyme, prune-bacon Early Girl Eatery 8 Wall Street, 828-259-9292, earlygirleatery.com ful goat stew with kale and flageolet beans. the Kress Building, contrasted with the gar- chutney, and arugula? OMG! No surprise, we didn’t make it to dessert. goyles and friezes of more classic beauties Safely back at the Grove Park, I got a Biltmore House biltmore.com After dinner, we pulled up to the fabled like the neo-Gothic Jackson Building, the disappointing phone call. The facial I’d Grovewood Gallery Grove Park Inn. The majestic stacked-granite region’s first skyscraper. A pair of winged scheduled weeks in advance—the signature 111 Grovewood Road, 877-622-7238, grovewood.com edifice—with a rolling clay-tile roof that stone lions welcomed us to Grove Arcade, treatment that was supposed to make me drifts over dormers and eaves like thick circa 1929. Though the renovated mall had look years younger—was cancelled. A clini- The Admiral 400 Haywood Road, 828-252-2541, butter frosting—celebrates its 100th birth- some vacant spaces, viewing its ornate cian was sick and there was no sub. Sadly, theadmiralnc.com day in 2013. The vast lobby’s mission-style arched doorways and iron spiral staircases this was just the most egregious of several lamps, Arts & Crafts furniture, and cavern- was worth the visit. Daily street vendors service blunders, from distracted front desk ous stone fireplaces appear just as they did were just gearing up outside as we exited. attendants to careless housekeeping (dirty when F. Scott Fitzgerald holed up here for a By midafternoon we were finally hungry towel left on a bed) that marred our stay. Indie City As compensation, the spa offered me free access, and the stunning underground facil- ASHEVILLE’S UNIQUE SHOPS ARE THE PERFECT ANTIDOTE TO ATLANTA MALLS • by Betsy Riley ity covered a multitude of sins. Constructed of granite boulders, it felt like a magical blue lagoon inside Mammoth Cave—with sky- When the women in my family gather, there’d ond was that the cheerful little cafe had recently hosted the Obamas. lights, waterfalls, and fireplaces to warm its better be cake. And here it sat in front of us: But, our penchants aside, the restaurant’s amusing cocktails, mis- hidden alcoves. I floated in a mineral pool, a giant, dense wedge of cheesecake on a thick matched Fiestaware, and locally sourced brunch were pretty much listening to underwater music, and watched graham cracker crust. We also passed around guaranteed to show a girl a good time. faux stars twinkle in the rocks above. Stress a lavender crème brûlée, poking through its The restaurant is one of several in Biltmore Village, a turn-of- melted away, and that afternoon, I headed delicate sugar crust to ascertain the texture. the-century, Tudor-style community designed by famed architect home looking years younger. n W Soufflélike or custardy? Debating such confec- Richard Hunt and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead. tions has brought us—my mom, my aunt, my Nearby Fig has more foodie cred, though we opted for comfort food Above: Jael Rattigan, owner of French cousin, and me—through most of life’s possible calamities. before strolling the village’s quaint, treelined streets. By the looks Broad Chocolate Lounge. Left: Fire pits on a terrace attached to the At the Corner Kitchen, the desserts were larger than the entrees, of the retail mix, our group embodied the target demographic: J. Grove Park Inn’s underground spa.

whichTK was the first reason we began our trip to Asheville there. Sec- Jill, Chico’s, Lilly Pulitzer, Talbots. But we preferred getting lost in FRENCH BROAD CHOCOLATE LOUNGE: ELIZA BELL; GROVE PARK INN: COURTESY OF THE GROVE PARK INN 65 GIRLS GETAWAYS

