Buffalo Trace Tour

Have you ever wondered what to do on a beautiful day in Kentucky? When Keenland racing is over and football is, well, less than ideal?
Try a bourbon distillery tour. The Captain and I recently spent a very enjoyable afternoon at Buffalo Trace in Frankfort. They have, what is for my money, the best tour on Kentucky’s famed Bourbon Trail. The facility sets on the banks of the Kentucky River and the architecture of the buildings spans from pre-Civil War through Prohibition to present day. I was fascinated to learn that the different building materials used in the different warehouses affect climate inside those buildings, thereby affecting the taste. I learned that while Buffalo trace uses only four different recipes, they produce as many as 12 different labels because of the different flavor profiles produced by storing the Bourbon is different buildings on the site. They also produce Rain, a 100% organic vodka and two different Rye Whiskeys.

The tour lasted about an hour and included several buildings on site including an aging warehouse full of very picturesque charred oak barrels.

And the bottling room where we were able to see the workers in the process of bottling the good stuff. Buffalo Trace’s ultra-premium Blanton’s. Note those iconic bottles just waiting to be filled to the brim with tasty goodness.

The tour of course ended with the obligatory tasting where we separated the men from the boys, if you will. You could certainly tell the Buckeyes and Hoosiers from the good ol’ Kentuckians when it came to the tasting. There was a lot of sputtering and gasping. I am happy to say, however, that there were also a few who genuinely seemed to appreciate and enjoy the bourbon and even wound up buying a few bottles. The Captain and I immediately spotted the fellow Kentuckians across the crowded tasting room. They were the ones saying, "If you’re not going to finish that. . ."

WKU Employees Are Dying to Work There

In doing research on the Haunted Colleges of the Bluegrass series, I was absolutely bombarded with tales from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. Most were fairly typical for these types of stories - feelings of being watched in the library, cold spots in dorms, lights coming on and off, and objects being moved. There were, however, two odd things that I got out of the stories of alleged hauntings at WKU.
The sheer number of them across a wide area of campus and the remarkable number of them that involved former employees of the university.

photo from www.gohigherky.com

In the Pearce Ford Tower it is said that the elevators often go up and down on their own without any human assistance. The story is that a maintenance man was killed while servicing an elevator there.
Likewise in Barnes-Campbell Hall a maintenance man was also killed in an elevator shaft while working on the elevator. (note to self: don't apply for a job fixing elevators at WKU) The stories of hauntings in Barnes-Campbell are much more specific and supported by many more witnesses. Evidently the maintenance man turn water on full blast and turns it off again. His wet footprints have been seen coming from the showers when no live person has been in there. And perhaps even stranger still, the elevator will go up and down on its own as in Pearce Ford Tower, but even when people are present in the elevator the machine will stop on the 5th floor when no such button was pushed and the door will even open and close as if someone was entering or exiting the elevator.
The stories aren't just limited to maintenance men, however. Mattie McLean allegedly  haunts her namesake building, McLean Hall, on campus. Ms. McLean was secretary to former WKU president, Henry Hardin Cherry. She seems a friendly enough spirit, though, and students who have lived in the co-ed dorm report feeling watched over and protected. Also there is a portrait of Mattie McLean in the lobby and it is said that if you stare at it long enough she will smile back at you. Apparently not all spirits at WKU are upset with spending eternity there.
Still I think the lesson for today is (with all due respect to WKU and its employees) to think twice before accepting a job on campus. Unless, of course, you're willing to work there forever. . .

Morehead State University Ghost(s) Story

It is that time of year again. Time for tales of all the Haunted Bits of the Bluegrass. Since last years feature on the hauntings of EKU captured so much interest I thought I would continue on with a few other haunted colleges and universities. Starting with my very own former college - Morehead State University.
The 500 acre campus is nestled in the picturesque foothills of the Daniel Boone National Forest. Nestled in between two of these small hills sets Nunn Hall; a Co-Ed, upperclassman apartment-style dormitory built in 1969 and completely renovated in 2009.

 There is one small thing that the contractors failed to modernize.
Nunn Hall's resident ghost, "Penelope".
For years students have reported strange happenings in their dorm rooms, mostly on the 9th floor. Lights and televisions turning on and off for no reason. Water running in the bathroom when no one was in there. Female laughter in the hallways when no one is around. Upon doing a little research I discovered that there have been no fewer than two (and possibly 3) female students who have died in, or around Nunn Hall. Ironically, none named Penelope.
The first was a young woman named Caroline* who suffered from manic depression, and who despite belonging to several clubs and activities at MSU always seemed to be a bit of a loner. One night in the midst of a deep depression she jumped out of a 9th floor window, landing on the roof of the lobby. Even more tragically, Caroline did not die instantly but suffered for several hours, finally dying in the ambulance en route to a hospital in Lexington.
The second story is of a girl named Ginger* who was allegedly high on some sort of illegal drug when she toke part in a game of Russian Roulette. As you may have guessed things didn't end so well for Ginger and her spirit may or may not be part of the larger haunting of Nunn Hall simply referred to as Penelope. (Where that name came from I have no idea.)
There is also a story, though I was able to find less info on this one, of a girl who while living at Nunn Hall became pregnant (naturally). The father of her baby abandoned her and her parents disowned her. Seeing no other option the young woman decided that her only option was to take herself to Eagle Lake and drown herself. They say that on cool clear nights you can hear her sobbing and crying around Eagle Lake. I myself heard this story a couple of times while I lived on campus at MSU. I can say that I never heard any such sobbing around the area of the lake, but I can also tell you that I wouldn't spend a lot of time there on a cool clear night waiting for such a thing to happen either.
So is Nunn Hall haunted? Was there ever a girl named Penelope or have the stories of Caroline and/or Ginger simply combined over the years to form a larger legend? And was there ever a Nunn Hall resident who drowned herself in Eagle Lake? No one can say for certain. The only thing that is for sure is that stories like this don't often fade away.

*last names have been withheld for the sake of privacy

Pumpkin Cupcakes

I was invited to a party the other day. A hog roast, to be exact. Its an annual event and I was really looking forward to it. Then panic set in. What would I bring?
I decided to go seasonal and let myself be inspired by the beautifully crisp fall day.  I wanted to do something with pumpkin so I naturally thought of pie. But I wasn't really feeling it. Too predictable. Too safe.  Pumpkin Cupcakes is what I landed on. The only problem was that while they were a hit - which is a good thing, a few people have requested the recipe. The problem? Well, I tend not to cook with a recipe, especially when I'm working out something new. Luckily though, this was a variation of an old, and well-memorized recipe, that with a few tweaks and alterations became:

Pumpkin Cupcakes

3 eggs
1 Cup oil
1 large can pumpkin puree
1/2 Cup Evaporated Milk
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tbs. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground Ginger
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground Cloves
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
3 Cups All Purpose Flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 30 muffin cups with foil cupcake liners. Combine first 4 ingredients in large mixing bowl, beat with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sugar, spices, salt, and soda. Mix well. Add flour 1 cup at a time, mixing well with each addition. Finish mixing with 2 full minutes on high.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting with your favorite cream cheese icing*

* I actually have a really good recipe for super rich and decadent cream cheese frosting and if you're into that check out the recipe for Red Velvet Brownies. But if you're in a hurry or just not into killing yourself over cupcakes here is my gift to you. 1 Can Duncan Hines Cream Cheese frosting + 1 Can Duncan Hines Fluffy White Frosting + 1 tsp. really good vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste if you like the look of the little vanilla bean flecks) Mix with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Top your cupcakes and never tell a soul!