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.