ing the river, reminding me of Savannah’s rich his- tory. Founded in 1733, the city is more than a century SAVANNAH, GA older than Atlanta and represents one of the quirkier efforts of British colonization. Georgia was intended to be an alternative to debtors prison for the “worthy poor” and an outpost for agricultural experimenta- tion. During its first twenty years, the colony banned Catholics, liquor, slavery, and lawyers. Savannah Juliette Gordon Low Birth- founder General James Oglethorpe envisioned Geor- place 10 East Oglethorpe gia’s capital as the country’s first planned city, a quilt Avenue, 912-233-4501, ju- liettegordonlowbirthplace.org of squares and public gardens. Some 278 years after he sketched the town’s grid, his pattern of dense Telfair Art Fair telfair.org commercial and residential blocks interspersed with an endless loop of Midnight in the Garden of Good and SCAD Museum of Art open, tree-shaded squares is well preserved. Evil, the movie version of John Berendt’s bestselling 601 Turner Boulevard, 912-525-7191, scadmoa.org While Savannah has been a little scruffier than account of a scandalous Savannah murder trial and older sister Charleston in recent decades, preserva- the city’s social eccentrics. Savannah Music Festival savannahmusicfestival.org tion efforts have been on an upswing. SCAD alone Saturday, still in a Midnight mood, we breakfasted has restored more than five dozen buildings, start- at Clary’s Cafe, a diner that retains a shabby charm Savannah Film Festival filmfest.scad.edu ing with its original home, the grand 1892 redbrick despite celebrity status in both book and movie. Volunteer Guard Armory at 342 Bull Street. Now Our main morning agenda was the SCAD Museum Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa (from $229 in called Poetter Hall, the arsenal includes ShopSCAD, a of Art, a marvel of retrofitted structures. The new April), 1 Resort Drive, 912-201- boutique carrying student-created fine art, fashion, expansion marries the original Greek Revival space 2000, westinsavannah.com jewelry, home accessories, and gifts. in the 1853 Central of Georgia Railroad headquarters ShopSCAD 340 Bull Street, We walked up Bull Street to Forsyth Park, admir- with ruins of the rail depot and sleek new classroom 912-525-5180, shopscad.com ing its postcard-perfect, two-tiered fountain, and and gallery space, creating an 82,000-square-foot Sentient Bean 13 East Park got our caffeine fix at the Sentient Bean, an indie complex. Highlights include African American Avenue, 912-232-4447, sentientbean.com coffeehouse–performance venue. On our return art from the Walter O. Evans collection, a robust loop, we took Drayton Street up the east side of the photography selection, and the André Leon Talley Clary’s Cafe 404 Abercorn Street, 912-233-0402, park, mostly to ogle the opulent Mansion on Forsyth Gallery, named for the legendary Vogue stylist and claryscafe.com Park, a Victorian-era hotel with grand Romanesque showcasing design and fashion. The Distillery 416 West architecture. Then we walked riverward, lingering The Distillery was nearby for lunch. The easy­ Liberty Street, 912-236-1772, at Lafayette Square to take in Flannery O’Connor’s going gastropub is located in a distillery that became distillerysavannah.com birth home, in the shadow of the Cathedral of St. a pharmacy during Prohibition (while reportedly The Paris Market & Brocante John the Baptist. churning out bathtub gin in second-floor lavatories). Savannah Stroll 36 West Broughton Street, 912-232-1500, theparis­ Dinner at the Westin’s Aqua Star restaurant The bar’s been