When we started thinking about what we wanted to do for our 15 year anniversary trip, we started looking around for somewhere we could drive to in a reasonable distance and somewhere we had never been. We'd had a few friends tell us about enjoying parts of the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky but had never made the trip ourselves. So when we started looking at distillery locations and a few that we wanted to go to (Josh's favorites are Four Roses and Buffalo Trace) we settled on Lexington, KY being a perfect location to be able to visit a few each day but also be in a city with great hotel and food options while only being 4 hours away. We were only doing a 3day/2 night getaway so that felt like a good distance for us. And let me tell you, Lexington, KY is an underrated gem of a city.
Stay
We looked at tons of Airbnbs for the area at first but honestly guys, I don't get the big appeal for Airbnb unless you're with a large family or group. They always cost way more than hotels (the nice ones) and come with lots of rules for checkout which I find to be annoying when you're trying to vacation. To me, when it's just the two of us, a nice hotel is way more my jam. Plus, Josh loves to work out even on vacation so that's a perk for him as well. We looked at several hotels in the area but ultimately settled on The Elwood and loved our stay. Beautiful hotel, excellent service, good complimentary coffee in the lobby all day, comfy beds, good shower pressure, nice outdoor seating area, and a really cute restaurant/bar on site that had live music each night.
We also considered The Campbell House (which was right next door, the parking lots connect) and we did walk over there and check out their bar as well which was very cute and tried our first ever Mint Julep (which felt like a must-do in Kentucky) and loved it.
Eat
On our first night, we ate at The Fiddletree (The Elwood's on site restaurant) and really enjoyed it. It was nice not to have to leave the hotel again for a good meal after we had been traveling a good portion of the day. And we had the best deviled eggs we've ever eaten here and split a yummy charcuterie plate.
On our second night, we ventured downtown Lexington to try Carson's per a local recommendation. This place is described as a "hip speakeasy serving pub grub with a twist & creative cocktails" and I feel like that's accurate. We didn't make reservations and the wait would have been over an hour if we wanted a table but when it's just the two of us we love to sit at the bar and meet people. So we found an empty spot at the bar and didn't have to wait at all. The food here was 10/10. Get the goat cheese marinara appetizer with an extra baguette with truffle butter and let your life be changed.
The bartender gave us a great tip as we were getting ready to leave and told us to get up early and go to the Track Kitchen at Keeneland and that we could get right up to the rail and watch the trainers get their horses out between 7-8am. We got there around 7:15 - grabbed bacon, egg and cheese biscuit sandwiches and the best home fries you could imagine (for only $4!) and got to the track around 7:30. Everyone was super nice and helpful telling us where to go. Such a fun way to spend a Sunday morning breakfast! Next time we go back, we want to catch a race at Keeneland for sure!
For our other meals, we mostly snacked or got a sub one day but here were a few other local recommendations for food we received:
Coffee: Manchester Coffee Co, Brevede, Kenwick Table
Restaurants: Eppings on Eastside, Palmers, Corto Lima, County Club
We did try the bakery right by our hotel, Futile Bakery, and their cinnamon roll was excellent. Great for sharing and ask them to warm it up for you!
Bourbon Trail
So if you want to really experience the Bourbon Trail with lots of tours and tastings, you'll definitely want to plan way more in advance than we did. We booked our stay only 2 weeks out and lots of the distillery tours and tastings were sold out by then. But for us, we really only wanted to do one tour/tasting since we weren't trying to break the bank (most that we looked at were $30-$40 per person and included tastings) and once you hear how bourbon is made once, its kinda all the same from there. Although each distillery is very unique in its own history and production. So for us, we looked at a map and decided to do a couple distilleries each day and just take our time enjoying the scenery. We typically just got a signature cocktail to share at each location since we weren't doing tours or tastings and then walked the properties. Depending on where you want to visit, you might want to stay closer to Louisville or Cincinnati and plan your trip from there. We used this site to plan our stops.
I highly suggest watching the documentary Neat:The Story of Bourbon before going. It will give you an appreciation for the craft that is making bourbon and you'll understand more of the experience!
Here are the ones we hit:
Castle and Key - This one we decided was our favorite for atmosphere. Incredibly beautiful gardens and property to walk around. We grabbed their signature Old Fashioned and the Highball and just enjoyed the beautiful property there.
Four Roses - This property is a little less scenic but has some cool old buildings. Their tasting room/bar was very beautiful and had a large porch to sit on and enjoy a drink. We shared the Paper Plane signature cocktail. Josh says this is his favorite bourbon to enjoy neat.
Wild Turkey - We didn't really care about seeing this one cause Josh doesn't like Wild Turkey but we had some time to kill so we decided to just go for it. Turns out we went only a wild turkey chase because their usual visitor's center was closed but we found their temporary pop up bar eventually and it was crowded so we didn't get a drink. Just grabbed a picture to say we made it and left.
Woodford Reserve - For sure the prettiest drive getting there. You drive through treelined roads next to miles of thoroughbred horses farms and it's breathtaking. Woodford itself is probably the most traditional looking distillery of all the ones we saw. The bar was across the street from the tasting room and had some porches/chairs to enjoy a signature cocktail so we tried their Kentucky Mule and enjoyed the afternoon. Driving there was the best part for me.
Buffalo Trace - This is one of Josh's favorite bourbons to enjoy neat (up there with Four Roses he says) so we got on the waitlist for one of their tours once we decided what day we wanted to go. Turns out their Trace Tour with Tasting is complimentary. So even if you can't get a ticket beforehand, it's worth going and just seeing if you can get on a tour that isn't full. Because they're free, I feel like lots of people end up as no-shows.
I will say, doing at least one tour is so worth it. It was incredibly cool to see the buildings and the process it takes to make bourbon. Buffalo Trace is a great one to see because it's the oldest continually running distillery (one of 4 that didn't close during Prohibition) and has some of the oldest bourbon barrels in the world.
It ends with a free tasting that includes bourbon cream, root beer, and a chocolate pecan bourbon ball - so even if you don't like bourbon, you'll like these!
Thrift
One of my favorite things to do on vacations is check out the local thrift scene. So on one rainy morning, this is what we decided to do. There weren't too many local, independent thrifts that I could find (which are my favorite) but I hit up several of the local Goodwills and was pleasantly surprised at the prices! (It seems like lots of Goodwills are majorly upcharging things, especially vintage, these days). My favorite one was the Versailles Goodwill (so many good finds and lots were just 99 cents!)
We can't wait to go back sometime and definitely enjoyed our experience in beautiful Kentucky!
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