mile ho (who is in the horse business) and I would like to invite you to a horse-racing and bourbon DO in LEX (Lexington, KY), my original hometown, April 13-15.
mile ho is working on getting us private tours of horse farms where he knows the managers. This will be breeding season, so some places won't let us in, but he thinks he can persuade others. His horse-related post is below.
Here is a rough schedule, subject to modification as conditions warrant, since the number of attendees may affect what we can arrange:
Friday April 13: Horse farm tour(s). Or possibly a trip to the Kentucky Horse Park (
http://kyhorsepark.com/) if we cannot get into individual farms and/or Shakertown (
http://www.shakervillageky.org/). Plan on a late afternoon reception/party at my parents' home, on a lake in Lexington.
Saturday April 14: Breakfast/early morning visit to Keeneland, one of the most beautiful horse tracks in the world (
http://www.keeneland.com/default.aspx). This might include watching the horses work out, breakfast at the track kitchen (southern biscuits and gravy, mmmm), visits with trainers and farriers, etc. Then we depart for one or more bourbon distillery tours (
http://kybourbontrail.com/). Likely visits would be to the two closest ones: Woodford Reserve, a few miles away in Versailles (
http://www.woodfordreserve.com/) and Wild Turkey (
http://www.wildturkey.com/). If time permits, a real classic distillery is Makers' Mark in Loretto, but it's about 65 miles distant (
http://www.makersmark.com/). I will try to arrange a private or special tour(s) if we get enough attendees.
Sunday, April 15: A Day at the Races: Keenelend. The track is located across the street from the LEX airport, so you can bug out whenever you want. My father knows some members of the Keeneland Club, so I will try to reserve a table or two for private lunch, but there can be no guarantee how many people we can get in, if any. This is a formal place, requiring coat-and-tie for men and equivalent for ladies. It's optional of course and you can enjoy the informal public Grandstand for the day if you like.
A cheap points hotel for your stay is the Lexington Four Points, an SPG category 1, of which there are few in the US.:
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefer...ropertyID=1263
2000/3000 SPG point redemptions per night, and nights/stays count toward SPG status.
Please post here if you are planning to come for sure, or thinking about it, so we can plan.
Thanks.
Planning to come
toomanybooks + 1
mile ho
Blank Sheet
herb687
KMA26
CokeandTaco
iris30
Maybe or interested
karung99+1
SomeGuy
Hoping for a fall repeat
Sweet Willie
CubsGirl
From NYC
ElmhurstNick
nub2travel
nub2travel+1
Looking forward to 2013!
k_malm