Kentucky horse country

Thursday
Another beautiful day, reaching a high of about 80F (about 27C)! One more warm day tomorrow, then over 20 degrees cooler on Saturday! It was a glorious day for exploring the beautiful Kentucky horse country around Lexington, with blue skies and white fluffy clouds. We started our tour in Thoroughbred Park in Lexington, with sculptor Gwen Readon’s twelve magnificent bronze statues- see extra. Then we continued into the countryside, passing The Red Mile, a race track famous for its harness racing, and Keeneland, another famous race track, and numerous horse farms, including Calumet Farm, Manchester Farm and Three Chimneys Farm. In places you could easily imagine you were in England, as limestone is very common through Kentucky, leading in the past to the building of dry stone walls, many of which are still standing today - you can see one lining the road and running parallel to the wooden fence in my top left picture. Kentucky is also known for its bourbon distilleries. Neither of us are really whisky drinkers, but since that’s what they’re famous for, we decided to visit Woodford Reserve distillery which Itself is located in the centre of beautiful horse country. They usually offer tours of the process, but unfortunately not during Covid times. They have recently reopened their shop, and they offer tastings outside. You could get it neat or in a cocktail, which is how I chose mine, which had some lemonade and cranberry juice, and was really very nice. We left to come home around 4pm, so we could be back in time for hand bell practice at 6.15. Another lovely mini break!