Our dear friend Jacob turned 30 this past weekend, and his wife Maggie has been planning a surprise celebration on the Bourbon Trail for him for months. I have been lying to and avoiding Jacob for weeks, and I'm glad we finally got to reveal the big plan. Jacob had no idea what was happening on this trip or who was coming to the weekend. Here's a bit of a breakdown of the festivities.

Friday, June 17 — Louisville

We arrived in Louisville around 8 p.m. for dinner. Jacob, Maggie and a couple other friends had already gone on a tour at Bulleit Bourbon that afternoon, but not everyone could make it that early. For dinner, Jacob was surprised with friends one after another for a delicious meal at one of mine and Kyle's favorite Louisville spots, Garage Bar.

Next up, we hit up a couple of bars for some drinks, but most notably, The Silver Dollar. This is another favorite of mine, and was the perfect whiskey bar for Jacob's Bourbon Trail weekend. We told stories of Jacob, ordered mystery beers and laughed until my sides hurt.

Saturday, June 18 — Lexington

Next up on the tour was Wild Turkey, so we grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to Lexington to catch our tour bus. This was the first tour I'd ever been on, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. This distillery is on top of a beautiful hillside in Kentucky, and while it uses some traditional methods, the Wild Turkey distillery is a massive and more modernized version of making bourbon.

Afterwards, you get to taste two of the 14 whiskeys they offer. I tried the Russell's 10 Year and the Russell's Single Barrell, which I hadn't tried before. They were both pretty good, but not my favorites of the tour/of my experience drinking bourbon. This tour came with a free Wild Turkey shot glass as a parting gift, which was nice, and it was a great first tour experience.

Next up, Kyle, Chris and I grabbed lunch at a random little cafe in Versailles, Kentucky. No one wants to go on an all-day bourbon tasting with no food. We headed to our next tour at Woodford Reserve at 3 p.m.

This tour was my favorite. First of all, I love Woodford bourbon anyway. Secondly, it is located on some of the most beautiful grounds I've ever seen. You pass miles and miles of horse farms along the way there, and the distillery doesn't feel industrial at all. It's like you've walked into someone's very large house that just happens to have bourbon barrels and conveyer belts inside.

Our tour guide at Woodford, James, made the experience all the more special. His southern drawl and witty remarks made this tour super fun and laid back. We left feeling like he was our friend...or that we wanted him to be.

The tasting portion of the Woodford tour was also incredibly beautiful. The room looks like a dream, and the experience was more educational, as James walked us through each sip and discussed subtle flavors in the bourbon. We all tasted the Distiller's Select and the Double Oaked bourbons. After the first and second sips, we were instructed to take a bite of the chocolate left in front of us. After eating something sweet and then taking our third and final sip of the bourbon, all of the spiciness is brought to the forefront. Both of these bourbons were delicious, but the Double Oaked was a little smoother to me. I wouldn't be mad if someone ordered me a glass of either, though. I was actually sad to leave this beautiful room, as it was so cozy and welcoming. Refill, please.

What I really love about Woodford is that their product line is very curated. Each distillery is unique in its own right, but when you compare Wild Turkey's 14 whiskeys to Woodford's five, you can see that they run under completely different philosophies, which I find really interesting about the business.

I bought my dad a bottle of Woodford at the gift shop, along with a cute little Kentucky drinking glass. The prices on the bourbon in these gift shops might be a little cheaper, but not really by much; however, some bourbons you cannot find easily in liquor stores, so it's nice to be able to snag them here.

After Woodford, we headed to The Galt House to freshen up before dinner. We headed to dinner at The Village Idiot, a gastropub in downtown Lexington. At this point, I needed a little bourbon break, so I had beer instead. They had a great craft selection, so I had a West Sixth IPA, made in Lexington. This menu was insane — pulled pork mac-n-cheese, duck and waffles — so it was hard to choose until the waitress read the burger special and it had barbecue sauce on it. Kyle had just looked at me and said "If the burger is barbecue anything, I'm getting it." So we both ordered that, with a giant order of their fries and four dipping sauces. My favorite? Wasabi IPA mustard. Yep.

After dinner, we walked around a bit before heading to our final tour at Buffalo Trace. This tour was actually a ghost tour, showing the haunted bits of the land and telling accounts of shadowy figures and creepy children on the stairs. Our tour guide for this one was new and said he had not yet encountered any bourbon ghosts, but he was really hoping we would catch one on our cameras. I think everyone in our group enjoyed my scared face and general jumpiness throughout this tour, but thankfully, I saw no ghosts, or I would have been out of there.

Buffalo Trace is actually the home to several brands, including Blanton's and Pappy Van Winkle, but alas, we didn't get to try those. We were able to try two different libations, with a bonus dessert drink at the end, so Kyle got two and I got two so we could try everything.

Uniquely, they actually make a vodka called Wheatley that is the smoothest vodka I've ever tried. I actually hate vodka, but this was wonderful. Our guide also offered us White Dog, which is modeled after what the pioneers drank back in the day. This drink is what comes straight from the still before it is aged, so it's clear. Pretty much, it's moonshine. This stuff definitely burned going down.

As for the bourbons, we were able to try Eagle Rare and the traditional Buffalo Trace. Eagle Rare is aged for no less than 10 years, so it is pretty potent. The Buffalo Trace bourbon was my favorite, though. I thought both bourbons here were very smooth, but the Buffalo Trace one was surprisingly delicious. I wasn't familiar with Buffalo Trace until this tour, so now I've got a new top 5 favorite.

As for the dessert drink, our guide treated us with a bit of Bourbon Cream, which is Buffalo Trace mixed with whole cream, and a little root beer. Kyle muttered a curse word in delight that I won't print here, but we all cackled and loved our sweet sips.

Right before we left, Kyle whipped out his pack of Big League Chew (which I had made fun of him for just an hour earlier) and it was a hit. Clearly, I am a fool for making fun of him.

This tour was definitely the most rowdy, which I loved, and we all left feeling awake and hyped for more fun back downtown. We met up at the hotel to grab an Uber and headed to Cheapside, a place our friend James at Woodford suggested. We sat outside, talked about life and laughed a lot. Things got a little crazy on the street when we were about to head back to the hotel.

Before bed, Chris saved the day and went out for Cook Out food and milkshakes. After our late night snack, most of the girls went to bed while the men went downstairs to smoke cigars. I actually went down for a puff, but was falling asleep sitting there so I gave up. The last photo I have from the weekend is this insanity of Keith photobombing me during a drunken request for an Instagram photoshoot in front of this mural.

Sunday, June 19 — Lexington, said our goodbyes

The morning came way too soon, so I will spare you any photos of my tired face from that day. We all rolled out at about 10:30 for brunch at Wild Eggs, my favorite place on earth. After our delicious food and a million cups of coffee, we all gave our hugs and said our goodbyes. I think Jacob was overwhelmed with the weekend, and we all felt the love.

The entire weekend was a blast, and the nap I took when I got home was a testament to that. Too much fun.

Celebrating with Jacob for his 30th birthday was so wonderful, and the fact that there was bourbon involved made it even better.

The Bourbon Trail

Friday, June 17 — Louisville

Saturday, June 18 — Lexington

Sunday, June 19 — Lexington, said our goodbyes