Kentucky Official Visitor's Guide - 2017 Kentucky Official Visitor's Guide
5 Ways To Explore The Bluegrass State
2016-12-10 00:27:41
1 MUSIC & MUTTON
2 HORSES & BOURBON
3 OUTDOOR RECREATION
4 CAVES & LAKES
5 ARTS & CRAFTS
Come spend some time getting acquainted with Kentucky’s most famous assets: bluegrass and barbecue, horses and bourbon, arts and outdoor adventure. You’ll make some jaw-dropping discoveries along the way — like the new larger-than-life, biblically inspired Ark Encounter in Williamstown that stretches more than 500 feet long. And you’ll encounter some unexpected finds, too, like the beloved Belle of Louisville, the oldest steamboat operating on American rivers, Danville’s Great American Dollhouse Museum and Augusta’s Rosemary Clooney House. Whatever your interest, you’ll find many ways to enjoy it in the Bluegrass State!
1 MUSIC & MUTTON
Begin on a high note at the Birthplace of Bluegrass: the Bill Monroe Homeplace at Jerusalem Ridge, where family memorabilia (including the dinner bell) gives a glimpse into the life of the Monroe family, whose youngest child would create a musical genre. Not far away is Uncle Pen’s Cabin. A fiddler by vocation, Uncle Pen was a significant source of inspiration for young Bill. Join the audience at the Rosine Barn Jamboree for live bluegrass music and dancing every Friday night.
Follow that music theme to a $15 million facility opening in spring of 2018 as the new home of the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, complete with a 450-seat concert hall, 2,000-seat outdoor concert arena, research library, teaching rooms and rooftop restaurant overlooking the Ohio River. You’ll see all this in addition to exhibits about “Big Mon” (Bill Monroe), historically significant instruments, a timeline of bluegrass music and the Hall of Fame.
Or get your fill of mutton, chicken and more mutton at these iconic Owensboro eateries: Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn and Old Hickory Bar-B-Que. Try secret-recipe barbecue and burgoo at the International BAR-B-Q Festival or, if visiting from May through September, at one of Owensboro’s 22 parish barbecue picnics. Need to go to The Wood Shed? Of course you do! This Hopkinsville joint serves up classic barbecue plates along with daily specials and to-die-for cornbread and homemade pies.
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In Leitchfield, “Fiddling Capital of Kentucky,” stop by the Freedom and Fiddlin’ Festival in July. In Hodgenville, follow the Lincoln Heritage Trail to the Birthplace of Lincoln.
Rosine Barn Jamboree
2 HORSES & BOURBON
Head into Kentucky’s Bourbon Country for distillery tours and tastings, including stops along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®. Lebanon is the only place you can see both the bourbon and barrel-making processes, so include Kentucky Cooperage, Limestone Branch Distillery and Maker’s Mark on your itinerary. Then pause for a selfie at the Maker’s Mark-branded Lebanon Water Tower.
In Bardstown, “Bourbon Capital of the World,” begin with a bourbon overview at the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History before making your way through distilleries like Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center and Willet’s Distillery. Dine at a restaurant with more than 100 bourbons on the menu — Kreso’s, Rickhouse, Old Talbott Tavern — then spend the night at the luxe Bourbon Manor Inn.
The Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Experience awaits in Louisville in the old Stitzel-Weller Distillery. With a history that stretches back to the 1830s and the intrigue of the founding distiller (who disappeared while transporting his barrels of spirits) this is considered one of the “true cathedrals” of the American whiskey industry.
Sample the spirits at Shelbyville’s new Jeptha Creed Distillery and see the peacock of the horse world up-close on a behind-the-scenes tour in Shelbyville, “American Saddlebred Capital of the World.” Icelandic horses in Kentucky? You bet! Known for a spirited temperament and larger-than-life personality, this unique breed of small horse may be seen at Léttleiki Icelandics at Shelbyville’s Swallowland Farm.
