Crank and Boom Ice Cream (Ark Encounter, Kentucky Horse Park, Elkhorn Distillery)

March 18, 2023

Crank and Boom Ice Cream Lexington, Kentucky

Crank and Boom Ice Cream is in the middle of ‘Distillery Row’ in Lexington Kentucky. This is a section of town that appears to have been factories that closed down and repurposed as distilleries, restaurants and an ice cream shop. The mural on Crank and Boom leaves little question as to what this place holds.

Crank and Boom Ice Cream – I love this mural

The shop has plenty of seating and is creatively decorated with: a poster tells what Crank and Boom is all about – a ‘”Share a Scoop” board gives folks a chance to share wisdom about life – a board listing ice cream flavors – and plenty of art work.

All their use cream is made in small batches near by with plenty of interesting flavors. We chose a flight of 4 flavors: Bourbon and Honey, Gooey Butter Cake (our server’s favorite), Banana + Chocolate and Kentucky Blackberry & Buttermilk. The flavors were quite good, but two of the four were a bit too soft when we got them – sort of blobs instead of scoops. We enjoyed our experience here.

Flight of flavors – yummy

In the area – This was my first time in Kentucky in many years, and I really enjoyed the people we met and the places we visited. Don’s main interest in Kentucky was to see the Ark Encounter and mine was to see a bourbon distillery. We got to both.

Ark Encounter, Williamstown, Kentucky – Back in Biblical times, instructed by God, Noah built an ark to house two or more of each type of animal on the earth. This exhibit attempts to recreate the ark using technology that was probably available at the time. No expense was spared in making this site. The ark was as near to its Biblical size as possible and therefore massive. The cages and displays were well done and interesting.

Cages for small animals

I am fascinated with the history of technology, and the Ark Encounter made all attempts to keep true with technology available at the time, and it was interesting to see how the cages could be cleaned, repairs made and animals fed all with minimal effort. But the exhibits were wrought with inconsistencies. For instance, the Ark Encounter makers were strong disbelievers in evolution, but kept only one type of each class of animal with vague explanations of how these expanded to the number of species that eventually developes.

The Chalicothere Kind- became horses and rhinoceros and other animal classes

The Ark Experience also had a zoo, a carousel, virtual experiences (which we did not do) and many historical exhibits. It all created a fun and informative day.

Elkhorn Distillery, Lexington, Kentucky – what would a trip to Kentucky be without a visit to a bourbon distillery? We chose Elkhorn which gave us a great tour with plenty of information of their bourbon making process, and samples of their bourbon. We even decided to stay for a great lunch. Glad we chose this place!

ElkHorn Distillary

Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, Kentucky – Ever since our daughters were small, we have been around horses – helping brush and tack, watching their lessons and later on walking horses to cool them down. I never learned much about different breeds and and all that was involved in showing horses. Today we enjoyed a lot information about horses in a relaxed and beautiful park,

There was so much to see that I cannot do it justice here, so I will include a few of my favorite things:

A horse drawn carriage ride around the park to show us what was there.

A statue of Staff Sargent Reckless, a fast-learner horse that served the US Marine Corps in a variety of ways, including delivering supplies to where they were needed with no handler involved – She eventually earned the rank of Staff Sargent and the Marines needed to salute her,.

The Parade of Breeds which included both more and less common breeds including the Rocky Mountain Horse with a silver mane.

Mounted police horses with pictures of them with their officer.

History of horses in many capacities.

I found this display interesting because this town is named after the town in Ireland my relatives live in

Freddy’s Steakburgers (Bernheim Arboretum, Kentucky Cooperage)

March 16, 2023

Freddy’s Steakburgers, Louisville, Kentucky

Freddy’s Steakburgers is a chain we had never been to (or even heard of) before, that features special burgers and special sundaes. The restaurant also features red – red booths, red tables, and red lights on a black and white checkered floor. Very pleasing eye appeal.

“Freddy’s Sundae Dream Team” offers four featured sundaes, I had a turtle sundae (vanilla frozen custard with fudge sauce, carmel sauce and toasted pecans). It was totally awesome – can’t go wrong with toasted pecans! The frozen custard had a nice texture and flavor.

We followed the sundaes with cheese fries and chicken sandwiches which made for a great dessert.

Yummy!Turtle Sundae

In the area – I loved the natural beauty of Kentucky. We started our day at a maker of barrels, followed it with a arboretum and ended up at Freddy’s.

Kentucky Cooperage Tour, Lebanon, Kentucky- Kentucky is known for its bourbons. Bourbons (and other beverages) are aged in barrels, and many barrels are made at this cooperage. The company giving the tour in Lebanon Kentucky also has a factory in Lebanon Missouri – we were assured that it was not because they loved the name Lebanon, it was just how it worked out.

