Breakfast at Wild Eggs or Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville. Try the Brown Hotel downtown for the original KY Hot Brown open face sandwich. Lilly's on Bardstown Road is excellent but expensive. Mimi's Cafe on Hurstbourne Lane is quite good.

Dinner at Kurtz Restaurant in Bardstown (home cooking; divine fried chicken livers and meringue pies).

Please give opinion on these area activities in Louisville Joe Ley Antiques and Glass Works. Does anyone know about the Trappist Monestary or other good activity choices along the bourbon trail? I have not been to the area and there are lots to see and do. Has anyone been there that can help narrow our must-do list? Thank you.

We were only there two days and that does not give you enough time to visit all the distilleries. We enjoyed all the ones we went thru but our favorite was Maker's Mark. You end in the gift shop (of course where you can buy your bourbon and then they let you dip the top into the red plastic for sealing..touristy, but fun

From there we went to Shaker Village for two days....loved it! It's only about an hours drive if you have an extra day or two..http://www.shakervillageky.org/

Joe Ley has tons of stuff, good, bad, and indifferent. You have to pay a small fee to enter, which you get to take off the price of anything you buy. It used to be $1.00, but I haven't been for quite a while.

Muth's candy shop is quite nearby on the other side of the street. Their Modjeskas are wonderful.

And don't forget, it is pronounced Ver-SAYLES

For the best perspective, I always suggest Makers Mark & Jim Beam. Makers does everything by hand & most probably makes the best bourbon out there, for the $$$. Beam has taken full advantage of the 'premium' bourbon market which has probably kept them afloat where others have faltered. They are the opposite, very automated w/films, etc.
While in Louisville I'd also work in the Louisville Slugger factory & a trip to Churchill Downs if the ponies are running. Both places just reek history.

If I were going to the Bourbon Trail, I'd figure out how to visit Buffalo Trace. http://www.buffalotrace.com/main.asp?page=guide

This is the least known major distillery but has great whiskey brands (Eagle Rare, Blanton's, Sazerac) and its eponymously named basic straight bourbon whiskey is better for the price than Beam, Maker's, Knob and others. Plus, I think they sell their own white lightning at their Shop.

We drove the Bourbon trail in autumn, 2009. The only distillery tour that I really thought was a waste of time was the Wild Turkey tour. We enjoyed the previously mentioned Maker's Mark and Buffalo Trace visits. Also enjoyed the introduction to Four Roses, an unfamiliar brand. Woodford Reserve charges $5 for their tour, and it was informative. (Don't miss their bourbon balls, they're free and yummy!)

BigRuss - Although taste is up to the individual, I have a hard time putting any of BTs' brands ahead of any of the bourbons you mention. Too me, Blanton's is the only one of a similar quality. But to each their own.