What activities would you recommend for a group of 8 to get a feel for Kentucky? My previous post was for Morehead where we'll be working and I was assured there's not much there.Any restaurant that serves Kentucky regional food?
Thanks!

Eileen,

I grew up in Morehead and have lived in Lexington since 1986. I can certainly help you. Feel free to email me directly at [email protected].

If I were to spend one day in Lexington, I would take a tour of a horse farm (you can go to www.google.com and do a search under "Lexington, KY horse farm tours"). You'll need to make a reservation in advance at any farm you choose.

As for Kentucky food, there are several choices of authentic Kentucky cuisine (oxymoron?) in Lexington. It depends on how much you want to spend. Probably the nicest "Kentucky" restaurant in Lexington is the Merrick Inn. You'll need reservations, and dinners will cost $20+ per person. You can go to Ramseys (there are several but the one on High Street and Woodland Avenue is the best and original) for much cheaper Kentucky fare. Around $8+ per person.

You are correct about not being much cuisine in Morehead. Morehead is in the beginning of the Cumberland Forest and is about 10 miles from Cave Run Lake which covers several Kentucky counties. There are nice views and places to hike and boat, but you'll need a native to help you there.

Email me if you want more specific help.

Duane

Hi Eileen,
You would really enjoy the Ky Horse Park. You get a real feel for the total horse experience in our wonderful state.
http://www.imh.org/khp/
Not sure when your visit is, but a trip to Keeneland race track is always fun.
A favorite restaurant for us is Johnathan's at the Gratz Park Inn. They have a Barbecued Ahi Tuna over grit cakes to die for. http://www.jonathanatgratzpark.com/

I'll second the recommendation for the Kentucky Horse Park. This is an excellent place to spend a day and learn about horses in general. The park is beautiful, the exhibits are top-notch, and they have so many horses of different breeds from all over the world!

A farm tour is neat if you are a thoroughbred racing enthusiast who would like to meet the horses you saw on TV, but if you want to have fun and gt to pet horses, the KHP is much more friendly.

It may not be Kentucky cuisine, but one of the best Japanese restaurants I've found in the US is Tatchibana on Newtown Pike.

I am a native Kentuckian and I would say 99.9999% of Kentuckians eat their tuna out of a can with mayo and pickle relish and eat grits for breakfast...I however love seared tuna.
Keep that in mind when you're looking for Native KY food...some key items on a menu are: Country Ham, Hot Browns, vegetables cooked to mush with grease, etc
It will be easy to find such a place near Lexington.

An absolute must will be the KY Horse Park...and it will lead you other places. I would also try Ashland (Henry Clay's home) and the Mary Todd Lincoln home (when she was just Mary Todd)

An interesting place is the Joesph-Beth bookstore. It's more than "just" a bookstore. It consistently gets voted as one of the best bookstores in the nation.

A quick trip from here would be Frankfort...KY's capital..there are lots of historical and interesting things there.

Trh the Homestead Restaurant on Harrodsburg Road. It is in a beautiful old house in a beautiful setting. It was recently purchased by the Merrick Inn owners. The inside is upscale dining, but relaxed. The bar is fun and the patio will be open in the summer. A fun, good place!

A fairly short drive south of Lexington, towards Harrodsburg, is Shaker Town of Pleasant Hill. It's a preserved Shaker village with demonstrations and a wonderful restaurant. It's a very pretty drive as well.

Harrodsburg and Danville are two mid size towns that have a lot of Kentucky history. Harrodsburg has the old Fort Harrod and Danville has Constitution Square (both downtown)

The Lexington/ Frankfort area is beautiful. If I could, I would move there tomorrow. Frankfort is a very pretty town, (the state capitol, but small.) The Ky History Museum is there, a great little museum.

How about visiting a distillery? Bourbon is as Kentucky as you can get and they are really very interesting. There are several around Frankfort including Wild Turkey. Horse farm tour in the morning, lunch, distillery in the afternoon. Maybe, if they're running, the Red Mile Harness races in the evening.

Kentucky is a wonderful and very overlooked vacation spot.

I have to agree with the last 2 posts as well. Connie and lmsa_mc have given you some good suggestions. Shakertown is one of central Kentucky's most visited tourist spot. And making Bourbon is, of course, a Kentucky tradition, even if some of the counties where they make it are "dry".