Kentucky Bourbon Trail - The Start

The Bourbon Trail has been a dream trip for a few years, probably more for me than Jayne which is why we chose my birthday weekend to go. When we mentioned it several months ago to some dear friends, they jumped onboard and we could not have been happier.

Day 0 – Luxury VRBO and Dinner

We left Pensacola on Wednesday and went half-way, stopping for the night in Fultondale AL. Both travel days were uneventful; however, on the second day we did make a stop at Dolly's Tennessean Travel Stop. She was an icon and recently passed away, so we had to stop. We arrived in Shelbyville, KY, around dinner time Thursday. I can’t start this review without first mentioning our VRBO. We stayed at the LeCoop Ultra Luxury 2-bed Loft in Shelbyville, and yes, it was pretty luxury. This second-floor apartment in a very old building on Main Street in Shelbyville, KY, did not disappoint. The unit was beautiful, perfectly located, and nicely appointed. The host, Ben, was easy to communicate and answered all our questions quickly. He also sent us recommendations for dining. I’ll talk about those throughout the review and each was spot on. The unit is not cheap, but it was reasonable for what you got for the money, especially when split between two couples.

LeCoop Ultra Luxury 2-bed Loft

One word of warning. For each stop on our tour, I will briefly mention any mobility concerns, and the VRBO had some. The unit straight up a set of pretty steep stairs. Think about an old building with 12-foot or higher ceilings. Getting to the second floor is a climb, and the second bedroom was up another flight of stairs, so this unit is not for anyone with a mobility issue. And no, there was not an elevator. If stairs aren’t a concern, this VRBO is a winner.

After checking into the VRBO, we went right across the street to Last Stop Brewing, a recommendation from Ben. He was right. The food was great and so were the beers. Yeah, we started the Bourbon Trail with beer.

We like to visit breweries, and we always find something we like, but we usually find something we don’t like. No at The Last Stop…every beer we tried, we liked. And some we liked a lot. My favorite was the Eyetalian Stallion Italian Pilsner. Captain Amberica Amber Lager was a very close second. And burgers…we love burgers and they were great.

Last Stop also has a nice little whiskey collection. I took the opportunity to try Blanton’s Gold. I learned that I prefer the original…that may have saved me some money.

We turned in fairly early because we knew it was going to be a big weekend. First up, Bulleit.