What are must-see destinations while visiting Lexington? (Louisville, Frankfort: house, theater)
Lexington areaFayette County
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I will be visiting Lexington, KY next weekend. I would like to know the point of interests or must-see destinations in the city other than the Bluegrass and the Kentucky Derby.
Farmer's Market on Saturday morning at the 5/3 Pavilion. Plan on eating breakfast there. There's a great fried green tomato, bacon sandwich which is fabulous!
I would recommend downtown at night. Lots of great restaurants to choose from. There are numerous bars with varying types of bands. You'll get a real feel of Lexington
I don't think that you can get a real feel of Lexington by touring a horse farm, hitting the track (when not in season) or dining in many of the downtown restaurants. There are many REAL Lexingtonians who have seldom or never done any of those things. I look at this as saying that I KNOW Seattle because I saw the Public Market and rode a bike to Starbucks for coffee.
Our points of interest are diverse and it depends on your interests as to which ones you want to see.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Kind of interesting.. I just started dating a girl in Cincinnati and she's going to be coming down next weekend, which got me thinking "where exactly on God's green earth is there to go in this place"? My destinations in Lexington are limited to Chick-fil-a, the gumbo restaurant, and the gas station down the street. So I began doing some Google research to find places to go in Lexington.
Basically I would sum Lexington up this way: its ace card is the plethora of important historic homes, its Achilles heel is the lack of any large museums, a zoo, or theme park. Lexington has the first bonafide "city" west of the Appalachians and also home to many prominent people in 19th century America.
How many cities can boast of having
* a house home to the first millionaire west of the Appalachians, a vice president, and a Civil War general? (Hunt Morgan House)
* a house where the best known First Lady in US history grew up?
* an estate belong the best congressmen in US history?
Within 20 miles of downtown are even more historic sites: Shakertown, Cane Ridge, Duncan Tavern, etc etc
Anyways, to sum up for the OP I'd say tour a few of these historic sites
I'm a huge fan of the Horse Park, with it's beautiful barns and fabulous Museum of the Horse. But if you're not "horse-y" you may not appreciate it like I do!!
Downtown Lexington in the evening - restaurants, Triangle Park
Ashland - The Henry Clay Estate
Fayette Mall
Driving through horse farm country
Valley View Ferry
I enjoy living here, but I would not recommend anybody to come here to visit just to see Lexington. if they are into horses, then of course Keeneland.
Horse country is pretty, but it's not worth a visit. If you are going to fly somewhere to visit, go somewhere else.
I had to laugh that somebody mentioned Fayette Mall. It's probably one of the worst malls I've seen. To get to one end to another, you actually have to walk through a department store. Never seen something that horribly designed in my life.
Keeneland is a beautiful and historic race track, located on Versailles Road, across from the airport. Races are held during the spring and fall, so a drive-through would probably be enough, though it would not be my first choice for a Lexington visit.
The Kentucky Derby takes place on the first Saturday in May, at Louisville's Churchill Downs, not in Lexington. But many Derby contenders are born and bred in the Bluegrass just outside of Lexington.
As previously mentioned, the Kentucky Horse Park is outstanding - see their website (sorry, no link but searching should bring it right up). If you visit the Horse Park, expect to stay several hours. You can also drive down Ironworks Pike, through the heart of the horse country, if you turn east after leaving the Horse Park. Continue over to Paris Pike, then turn left and go to Muir Station Road. Turn east and continue to Windy Corner, on the corner of Muir Station Road and Bryan Station Road, for good informal lunches and delicious desserts. Or go back towards Lexington from the Horse Park, then take Old Frankfort Pike by pristine horse farms, and have lunch at Wallace Station, Windy Corners' sister restaurant. Both are very popular with farm owners and workers, but welcome everyone.
Ashland, the Henry Clay estate, is the jewel of the local historic homes, with many, many family artifacts (five generations of Clays and Clay descendents lived there), interesting tours, and lovely lightly wooded grounds with additional outbuildings, plus the Ginkgo Tree Cafe, a seasonal outdoor dining establishment with a limited but delicious menu, located in the old stable/smokehouse/carriage house building.
The Lexington Farmers' Market takes place downtown each Saturday next to the old courthouse, now a small local history museum, on Main Street. Right now, local corn, cantalopes, peaches, beans, tomatoes, and apples are in season, along with much more. A number of local musicians busk at the Farmers' Market - just put a dollar or two in their instrument cases. Free parking is available in the garage across Main, but be extremely careful - it's two-way, badly lit, and is narrow and filled with inattentive pedestrians. And please, leave any dogs at home. Far too many "accessory dogs" get dragged to the crowded Farmers' Market by their thoughtless owners, leading to unfortunate incidents (bites, fights, trips and falls, dogs mistaking baskets of vegetables for fire hydrants, tangled leashes, snarls at little children and other innocents - please folks, just leave 'em at home. I like dogs - but not with my produce, please. And while they won't tell you, being more polite than I am, the vendors don't like having dogs there, either).
I digress. Also downtown are the Hunt-Morgan House, in historic and lovely Gratz Park just two blocks from the Farmer's Market, and the Mary Todd Lincoln House, just up Main Street from the market. There are other downtown attractions, but for a daytripper, movies at the Kentucky Theatre probably need to wait for a longer visit.
Hope this gives you some ideas of how to plan an enjoyable day visiting Lexington. Seek out what's unique, read up on it, and prepare to enjoy your visit!
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Ok, I'd say scratch Cane Ridge Meeting House. It's alright, but for someone just visiting for a day it should be really low on the list. I've never been to Duncan Tavern, although as a lover of Victorian Main Street America I'd love to some time. Just trying to point out the huge number of historic sites there are to visit in a metro of less than 700,000 people.
I also agree it's puzzling that Lexington has NO zoo and only one decent size museum (Explorium Science Center for Kids). I know Lexington is close to Cincinnati and Louisville, but seriously the market region for the city is still home to 1.5 million people. Dayton is a rust belt corn hole in the shadow of Cincy and Columbus but even it far outdoes Lex on the museum front!
A neat attraction not many locals are aware of is the live show of Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour. This is a nationally simulcast program that is only filmed at the Kentucky Theater every Monday for only $10 a person! They get some really well know folk/ indie/ bluegrass bands. You do have to call ahead for tickets and as I said it is only on Mondays
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