Lexington KY

Well we got started early, as planned, and left Michigan at 6:15 a.m.  It was snowing, cold, dark, roads were icy -  all in all a good time to leave.  Once we got south of Ann Arbor the snow disappeared and the roads were dry.  It was still flurrying in Ohio and in Kentucky!  How very disappointing.  Our travel time was good.  We arrived in Lexington around 12:30 and headed to Versailles to the Woodford Reserve distillery.

Kentucky, even in the snow, is a beautiful state.  We drove off the highways and onto the byways past many farms and horse mansions.  The distillery is housed in a very old (1797) historical building and the one-hour tour was delightful.  We arrived a few minutes before the start of the 1:00 p.m. tour - the rare perfect timing for us!  Our favorite part of the tour, other than the tasting, was the visit to the warehouse.  When you step into the old building, you are surrounded by casks of aging bourbon and you are enveloped in the rich aroma of well-aged bourbon. 

We then drove through Lexington's downtown instead of taking a more direct route to our hotel.  It was an interesting drive with the requisite decaying downtown area, the burgeoning new, small businesses in greater Lexington, and the awesome old neighborhoods with dignified old homes - each different and large on elegant lawns.  It was beautiful.

However, we notice street names and exit names and often make up back stories to go with the names.  We both burst into laughter when we saw Aphid street!  Really?  Why would you name a street after aphids?  We noticed, on the way to dinner, that the street had another name - Chilesburg Road.  Now that is not a great name, but it is colorful and MUCH better than Aphid!  This is just another small example of the little things that entertain us on the road.

When we checked in to the hotel, I asked if they had any restaurant recommendations and the desk clerk/manager gave us two names of restaurants but mentioned that one used local ingredients.  I looked up the menu online and we decided that Sutton was the place.  It was excellent.  On Wednesdays you get a 50% discount on bottles of wine, a discount on appetizers, and we had a 10% coupon.  The pasta sauces are all homemade as well as their blue cheese vinaigrette (very yummy).  The owner grew up on a mushroom farm and the hand breaded fried mushrooms were completely delicious.  We had only eater breakfast at 8:00 and were really hungry!  We definitely recommend this place if you are driving through Lexington.

Tomorrow is a longer day with a 9 hour drive to Valdosta Georgia.  We are really looking forward to driving into warmer weather.