A Weekend in Kentucky, Done Properly

A weekend in Kentucky done properly means picking one region and staying in it. The state is wider than people think, and the fastest way to ruin two days here is to spend both of them on the Bluegrass Parkway trying to see everything.

So choose. Louisville and the bourbon country south of it. Lexington and the horse country around it. Or the Red River Gorge, which is a different trip entirely. Any one of those fills a weekend without hurrying. This is a guide to doing that, written by someone who has eaten the hot brown and does not regret it.

Pick your Kentucky first

There are roughly three weekends on offer, and they don't combine well.

• Louisville and Bardstown. The city, the Ohio River, and the stretch of distilleries south of town. Bardstown calls itself the bourbon capital, and enough distilleries sit within a short drive of it that the claim holds up in practice.
• Lexington and horse country. Rolling limestone pasture, black fences, Keeneland if you time it right, and Frankfort and Versailles close enough for day trips. Versailles is pronounced ver-SALES. Say it the French way and everyone will know.
• The Red River Gorge. East of Lexington off the Mountain Parkway. Sandstone arches, climbing, hiking, and pizza at Miguel's in Slade. This weekend involves boots, not tasting glasses.

The rest of this assumes you picked one of the first two, because that's what most people mean when they say they're going to Kentucky. But the Gorge deserves its own trip, and if you've never seen Natural Bridge in October, put it on the list.

Friday night: arrive hungry

If you're in Louisville, Friday night is for the hot brown. It's an open-faced turkey sandwich drowned in Mornay sauce, finished with bacon and broiled. It was invented at the Brown Hotel, which still serves it, and eating it anywhere else first is like seeing a cover band before the original. It is heavy. That's the point. You will not want dessert and you should not order one.

In Lexington, keep it simpler. Find a place downtown near the courthouse square, order a beer or something with bourbon in it, and walk a few blocks after. Lexington at night is quieter than Louisville and better for it. You want to be asleep early, because Saturday starts before you'd like it to.

Saturday morning: bourbon, but pace yourself

The mistake first-timers make is booking four distillery tours in one day. The tours are longer than you expect, the pours add up, and by the third one you're hearing the same explanation of the mash bill and nodding at the rickhouse like you haven't already seen two.

Do two. Maybe two and a half if one is just a tasting.

• From Louisville: head down toward Bardstown. Maker's Mark in Loretto is the prettiest campus in the business, the one where you can dip your own bottle in red wax. Pair it with something in or near Bardstown itself so you're not spending the whole day driving.
• From Lexington: Woodford Reserve near Versailles and Buffalo Trace in Frankfort make a natural pair, and the roads between them run through the horse farms, which is half the reason to come. Buffalo Trace's tours are free, which feels almost suspicious until you're standing in the rickhouse and understand they don't need your ticket money.

Book ahead. Weekend tour slots fill up, especially in spring and fall, and showing up hopeful on a Saturday morning is a good way to spend your bourbon weekend in a gift shop.

Saturday afternoon: the drive is the attraction

Between stops, get off the parkway. Old Frankfort Pike between Lexington and Frankfort is one of the best drives in the state — tree tunnels, dry stone walls, horse farms on both sides. There's no destination on it. The road is the destination.

If it's April or October, check the Keeneland calendar. The race meets run in spring and fall, the grounds are beautiful, and general admission is cheap enough that you can wander in, watch a few races, lose a modest amount of money, and leave feeling like you understood something about the place. People dress up but nobody will make you.

This is also the stretch of day where a state starts to make sense. Kentucky's whole identity — the horses, the bourbon, the bluegrass — sits in about a forty-mile radius here, visible from the road. The Kentucky Icons Tee is basically this drive printed on a shirt, which is why it exists.

Saturday night: eat like you're staying

Back in the city, order the things that don't travel:

• Burgoo — a thick stew that varies by county and by cook, and asking what's in it is considered bad form.
• Beer cheese — a Kentucky invention, served cold with celery and crackers, better than it sounds and it already sounds good.
• An Ale-8-One — a ginger-citrus soda bottled in Winchester. Locals call it an Ale-8. It's the correct mixer and the correct non-drinker's order.
• Bourbon, neat, something local — after a day of tours you'll know what you liked. Order that. Don't order what the person next to you is having.

If you're in Louisville, walk part of the river afterward. If you're in Lexington, sit outside somewhere. Nobody in Kentucky is in a hurry after dinner and you shouldn't be either.

Sunday: one slow thing, then home

Sunday is not for cramming. Pick one thing.

In Louisville that might be the Louisville Slugger Museum — the giant bat leaning against the building downtown is exactly as good a photo as you think — or a slow breakfast and a last walk. In Lexington, it's a morning drive through horse country with the windows down, or a stop in Midway, a small railroad town between Lexington and Frankfort where the tracks run straight down the middle of the main street.

Then leave before you're tired of it. The whole trick of a good weekend anywhere is going home while you still want more. Kentucky rewards that. It'll be there in April when Keeneland opens again.

If you want the state on your back before you've even booked the trip, the Kentucky collection covers the territory. The Script Kentucky Tee says it plainly, and the Welcome to Kentucky Tee is for people who like their state pride to read like a road sign.

Common questions

Do I need to book distillery tours in advance?

Yes, especially on weekends and during spring and fall. Popular tours at places like Maker's Mark and Buffalo Trace fill up, and walk-in availability is not something to count on. Book a week or more out if you can.

Is Louisville or Lexington better for a first visit?

Louisville if you want a city with restaurants and the river, plus Bardstown's distilleries nearby. Lexington if you want horse country, Keeneland, and prettier drives. Neither is wrong; they're just different weekends.

What should I actually eat in Kentucky?

The hot brown at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, beer cheese anywhere that serves it, burgoo if you see it on a menu, and an Ale-8 from the bottle. Order bourbon neat at least once, even if you cut it after.