the sun shines bright

the abbey of gethsemani

tuesday, the first of june, was my second full day in the bluegrass state, so-called because the kind of grass that grows here is...blue-ish. in the morning i went to the abbey of gethsemani, a trappist monastery a little over an hour outside of lexington just past bardstown. gethsemani is a trappist monastery, and is the oldest monastery in the united states still in operation: it was founded in 1848, and is still considered the 'mother house' for all trappist monasteries in the usa. its other claim to fame is that it was home to catholic thinker and writer thomas merton. like much else, it was set in the beautiful kentucky countryside. i went into the church to pray and then sat outside and read for a couple of hours. nothing like a little time in a monastery in the countryside to make one feel at peace.

after driving back to kexington, blair and i went to eat at a fantastic middle eastern restaurant for lunch. a full plate of hummus, babaganoush and falafel later, we left to go to the headly-whitney museum, again in the countryside around lexington. it is set on the former farm of george w. headley iii, who was a famous jewelry designer in the 1940s out in hollywood. he had a boutique in a big hotel in l.a., so he would put a diamond encrusted collar on his little dog, named ernie, and send it out to the pool area to mingle with rich people. apparently he got a lot of clients using this method. the museum itself was a neat collection of odds and ends (or bibelots in french) and a seashell grotto, which is building entirely decorated with seashells on the inside and looked both artistic and quite bizarre. blair and i walked around a little, enjoying the day, and then headed back home.

not that my day was over yet. once home, jack and i left to go the neighborhood pool, which was way better than my own back home. this one went to ten feet deep and had a diving board, as well as lifeguards. after two hours of water gun wars, in which i fought jack and two other little boys, i was tuckered out and we headed home to a dinner of spaghetti.
today i slept in in preparation for hitting the road tomorrow. i picked my mum up at the airport at one, and we headed directly to the woodford reserve distillery. for those of you not in the know, woodford reserve is a high-end kentucky bourbon. also, bourbon simply denotes a specific type of whiskey--it does not have to be from ky, although the water here makes it good for bourbon making. we had lunch on the porch and went on a tour of the distillery. woodford reserve is made of 68% corn, as well as a couple other things. they have to cook the ingredients for 6 hours and then ferment it for 6 days. after that it is triple-distilled in large copper contraptions, which is what sets it apart from other kentucky bourbons--i guess most are not distilled as much. it is also the official bourbon of the kentucky derby, and is used in the $1000 mint julep at the derby. at the end we got to try a little sample and bourbon balls. it was a really neat experience, and i learned a lot about how things are distilled. i wanted to buy a bottle, but i didn't have $50 to lay down on one liter of woodford perserve. now it's dinner at a mexican restaurant, visiting and sleep. here's to seeing how far we can make it tomorrow! next planned stop: the field of dreams in iowa.