restored to its pre–Comstock era SCAD MUSEUM OF ART IS THE NEWEST DRAW TO GEORGIA’S OLDEST CITY • by Rebecca Burns market.com offered both a spectacular waterfront view and mahogany grandeur and offers close to 100 bottled Zia Boutique 325 West superior hotel fare. Skip the buffet and go for chef beers and craft drafts such as Original Sin Cider. Broughton Street, 912-233- specials like saffron-imbued Lowcountry seafood Fortified, we meandered over to Broughton 3237, ziaboutique.com My last girls’ getaway to Savannah was chap- vowed to return for a grown-up Savannah excursion. stew or potpie bursting with crab, scallops, and local Street, the main shopping thoroughfare, to take in Leopold’s Ice Cream 212 East veggies. After s’mores at the riverside fire pit, we local favorites like the Paris Market & Brocante, a eroning a gaggle of middle schoolers on the I finally went back last fall, timing my visit to another local tradi- Broughton Street, 912-234- ritual pilgrimage to the home of Juliette Gor- tion, the annual Telfair Art Fair, and the reopening of the Savannah 4442, leopoldsicecream.com headed upstairs, discovering that the hotel TV plays sort of two-story European flea market, and Zia, a don Low: old-money Savannahian, fabulously College of Art and Design’s Museum of Art, which had just completed boutique of handmade jewelry designs. We savored feisty role model, and founder of the Girl a $26 million expansion. With so many cultural blockbusters—from more comestible history at Leopold’s Ice Cream, still Scouts of the USA. Like many Scouts, we spring’s Savannah Music Festival (March 22 to April 7) to fall’s Savan- serving recipes concocted by its founders in 1919. M made the trek in March, when the first troop nah Film Festival (October 27 to November 3)—it’s easy to plan visits The rest of the evening, we explored artists’ was started—and thus we ran into pilgrims of around special events. (In April alone, there are festivals featuring tents as Telfair at Twilight got into swing. With the another sort, paying homage to St. Patrick. sidewalk chalk art, animation, opera, and historic gardens.) twangy Americana of local band the Train Wrecks Herding a clutch of eleven-year-olds sporting green vests Looking out from the eleventh floor of theWestin Savannah Harbor in the background and great globes of lanterns sus- through the souvenir shops on River Street, my prime motive was Golf Resort & Spa, we toasted the city sparkling across the river, then pended over the streets and squares, we paused for thwarting a collision with frat boys draped in green beads and tot- strolled down to the dock where the Savannah Belles Ferry departs a to-go cup and headed back to the harbor, awarding ing red Solo cups (Savannah famously allows open containers in from City Hall landing. (The free, adorably retro boats operate every ourselves a merit badge in Savannah culture. n the tourist district). Huddled in a carriage during a nighttime ghost twenty to thirty minutes from 7 a.m. to midnight. Bonus: You might tour, the girls were more spooked by staggering celebrants than spot a dolphin.) Above: The newly expanded SCAD Museum of Art. Left: Tour guide Savannah Dan in front of our guide’s tales of romance, vengeance, and murder. Our horse’s As the ferry pulled into the dock, the afternoon sun glinted on the Mercer-Williams House, a museum and an hooves clopped on cobblestones, the girls squealed, and I silently City Hall’s gold-domed tower and warmed the old warehouses lin- infamous murder site in Berendt’s book. 67 TOUR: COURTESY VISITSAVANNAH.COM; SCAD MUSEUM: COURTESY OF SCAD

