Lexington, KY – Bourbon and Horses. Apparently.
I just spent a 3 day weekend in Lexington, Kentucky.
The locals were fantastic. The service at my hotel was phenomenal. My traveling companions were wonderful to hang out with.
And I could not wait to get out of Lexington.
I absolutely love experiencing new places. Before I leave, I always do a quick google search for “things to do in INSERT CITY NAME HERE” to get an idea of the must see attractions in the area that will give me a sense of the local culture. When I arrive, I immediately ask the hotel concierge what tourist (and not so touristy) attractions they recommend.
All of my attempts to discover “things to do in Lexington” lead me to the same response.
Bourbon and Horses.
My protests that it was 9 am on a weekday were meant with an apologetic shrug and directions to the closest shopping center.
Now, Lexington does have some historic sites. Kind of. For example, you can visit the Mary Todd Lincoln House. This is the house that the wife of Abraham Lincoln used to live in. Long before she even knew who Abraham Lincoln was. It is, basically, the house of Abraham Lincoln’s father-in-law. The historic significance of that seems a bit of a stretch to me.
But back to the bourbon and horses.
Kentucky is very proud of their bourbon. You can explore the “Bourbon Trail” and visit as many as six bourbon distilleries in central Kentucky. I toured a brewery on my high school senior trip (Oh, yes, we did) – so I will vouch for the fact that this can actually be an interesting experience. Unfortunately, none of the breweries are in Lexington. You’re definitely going to need to rent a car or sign up for a motor coach and plan to spend much of your sight seeing time driving.
And then, of course, you have the horses.
If you’re the type of person who can spend hours and hours watching horses, then Lexington is perfect for you. Keeneland Race Course offers live racing in April and October and tours of the facility all year. Unfortunately, I visited in June – which meant no racing and lots of looking at horses.
I was, sadly, wholly unimpressed with Lexington. Despite great food and friendly locals, the selection of things to do was underwhelming.
But then, I’m not much for bourbon and horses.
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9 Responses
Hey, from my perspective, bourbon and horses would be a great break from tequila and scorpions.
Gosh dang it. I wish the concierge had directed you to their Idea Guide (also on the LCVB’s website). Out of 26 or so travel articles, together you would have found something that interested you: a nature preserve three minutes from downtown, our African Ameritage heritage sites downtown, a civil war museum, one of only three remaining homes in America designed by Latrobe, UK’s art museum, self guided biking tour, the home of the Great Compromiser, the largest ceiling clock in the world, professional baseball, a pre-Civil War hemp plantation..stuff like that. Oh yeah, and Spalding’s dougnuts…worth a trip just for that
What you needed was a guide. Lexington seems like a Snoozefest, but under it’s benign demeanor lays a tapestry of Cool.
Also, Bourbon.
Great. Now I’m thirsty.
I think Charles is going to offer a post with tapestry of Cool ideas .
Horses and Bourbon would entertain me for 3 days (I think!) Ok, well maybe not… but there were some good ideas in other comments. Here in Knoxville it is Football & Beer, but hey, we have the Sunsphere!
CLEARLY I need to take another trip to Lexington with one of you as my guide!
I will be on the lookout for Charles’ post. Would like hear about the tapestry of cool.
[...] than one mile from the Lexington Convention Center and Rupp Arena, and just a short drive from the Keeneland Horse Racing track, the Red Mile, and numerous Kentucky Horse Park events. But its location is not the only reason to [...]
Wow, Great photos and story. You are right about forgeting what is really out there until you get away from the metro areas and actually SEE it. And then see it from the perspective of a comfy chair.