Skelton Photographie: Lucky in Kentucky

Valentine's Day and my birthday are only a few days apart; which puts a whole lot of pressure on my sweet husband! This year, we decided not to buy gifts for each other for valentines...instead opt for a small road trip and spend the money there, rather than on flowers and candy...we'll just make memories instead. Most girls would prefer flowers, give me a couple straight days in a car with my Tater and fun stops along the way and I'm all set!

Our Valentine's/Birthday road trip started at 3:00am on Valentine's morning. Packed the car, showered, and hit the road. We arrived at Mammoth Cave, Kentucky at 8:30am. The weather was less than par, rainy and sleeting and snowing, but we were in underground caves for most of the day, so the weather wasn't a factor, thank God.

Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system known in the world. We only toured a small bit of it because they don't offer all the tours during the winter months. Either way, it's a must see. As we were exiting the cave, our handy guide, Kevin, pointed his flashlight to the ceiling, which was only about 6 feet tall, which means we were all basically hunched over, think Hunchback of Notre Dame style...on the cave ceiling were thousands, and I mean thousands, of cave crickets. They looked like something out of sci-fi movie. I WAS PANICKED. I don't mind heights, I don't mind snakes, but yes, I mind creatures that can fly, jump, or scare the bejesus out of you by randomly appearing.

After touring the Frozen Niagra section of Mammoth Cave, we decided it was time for some libations. Makers Mark Distillery, here we come! So much fun, and did I mention, you get to sample a variety of their products? Oh yes. The tour was free and so was the booze. Is there anything better? :) There is nothing like driving down a dead end street and roudning a curve and seeing this huge black building with red shutters and seeing the big sign that says Distillery. A small stream runs through the distillery and as soon as you cross over the stream, you smell it - bourbon in the making. It's a sweet smell that is very distinct and almost overwhelms your senses. We walked into a room where there were tons of ginormous oak barrells that were filled with mash, which would later become bourbon. We even got to dip our finger into the mash and taste Makers in a raw form.

Do you know the difference between whiskey and bourbon? There's not one! The only difference is that Bourbon is made in the states and Whiskey is not, simple as that.

After sampling different kinds of bourbon, it was time to head to Louisville and see the Louisville Slugger Museum. Holy cow, that museum takes up and entire city block, BUT, when you tour the factory where they actually make the bats, you aren't allowed to take any photos, boo :(

Tay holding Mickey Mantle's Bat

You weren't allowed to touch too much in the museum, but you were allowed to handle a few famous ball players bats, if you were wearing gloves, fine by me! We held Mickey Mantle's, Cal Ripken, Jr.'s, and even tried to hit some fastballs with Hank Aarons' Bat. Needles to say, I hit two of ten, Tay hit 8 of 10...I tried :(

The Biggest Baseball Bat @ Louisville Slugger Museum

After the Louisville Slugger Musuem, we checked into the hotel and called it a night. Getting up at 3 am the previous morning had taken its toll on us :)

We woke up the next morning and went ziplining in the world's only underground cave at Louisville Mega Caverns. This cave is huge. Bigger than huge.It's an abandoned mining camp that was sold at auction years ago. We only saw a portion of it while ziplining, but in other portions of the cave, Warner Brothers has a vault where they store originals of films, such as Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and so on. They also store the city of Louisville salt supply; in case the roads freeze. This cave was amazing!

Tay and I have ziplined before, over the rainforests of Jamaica, but this was totally different. This cave is located under the interstate and is pitch black. Think Journey to the Center of the Earth meets The Descent - we kept waiting for albino zombies to jump out and eat us :)

Did I mention that while ziplining, speakers were blaring AC/DC's Highway to Hell? Good times.
After jumping off 90 foot platforms into an unknown abyss, we headed to Churchill Downs for some photos and then it was off to Land Between The Lakes State Park.