WIN A GETAWAY! Through April 30, enter our online contest to win a trip to the beach or spa! Visit atlantamagazine.com/girlsgetawaycontest . . . AND ONE FOR THE GUYS

some are more than an hour apart. (Don’t also a summer musical about Stephen Fos-

FRANKFORT, KY worry, drivers: The half-ounce samples are ter, composer of Kentucky’s state song, “My BARDSTOWN, KY designed to entice, not intoxicate.) Old Kentucky Home,” held at the State Park LEXINGTON, KY We launched our trek at Bardstown, the containing the Georgian-style home itself. “Bourbon Capital of the World.” The pun- For golfers, the park’s eighteen-hole course gent scent that welcomed us—an aroma of is a Golf Digest four-star must-play. sweet potatoes and boiled peanuts—was The next morning we were up early to

Kentucky Bourbon Trail actually fumes of corn mash wafting from catch the tour at Barton’s. Our guide detailed kybourbontrail.com nearby Barton 1792 Distillery. It propelled the distilling process, from grain selection

BARDSTOWN us straight to the famous tasting room at (all the corn comes from within 100 miles) to Kentucky Bourbon House Kentucky Bourbon House, a Federalist-era how charred oak barrels help give bourbon (Colonel’s Cottage Inns from $99 per night), 107 East inn on the town square. (Our cottage there its trademark color and flavor. She pointed Avenue, 502-507-8338, proved spacious, if a bit frilly for a man trip.) out the mold-darkened trunks and branch- kentuckyshomeforbourbon.com The proprietor, Colonel Michael Mas- es of nearby trees, caused by evaporation Old Talbott Tavern 107 West ters—who bears a goateed resemblance to provided gratis with a refined flourish by from the distilleries—as good as signposts Stephen Foster Avenue, 502-348- 3494, talbotts.com Colonel Sanders—is a seventh-generation the Colonel. A woman requested another for still-seeking revenuers during Prohibi- local steeped in whiskey lore. He helped mint julep, but her husband waved dismis- tion. After gawking at thousands of barrels My Old Kentucky Dinner Train 866-801-3463, rjcorman.com/ sively and called, “Just bring her a glass of mellowing in storage, we bellied up to the dinnertrain.html whiskey with a sprig of mint.” Apparently, small visitors center bar and savored the we weren’t alone in our mission. happy burn of small-batch whiskeys and My Old Kentucky Home State Park We bellied up to the visitors 502-348-3502, parks.ky.gov center bar and savored With regrets, we skipped the family-style dark chocolate bourbon balls. Barton 1792 Distillery dinner with our new friends at Kentucky In the afternoon, we drove up the Blue 501 Cathedral Manor, 866-729-3722, the happy burn of small- Bourbon House and crossed the square to Grass Parkway to Lexington, girded on all 1792bourbon.com batch whiskeys and dark Old Talbott Tavern, a storied inn built in 1779 sides by pastoral horse farms. April and LEXINGTON that has hosted Abe Lincoln, , October bring daily races to Keeneland, its Keeneland 4201 Versailles chocolate bourbon balls. Road, 800-456-3412, keeneland.com , and . As tour- sprawling horse park and track. Race week- ists, we were obligated to try a Kentucky ends draw huge crowds, including college Gratz Park Inn (from $189 per night), 120 West Second Street, us select flights of five tastes, expound- Hot Brown: an artery-clogging, open-faced students from Lexington’s two universities. 859-231-1777, ing on their subtle hints of spice, caramel, sandwich of turkey (and at Talbott’s, sugar- You can avoid the fratty trackside chaos gratzparkinn.com and vanilla. The other patrons around the cured ham) on toast, smothered with quieter seats in the grandstand. FRANKFORT small communal tables were all couples, in Mornay sauce and topped with bacon, Downtown Lexington is equally festive Buffalo Trace Distillery 113 Great Buffalo Trace, including two men from Ohio who insisted cheddar cheese, and tomato. after the races. The Gratz Park Inn, a favorite 502-696-5926, we take the Buffalo Trace Distillery tour in Bourbon treats Bardstown well. The pic- home base for Keeneland horse owners, buffalotracedistillery.com Frankfort, their favorite of five they’d just turesque, historic town is the west anchor is a posh boutique hotel adorned in dark visited. When we started comparing the of Kentucky’s bourbon country and sports woods, rich upholstery, and old money. If bite of bourbon to the peaty smokiness of kitschy attractions such as My Old Kentucky the restaurant is too crowded, pull up to the Scotch and Irish whiskey, sips of Famous Dinner Train, a two-and-a-half-hour rail tour bar for the chef’s pimento cheese grit fries Grouse suddenly appeared—the Scotch in fully restored vintage dining cars. There’s and a glass of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, a local beer with delicious hints of cara- mel and vanilla from used barrels. For our last day, we took a scenic drive Bourbon Chasers up U.S. 421 to Frankfort, Kentucky’s quaint KENTUCKY’S HEARTLAND IS HOME TO THE MOST AMERICAN OF SPIRITS • by Bill Warhop riverside capital. The Buffalo Trace Distillery lived up to the Ohioans’ hype. A short, loud, white-haired guy named Don cheerfully We came for the bourbon. Like a growing num- cally, in Bourbon County, which is a remnant of its original size. gave us a two-hour tour. We followed him ber of tourists—more than 2 million in the last Through the 1980s and 1990s, vodka and other clear, easy-to-swill to the premium labeling room and hovered five years—our crew went where true bour- spirits dominated American drink culture. But in the last decade, over the shoulders of distillery workers as bon was born, by the clear limestone waters of bourbon has enjoyed a renaissance. Credit the national fascination they painstakingly hand-labeled rarities Kentucky. This was where eighteenth-century with Southern culinary culture, as well as a recent shift in consumer such as Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year and settlers began distilling whiskey aged in oak tastes back toward serious cocktails with potent brown liquors. single-barrel Eagle Rare—labels we were W barrels, stamped with their origin in Bourbon Like us, more folks are also curious about the spirit’s roots. Six now much better prepared to savor. n County, and transported down the Mississippi makers formed the trademarked Kentucky Bourbon Trail tour back and Ohio rivers on a journey into booze legend. in 1999—with a “passport” to be stamped at every stop—but there Above: An oversized barrel (decorative only) at Barton 1792 Distillery. Left: Bourbon is the quintessential American spirit. All but a couple are some seventeen distillers across eleven counties, most offer- A paddock at Keeneland on race day.

ofTK U.S. distillers are located in Central Kentucky—none, ironi- ing free tours and tastings. Each stop takes a couple of hours, and KEENELAND: JEFF ROGERS/LEXINGTON CVB; BARREL: COURTESY OF BARTON 1792 DISTILLERY 69