Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky is a beautiful, unique little city full of horses, bourbon, history but not one CVS!

About an hour after we arrived to our fabulous hotel, The Lexington Radisson–equipped with SleepNumber beds (ooooolala!) I headed out the sliding doors to find a CVS to walk around.

After looping around a few blocks (on foot) I realized that this city was made up of restaurants, bars and well, that’s about it! So I headed back to the front desk and enlisted the help of the bell boy. He informed me that there are no drug stores within walking distance.

Interesting…

So what exactly is this city made up of?

I didn’t see apartments on my walk. But I am guessing people work in this city. Hmmmm. Must figure this out!

While in Lexington I had a visitor as did my co-worker.

Mifflin and I attempted to visit Lincoln’s wife’s childhood home, but it was a loooong tour, they only took cash AND she only lived there for a few years…so we decided to go the FREE route and check out the horses.

Turns out its not so easy to see a horse up close and personal in Lexington. If you want to see the horses you have to schedule a visit to a farm and yadda yadda yadda. A lot of effort to pet a horse, so I left satisfied by seeing one run around the track one early morning at Keeneland Race Course.

Instead of horses Mifflin and I learned about the history of Lexington at the appropriately named Lexington History Museum. There were exhibits about Race in Lexington, about Lexington and it’s role as a Neutral state during the Civil War and a lot about the Lincoln family. Good Stuff. Learned a lot. Well, I did. Mifflin already knew it all.

“I’ve been everywhere, LDB. Everywhere. Don’t forget that.” – Mifflin

This was not his first time in Lexington, but it was his first time at the Lexington History Museum!

And he was in Heaven when we walked past the restaurant in our hotel’s window that showcased a Pasta Bar.

Ahhhhhhhhhh.

Cafe on the Park in the Lexington Radisson, every Thursday, is home to an all you can eat Pasta Buffet.

Now, this isn’t a CiCi’s Pizza type of event. No, no, no. You pick all the fresh vegetables you want, meats, cheeses, it’s crazy. Then the chefs throw this in your pan with your choice of pasta and sauce. Then after its all ready you walk about with a plate of pasta that weighs about 5 lbs. And tastes so, so , so good!

And to balance out the healthiness that is pasta covered in rich sauce and cheese there is also Alfalfa.

Which claims to ‘Feed vegetarians and carnivores alike with innovative and eclectic homemade eats for 35 years.”

Now as Mifflin and I walked in we realized this was a “hippy” place. The menu was very vegetarian sounding, which was fine with me but Mifflin is over 6 feet and weighs a good 270 ish. Would we need to stop at Subway after lunch for him to fill up?

We ordered. We both got iced tea, he like the berry with lots of sweetner and I liked the spiced iced tea.

*if there is one thing about the South/Midwest it’s that there is ALWAYS iced tea…I love that!*

When it came to the food I learned something new about Mifflin.

The boy has NEVER had a peanut butter and banana sandwich. And he claims he hates all things peanut butter and banana. So sad… so sad. Anyways after that lesson learned…

He got a burrito (vegetarian) and I got the Alfalfa Avacado Grill (hummus, swiss and cheddar cheese with sliced avocado and tomato grilled to perfection).

And dun dun dun…we were both full!

I left a HUGE fan of Alfalfa. I still crave that sandwich to this day. I’ll be back!

The University of Kentucky is literally up the street from Lexington so downtown Lexington, during the school year, is known for being good college fun. And we all know I love good college fun.

So Mifflin, my co-worker and her boyfriend went to Cheapside, the favorite of college students.

But before Cheapside, Mifflin and I went out to dinner and had a special juggling lesson from a professional juggler in the street and then got invited to watch the World’s Juggling Competition inside a theatre nearby. Tickets were $30. We snuck in and saw a dude from Tokyo juggle it up. For the record Mifflin is a better juggler, he should probably join the circus.

So then we went to Cheapside where the drinks are not on the cheap side–at all. And our server was very confused. Maybe its better during the school year. Hopefully.

The next day we went to the AllTech Brewery where they make Bourbon Beer. So, so, so GOOD! We tried the three different kinds, watched a movie and got a tour of the brewery. I even stuck my finger in this jar of syrup that EVERYONE else from the tour stuck their nasty finger in. I HAD to because Mifflin didn’t. We couldn’t both NOT do it. Gross. I still cringe and he still laughs. Awesome time. Visit the Brewery. AND IT IS FREE!

Geez. I did a lot in Lexington! Sorry for the BOOK.

Afterward for our last night together MIfflin and I went to this hole in the wall Mexican restaurant. You ordered at a window and at first I was not happy with it. There was no one else there. I wanted a waiter. MIfflin was so happy to not see any one. I think he was overwhelmed by the people we met who wanted to talk about my job etc. It was nice to spend time, just us. The food was really good. And their were chips and salsa so Mifflin really enjoyed eating those while we waited for our food.

Overall a great time in Lexington. I am so glad I had a visitor. I hope to visit again in the future. Even if you don’t like bourbon (like myself!) there is PLENTY to do in Lexington.

It now is my 2nd favorite place I have visited.

1. Chicago

2. Lexington