A Taste of Kentucky – Bourbon, Baseball & the Backstretch

Tour Inclusions: 3 nights’ accommodation; 3 breakfasts; 3 lunches; 3 dinners; admissions, entrance, and guide fees as stated in the itinerary, including taxes, and gratuity, except gratuity for guide fees is not included on adult tours unless otherwise requested. Based on 35 paying passengers and one (1) comp in double occupancy.

• Louisville Mega Cavern
• Frazier Kentucky History Museum
• Speakeasy Tasting at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience
• Maker’s Mark Distillery
• Louisville Slugger Museum
• Butchertown Market
• Churchill Downs Racetrack
• The Kentucky Derby Museum

• Arrive in Louisville, Kentucky and check-in to your local area hotel before enjoying lunch included at a Bar & Grille.
• This afternoon, embark on a Tram Tour of Louisville Mega Cavern. Hop on an SUV-pulled tram with a Mega Cavern Expert who will guide you on your underground adventure. See early cavern formations, a historic replica of the Cuban Missile Fallout Bunker, learn about early mining operation, and more!
• Enjoy a tour and tasting at a local distillery where you will see a running distillery operation, smell fermentation, maturation charring & toasting, touch finished barrels, and hear real machinery at work in all areas of production.
• Enjoy dinner included at a local favorite restaurant. (Meals: L, D)

• Enjoy breakfast included at the hotel this morning before joining your guide for a tour and tasting at one of Kentucky’s oldest and smallest distilleries.
• Depart with an included boxed lunch on your way to the Frazier Kentucky History Museum. It is a home for everything people in Kentucky are most proud of, bringing history to life for visitors through exhibits, artifacts, and live performances every day.
• Next, enjoy a tour and tasting at a distillery where you will see first-hand the distillation process from beginning to finished spirit.
• Enjoy the Speakeasy Tasting Experience at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, which transports you back in time to the 1930’s to celebrate the last days of Prohibition in Louisville. If you guess the secret entry password correctly, you’ll gain access to a private Speakeasy. Once inside, you’ll learn about Prohibition and the city’s rich Bourbon heritage, while tasting 4 premium whiskeys. As a privileged guest of the Speakeasy, you'll also take home a commemorative glass.
• Arrive to the Belle of Louisville Riverboats and embark on an included dinner cruise!
• Ride aboard the Belle of Louisville, the oldest operating Mississippi River-style steamboat in the U.S., -OR- the Riverboat Mary M. Miller, named after the first woman steamboat captain in the U.S., who was born in Louisville, KY. Fun facts: The Belle is a paddle wheel-driven steamboat that celebrated her 100th birthday in 2014. Mary Millicent Miller became a Captain in 1884. (Meals: B, L, D)

• Enjoy breakfast included at the hotel this morning prior to departing for a Maker’s Mark Distillery Tour. From their hand-selected ingredients, to their meticulous, efficient process, to the way they bottle and sell their bourbon, Maker’s Mark has always gone against the grain.
• Lunch on own today prior to visiting the Louisville Slugger Museum, home of the world's biggest baseball bat! This factory and museum is a popular spot for sports lovers, and a Louisville landmark. Plus, everyone receives a miniature souvenir bat at the end of the tour!
• Enjoy free time at Butchertown Market this afternoon which is home to an impressive list of businesses and shops. The building’s historical architecture provides a stately backdrop to the modern flair of its commercial and retail spaces. Visit chocolate, bath and body, home goods stores, and more!
• Enjoy a tour and tasting at a brandy company. They make a differentiated, uncommon, unadulterated pure pot-distilled natural American Brandy, distilled in American copper pot stills and matured in bourbon barrels.
• Enjoy dinner included at a local favorite this evening. (Meals: B, D)

• Check out of your hotel and depart for the Backstretch Breakfast Tour at Churchill Downs.  There's no experience quite like a once-in-a-lifetime chance to spend a morning on the backside at Churchill Downs Racetrack. Get a behind the scenes view of Thoroughbred racing at the "World's Most Legendary Racetrack”.
• Enjoy breakfast included in the Horsemen’s Track Kitchen, see the horses training rail side, catch them during a bath, and learn about life at the track. Be sure to bring your cameras because on any given day of training, visitors will get an up close and personal view of the horses, jockeys, trainers, and other connections who live the sport of horseracing!
• Next stop is a visit to The Kentucky Derby Museum which aims to provide a lasting impression of tradition, hospitality, and pride to its many visitors. Opening to the public in April 1985, the Kentucky Derby Museum sits on land that Churchill Downs donated to the non-profit corporation. When you visit, you will find yourself immersed in the next best thing to actually being at the Derby! The exhibits will take you through the journey from the birth of the foal to the winner’s circle. What's your fashion attitude? Big brim with lots of trimmings or simple and chic?
• Enjoy a Bourbon Tasting along with an interactive lesson on how to make a signature Mint Julep.
• You’ll also sample Louisville’s Modjeska candy, named after the actress who attended the third running of the Kentucky Derby in 1877.
• Depart for home this afternoon with an included boxed lunch. (Meals: B, L)