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Window Seat or Aisle Seat: Celebrating a Twenty-First Birthday as a Family

Locations in this article:  Atlanta, GA Las Vegas, NV

Turning 21 is an unforgettable milestone, but should parents and children celebrate together? Most 21st birthdays involve drinking and gambling―could a parent’s presence allow for more responsible fun? Family travel correspondent Kerri Zane investigates appropriate ways for a parent to share the celebration with their adult child.

Turning twenty-one! It’s a seminal moment and a birthday to be marked by a memorable event. As the parent of a soon-to-be twenty-one year old, my daughter’s impending big day was becoming a celebration conundrum.

Sure, Vegas is the quintessential twenty-one year old destination––it’s legal gambling with ample drinking opportunities. As a mom, my desire was to create an experience that was perhaps more than a round of black jack and the ability to drink beer in public. I wanted an unforgettable travel birthday for the two of us.

Friends, family and experts soon chimed in with a variety of ideas and suggestion. Then my daughter and I narrowed down our list to a few top favorites.

21 and Over Stateside 

One of the more unique stateside getaways for a newly minted adult ready to order his or her first “adult” beverage, is the “Bourbon Capital of the World” Bardstown, Kentucky. Bardstown is the home to three of the six distilleries on the famed Kentucky Bourbon Trail – Heaven Hill, Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam. It’s also the zip code for the Barton 1792 Distillery, the Chapeze House and The Kentucky Bourbon House. Celebrating a twenty-first birthday offers history and master class in tasting bourbon and bourbon making, which, in case you were wondering, was first made by a Baptist minister.

Each distillery offers a guided sampling of the spirit by a master distiller. Maggie Mullen’s recently chose Bardstown to celebrate her younger brother’s 21st birthday: “My parents aren’t much for the bar scene, but we all wanted to share in the experience of my brother turning 21. Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center that allowed us to celebrate my brother’s 21st birthday as a family.”
When you burn out on the bourbon, you can visit any one of Bardstown’s four Civil War museums, “The Stephen Foster Story,” Kentucky’s official outdoor drama, or any number of the historic restaurants. Locals advise that visits are best planned for March through December.

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