This factory tour allowed us to watch each step in the barrel making process, starting with a video at the visitor center that showed the harvesting of trees and preparing the boards. We were then given headsets and driven in a minibus to the factory. As we walked through the factory, we saw how the barrels were assembled, steamed, burned and finished, with our tour guide explaining each step through the headphones. The inside of the barrels are burned to add flavors to whatever spirit is to be prepared. We also saw the some options clients could specify such as degree of burn and even the state they wanted the wood to come from. The tour was fascinating and not to be missed. No photos were allowed inside the factory, but we could take them in the visitor center before we went into the factory.

Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, Clermont Kentucky – In 1929, Isaac Bernheim, a German immigrant with a very successful distilling business bought land and dedicated it as a gift to people in his new homeland of Kentucky. His goal was to provide a place to bond people and nature – a place where nature, infused with art would allow visitors to renew and relax. I think Mr. Bernheim would be happy to see this place today.

Bernheirm Arboretum and Research Forest skywalk for a tree top view.

The Forest Giants Trail would probably have made Mr. Bernheim the most happy – three artistic forest giants along a 1 mile out-and-back trail with lakes, tranquil wooded areas and a holly forest which featured more types of holly than I ever knew existed. The forest giants made by the artist Thomas Dambo were so creative – I loved them.

Mama Loumari – Forest Giant in Bernheim Arboretum

In the arms Little Nis

Louisville Ice Cream (Slugger Bat Factory Tour, Kentucky Derby Museum, AHA Museum of the Blind)

March 17, 2023

Louisville Ice Cream, Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville Ice Cream

Over the last few years. Louisville Ice Cream has won accolades from Food Network, Food and Wine and USA Today, so we had to try it. The shop, located in an older section of town, is easily identified by the bright blue ice cream cone sign above its door. There was a picture board out front with pictures of some of their ice creams and a list telling us they had they had vegan options, made their own cones and used local dairy products. The same artist appeared to have made made signs inside with creative sundae options.

The work of a great artist

After perusing the options, I chose Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream (Cream Cheese Ice Cream with cinnamon and pieces of cinnamon buns) that was pictured on the outside picture board, My expectations were a bit too high, although the serving size was generous, I found the ice cream to be a bit weak on flavor and a bit grainy.

There were attractive benches outside – great to enjoy ice cream while people watching as well as indoor seating at small tables,

In the area: Louisville, Kentucky is located on the Ohio River directly across from Indiana. Louisville has many things to see and do.

Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchhill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky – the Kentucky Derby is a yearly horse race run since 1875. It is also called ‘Run for the Roses’ because the winner of this 1.25 mile race is draped with a shawl of beautiful red roses. The Kentucky Derby Museum, with its interesting exhibits, artifacts, videos and interactive activities was fun to visit. The museum is at the Churchhill Downs Racetrack is where all the horse racing action happens. We walked to the stands along the racetrack on an organized tour and heard fascinating stories related to the race. It was awesome being so close to where the horses run. We plan to comeback to see a race here someday, but not the Kentucky Derby – that is out of our price range!

Kentucky Derby track

While we were here, I had to try a mint julep, the traditional game day drink made from bourbon, sugar, water, ice and a sprig of mint. The drink was not really anything, it was all about tradition – now I just need the fancy hat. We enjoyed our trip here!

Mint julep at Churchill Downs

AHA Museum of the Blind, Louisville Kentucky – this was an off the beaten track place that should be an on the beaten track. It was so well done, so interesting and so informative of the technological history and the lives of blind and visually impaired people,

There have been many different systems and many different attempts to help the lives of visually impaired and this explained them with colorful exhibits that included hands-on experiences and artifacts. It gave us s better understanding a what blind people can naturally excel at and where life would be much more difficult than a seeing person.

We had a fantastic guide who taught us how to read Braille – it would take a long time to master it, but we got the basics down amazingly fast.

We then watched three actors reading braille dialog lines practicing for an upcoming stage performance. Their reading was so fast and so in character, we were totally amazed- I have never watched a blind person read out loud before, and it was totally amazing and heartening.

Hillerich and Bradsby Inc. Slugger Bat Factory Tour- “Baseball bats” – the words conjurer images of everything from Little League baseball and softball to Major League sluggers. Each player has a specific type of bat they prefer. Visiting the Slugger Bat Factory Tour, we got to chance to see how bats were made from start to finish,

We waited for our tour to begin in a large room with displays about famous baseball players with the bat they used – there was even a photo op holding the bat of your favorite player. Two stations had men making bats manually -lot more work than a modern factory! The place was filled with families with grade school kids, obviously enthusiastic baseball and softball players – their enthusiasm enriched the experience.

The tour started with the construction of professional bats, followed by the area with bat production for the common folk. Modern bat making is largely automated and fun to watch. We even got little bats to take home.

This is a not-to-be-missed stop in Louisville.