musictub

We are visiting Louisville, Kentucky, in July. I'm planning on (but haven't finalized) flying into Lexington, visiting and staying overnight in the Shaker Village, touring Maker's Mark and Woodford distilleries the next day with a stop Bardstown for dinner, then heading for Louisville to stay for four nights. I was going to try to fit in a minor league baseball game and a visit to the Speed Museum. I thought we'd fly out of Louisville. I would appreciate any suggestions since I've never visited Kentucky before. Thanks!

carolyn

Sounds like a good plan. You can see My Old Kentucky Home while in Bardstown, and there should be evening performances of the musical play by the same name at that time of year.

The drive from Lexington to Shakertown and on to Harrodsburg is a dedicated scenic highway with horse farms and dry stone fences along the way. Harrodsburg has a replica of one of the original forts built as protection against Indian attacks.

In Louisville, you could visit the Derby Museum as well as others, e.g., the Muhammed Ali, Frazier Arms, and Slugger Bat since you mention baseball. Sluggger will give you a miniature baseball bat as a souvenir.

Our historic hotels are the Brown and the Seelbach. The new 21C is upscale. The two Galt House hotels are across the street from each other and give a good view of the river, on which you can take a short cruise on the Belle of Louisville river boat. Main and Market Streets have lots of restaurants, as do Bardstown Road and Frankfort Avenue. One of our noted dishes is the Hot Brown that was invented and is still served at the Brown Hotel.

Hope you enjoy your stay.

Digbydog

We love Shakertown! It is such a peaceful place, and the breakfast and dinner is delicious. We were recently in Louisville and had a terrific breakfast at Lynn's Paradise Cafe--very funky and fun southern food.

sallytakemyhand

Even if you are not staying at the 21C go inside and have the letters rain over you.

musictub

We’re back from our trip to Louisville. We have never been to Kentucky, enjoyed the whole experience, and would definitely go back!
We flew into Cincinnati and rented a car to drive to the Shaker Village. We toured the Woodford distillery on the way. The drive around that area was beautiful! We enjoyed the distillery tour and the lunch on the patio. Shaker Village was a wonderful, relaxing experience. The restored village was much bigger than I thought. We arrived at 5:00 pm, checked into Farmer Deacon’s suite: three rooms on the second floor of the first permanent building built in the community. Two of the rooms were very plain and done in the Shaker style: a dining/living area and a bedroom. The third room was a very modern bathroom. We had dinner reservations for 7:00 and enjoyed the setting and food immensely. (They use fresh vegetables from their garden…the lemon pie recommended in this site had whole lemon slices cut paper thin in it….delicious!) We had planned to tour the village in the morning and leave for Bardstown for lunch the next day, but instead stayed until 4:00 walking all around the area enjoying a solo music performance of Shaker songs and hymns, history talks about Shaker life and beliefs, and craft demonstrations (textile, wood-working, broom-making).
We left Shaker village at 4:00 and just made the last tour of My Old Kentucky Home in Bardstown. Again, relaxing and totally worth the stop. For dinner we tried the Old Talbott Tavern which was built in 1779 and known as the oldest western stagecoach stop in America. The fried chicken was unbelievable, as was the Kentucky Burgoo (soup/stew with sausage & meat). We then headed to the Louisville Marriott Downtown where we stayed for four nights before returning home.
The food in Louisville was delicious! We tried the famous Hot Brown at the Brown Hotel and really enjoyed it. Uptown Café didn’t disappoint with stuffed mushroom caps that I’ll dream about forever. 21C hotel’s restaurant, Proof on Main, was a top-drawer service and food experience.
We kept busy enjoying the area. We saw a minor league baseball game (Louisville Bats) within walking distance of our hotel. (Think bottom of the 9th, two outs, home team losing 8-6, bases loaded, half the crowd had already left………can you guess what happened?) We really enjoyed the Speed Museum and riding around the University of Louisville campus.
Of course, no trip to Kentucky would be complete without some bourbon tasting. Every restaurant had at least twenty different options available. We found some interesting tastes. The Old Talbott Tavern offered five shots for $20….your choice from a selection of ~40 brands.
Thanks to all you Fodorites who helped make our trip so enjoyable!
(P.S. That’s right…..a grand slam!)

Digbydog

Glad to hear you enjoyed Shakertown. Sounds like a great trip!

musictub

Thanks. It really was fun. We wanted to eat at Lynn's Paradise Cafe as you and many others suggested (must be really good), but were unable to fit it in. Oh, I meant to add that the breakfast at Shaker Village was really nice. So many people on various websites were very negative about it. I thought the food was prepared well, the atmosphere of the dining room was elegant, and the $10 price was well worth it.

carolyn

You'll just have to come back again! Glad you enjoyed the trip.

musictub

Thanks, Carolyn. As you can see, we took a lot of your suggestions (Hot Brown, Old Kentucky Home, scenic route,Bardstown Road restaurant, 21C). Thanks for your help!

christycruz

Brown Hotel bar offers a Millionaire's flight of top shelf bourbon. Seemed a good value, and the bartender changed up some of the bourbons according to your taste preferences. I guess this is for other Fodorites since you've done the trip already! Thanks for the report.