The weather is perfect in Shelby County, Kentucky. It’s a balmy 70 degrees and sunny, the sky dotted with fluffy clouds. According to the locals, this is unusual for spring in the South, but I’m soaking up every minute of it. Located about 30 minutes from Louisville and an hour from Lexington, Shelby County is perfectly situated between these two hot spots, and, best of all, it’s right on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
I visited the Bluegrass State for a getaway from my cramped studio apartment in Boston and a taste of a different life. In Shelby County, I swapped subway cars for thoroughbred horses and brusque greetings for Southern hospitality.
I’m Celina, a Boston-based travel, food, and culture writer. I’m a born-and-raised New Englander who migrated from New Hampshire to Boston, and while I love telling global stories, I’ll always have a soft spot for the lobster-loving part of the United States.
Shelby County is known for a few things. In particular, horses. The famous Kentucky Derby is held just a half hour away at Churchill Downs in Louisville, and many horses in the county are either being trained to race on that famed course, or they’re looking for a new post-race career.
Melanie Defler runs West Meadow Farm, a beautiful property where she takes care of future racehorses for Derby investors and nurses rescue horses back to health.
Visitors by the busload flock to the farm to see the powerful thoroughbreds running in the field, the mischievous goats scampering around the barn, and, if they’re lucky, a new foal learning to use its legs. Meet the horses here:
Down the road in Shelbyville, Jeanette Aumon of Cerulean Farms has a similar mission. She doesn’t breed racehorses, but she does rescue them from unfortunate circumstances.
Aumon used to work as an OR nurse; now she puts her caregiving talents to good use nursing horses back to health and vibrancy. And while you’re visiting Shelby County, you can too.
Cerulean Farms is also an incredibly charming bed and breakfast, and I stayed there during my time in the county. There are four rooms in the house, each furnished with warm, cozy interiors and featuring Aumon’s own horse photography.
The center of the home is a gorgeous year round porch where guests can eat their homemade breakfast, enjoy their coffee, and watch the sun rise over the fields.
Guests can be as involved with the horses as they like while staying on the property. I toured the farm and met a few of the horses with Aumon, but she says other guests are even more involved, one notably helped deliver a foal during their stay.
Full disclosure: coming from Boston, I don’t have much experience with horses, and I’m not totally comfortable around the large animals. At each of these locations you can be as lovey with the horses (or not) as you want. I never felt unsafe or pressured while visiting these farms.
For horse newbies like myself, Lettleiki Icelandics – the largest Icelandic horse farm in North America – is a good place to start. Icelandic horses are smaller than other breeds, and they’re known for being gentle because Iceland has no natural predators to them.
Still feeling concerned? Try visiting the adorable highland cows, complete with rocker hairstyles, at the mother-daughter run T.C. Highlands Farm in Pleasureville.
All that animal loving works up an appetite – and I was in Kentucky, so we had to stop by Claudia Sanders Dinner House, one of the original restaurants run by Colonel Sanders of KFC fame.
There’s some fascinating history on this property and the comfort food is served around large communal tables for a homey feel.
For a more elevated evening, check out Little Mount Lavender, a chic café adjacent to lavender fields that uses locally grown lavender in a variety of delicious cocktails and dishes. After dinner, browse through the marketplace of local artists and lavender products.
Top off a Kentucky night with a stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour: Jeptha Creed. This mother-daughter owned and operated distillery uses bloody butcher corn to craft a unique bourbon flavor.
The tasting experience is also extremely luxe. Guests are guided to the barrel room where the bourbons age and sip samples in wing-backed leather armchairs. Talk about a power position.
If you don’t drink, enjoy an after-dinner indulgence at Spotz Gelato, another woman-owned business famed for its banana pudding flavor.
When I left Kentucky, I didn’t leave empty handed. Yes, I had many memories and newfound horse friends, but I also had something more tangible: a Derby hat.
Dori Lewis has been making Kentucky Derby hats at the Polkadotted Pineapple on Shelbyville’s Main Street for decades, and her mastery shows. This was another stop on my adventure I would love to remember.
Legend has it that the higher the hat, the bigger the luck, so you can believe I walked through airport security skimming the ceiling.
To discover more incredible boots-on-the-ground adventures across America from our team of local travel experts, check out all of the articles in OnlyInYourState’s Everyday Explorers series. What destinations would you like to see featured next on OnlyInYourState’s Everyday Explorers? Tell us where we should go on our nominations page.
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