A Perry Tale: Family Vacation

In Cave City, Kentucky, we saw the amazing life size creatures that once ruled this planet - dinosaurs. Dinosaur World is a jungle-like park with over 150 life size dinosaurs; some stretch to eighty feet in length!

Brent and I figured this would be good entertainment for Lucas but we loved his reaction to seeing the dinosaurs up close and personal. The park is filled with trees and shade covered so walking through you don't know what is around the next corner. Every time we rounded a corner Lucas would run to the fence and say "Oh my gosh!" and look with amazement. The best reaction was with his favorite dinosaur, the 'long necks,' also known as Brachiosaurus. When he spotted them he ran up, covered his mouth with his hands and said "Oh my gosh! I.can.not.believe.it!" I wish I could have captured his joy.

The fossil dig was a chance for the kids to find real bones and take them home!

We found some shark teeth, sea urchins and fragments of real dinosaur bones.

Lucas was deliberate with his digging... Hannah (look at her reaction) wanted to take fistfuls of sand out of the digging bunker.

In the Boneyard, they pretended to be Paleontologists and uncovered dinosaur-size bones.

Then we went to Bowling Green to see the Lost River Cave.

There was a wedding that evening in the valley and the reception was at the cave entrance.

It was too dark and I was wrestling a 19 months old to take photos on the boat tour... one of us probably would have ended up in the cave waters.

We hiked some of the trails after the boat tour.

There is a beautiful Butterfly House in the valley.

Lucas studied butterflies at preschool last spring.
He was stating facts about Monarchs and Brent looked at me like, does he really know this much about butterflies? Maybe he'll be an Entomologist.

He was trying to get one to land on his finger. :)

We had so much fun on vacation.

I just love these two!!

The next day we visited the Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, Kentucky.

{the photos with the outlines are from the Maker's Mark website}

Whisky Creek flows through the grounds of Maker's Mark Distillery.

One of Kentucky's few remaining covered bridges is on Maker's Mark property.

Originally built in 1805 as a gristmill, The Still House is home to the old roller mill that slowly crushes the grain, the giant cypress tubs full of sour mash and the five-story continuous column still.

Along Whisky Creek is the Quart House, one of the oldest liquor sales buildings in the United States. It’s where customers used to come and fill up their quart jugs. It stands today as a National Historic Landmark. They said it was the original drive thru liquor store for those traveling by horse; its days as a working business are over.

At Maker’s Mark, they make everything they sell and sell everything they make.

They use 1,000 gallon dump tanks (about 10 times smaller than most other distillers).

After the bottles are filled, each is hand-dipped into red sealing wax.
Each drip is distinctively different – due to the particular technique of the individual dipper.

The quality control lab at Maker’s Mark.

The mash.

Kicking the barrels.

The tasting samples at the end of the tour.

Brent really enjoyed the tour, the tasting and the gift shop!

I took one sip of the Maker's 46. Not bad, but bourbon is not on my list of favorite beverages.

That distinct red wax seal.

Maker's 46 is only sold at the Distillery in Kentucky and a province in Canada.

Guess who brought some home from the gift shop??

The next stop was Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill.

The Shakers were nineteenth-century America's largest and best-known communal society. Their movement began in New York shortly after the American Revolution and by the 1840s, nearly 3,500 Shakers lived in communities from Maine to Kentucky. The Shakers chose a peaceful way of life. They were celibate, believed in equality of race and sex and freedom from prejudice. A quest for simplicity and perfection is reflected in their fine designs and craftsmanship,

In 1805, a group of Shakers settled in central Kentucky and established a village they named Pleasant Hill. Although the population peaked at almost 500 in the 1820s, the community thrived well past the mid-nineteenth century, acquiring over 4,000 acres of farmland. However, after the 1860s, changing social attitudes and the Industrial Revolution signaled the community's decline.

By 1910, the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill closed its doors as an active religious society. The twelve remaining members deeded their last 1800 acres to a local merchant with the agreement he would care for them until their death. The last Shaker, Sister Mary Settles died in 1923. The land, building and furnishings passed into private hands, and Pleasant Hill became a small country town called “Shakertown” until historic restoration began in 1961.