Travel

J. D. Carpenter’s American Odyssey

DAY 30 — FLORENCE, KENTUCKY: This morning, with the kind help of Jim Howard of Moore’s Point Whiskey and Brad Murray at Parrish Hall Farm, Karen and I were able to visit one of the premier thoroughbred breeding operations in North America, Stonewall Farm, located just outside of Midway, Kentucky, where we were given the royal tour by Clark Shepherd (Stallion Seasons Agent and Pedigree Analyst), who introduced us to a number of the Stonewall stallions, including 20-year-old Marquetry (sire of two Breeders’ Cup Sprint winners), $5,754,720-earner Medaglio d’Oro, and the sensational Leroidesanimaux, winner of the 2005 Atto Mile at Woodbine. Clark, who is a structural engineer by training — he designed the magnificent stallion barn and breeding shed — and a horseman by inclination, talked horses with such passion and knowledge and affection that I said, “It must be a great life you lead,” to which he replied, smiling, “It’s easy to get up in the morning.”

And this afternoon we took another tour, this time of the Buffalo Trace Distillery, where some of the finest whiskeys in the world are produced. The aroma, as you walk past the old brick storage buildings (six floors of bourbon ageing in thousands of white oak barrels) is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever smelled — more beautiful even than steak, or roses, or babies.

© 2007 Defining Canada.