Ever wonder how Thoroughbreds spend their golden years? Find out in Lexington — “Horse Capital of the World” — at equine retirement facility Old Friends at Dreamchase Farm.
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Pick up a cheese log and treat your taste buds to ooey-gooey savory deliciousness on Clark County’s Beer Cheese Trail in Winchester.
Testing the bourbon.
3 OUTDOOR RECREATION
Camping, boating, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, ATV riding, golfing, wildlife viewing — Cave Run Lake in Daniel Boone National Forest checks all the boxes on your outdoor adventure wish list.
For adventure coupled with sheer breathtaking beauty, head to Elkhorn City and Breaks Interstate Park, a 4,600-acre playground compliments of Mother Nature. Known as the “Grand Canyon of the South” for its magnificent gorge — the largest east of the Mississippi — it now offers rock climbing, with some 75 established climbing routes.
Or for adventure to the max, head to Black Mountain Off-Road Adventure Area. Created from former strip mining and logging roads in the hills of Harlan County, it offers more than 150 miles of mountainous terrain with trails rated from easy to extreme, plus an 11-line zipline canopy tour with speeds up to 60 mph and heights up to 500 feet off the ground.
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Theatre lovers are drawn to Jenny Wiley Theatre in Jenny Wiley State Resort Park, eastern Kentucky’s only professional theater offering year-round productions.
4 CAVES & LAKES
Showcasing some of the best Kentucky has to offer, Lake Cumberland’s acres and acres of water and more than 1,200 miles of wooded shoreline make it the “Houseboat Capital of the World.” Boating, tubing, wake-boarding, water-skiing, fishing, sunbathing, swimming – you name it. Relax, recharge, rent a houseboat and get away from it all.
Speaking of getting away from it all, here’s a spot that’s hidden alright. Directly beneath the town of Horse Cave sits Hidden River Cave and the American Cave Museum. Learn the connection between cave and town on year-round guided tours and, if you don’t mind crawling through mud for some serious cave cred, take one of the Wild Cave Tours. Helmets and headlamps provided.
Natural art work on an epic scale? That’s Mammoth Cave! And it is art meant to be actively explored: cave tours, hiking, bicycling and horseback riding, canoeing on the Green River, camping and picnicking.
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Visit spectacularly beautiful Cub Run Cave, a gem hidden away near Munfordville. Students of the Civil War will want to visit Mill Springs Civil War Battlefield and National Cemetery.
Lake Cumberland
5 ARTS & CRAFTS
A state that prides itself on its handcrafted heritage, Kentucky showcases arts and crafts year-round. Francisco’s Farm Arts Festival in Midway presents 130-plus juried regional artists in late spring. Seedtime on the Cumberland, held in June in Whitesburg, is a showcase of eastern Kentucky crafts and culture. Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Harrodsburg hosts a craft fair in August with exceptional and emerging artisans. And the Bardstown Arts, Crafts & Antique Fair gathers 200 artists and craftspeople together every October.
Designated by UNESCO as a Creative City of Crafts & Folk Art, Paducah — “Quilt City, USA” — is one of only a few in the world so honored for the key role it plays in connecting cultures through creativity. Paducah’s quilting heritage is on brilliant display at the National Quilt Museum, the largest of its kind in the world, and celebrated each April and September during American Quilter’s Society’s Quilt Weeks, with master fiber artists conducting dozens of workshops and lectures.
National Quilt Museum, Paducah
Unleash your inner artist in Berea — “Folk Arts & Crafts Capital of Kentucky” — at a H.O.W. (Hands-on Workshop). Sculpting, glassblowing, jewelry-making and other classes are offered at studios of working artists. Attend the Festival of Learnshops in July and challenge yourself in any of dozens of workshops: weaving, painting, glassblowing, woodworking, storytelling, playing the dulcimer and more.
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Step back in time to a place and an era of Victorian splendor at Adsmore House and Gardens in Princeton.
For more, visit KentuckyTourism.com
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