LEX Horse & Bourbon DO VII, Oct 2-4, 2015
 

Dates are set, Oct. 2-4, 2015, for another LEX gathering, to visit Keeneland, horse farms, and bourbon distilleries and enjoy some southern food and hospitality.

This schedule to be altered as time goes on.

EVOLVING TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

Nothing is mandatory during the whole weekend of course. Do what you like. I would appreciate a general headsup on things you are doing in case reservations or food procurement is involved, but it's not necessary.

THURSDAY

1. Some folks arrive. Dinner, 7 pm: ?? Ramsey’s Zandale, 151 West Zandale; http://ramseysdiners.com Or Merrick Inn? www.themerrickinn.com
2. Probably beers back at the hotel or maybe Beer Trappe or Country Boy (see below).
3. Waffle House for late munchies?

FRIDAY

1. Most people arrive.
2. Keeneland at 1 pm?
3. Bourbon tours (see above, or on your own)
4. Lunch undefined
5. Dinner/beers at West Sixth Brewing ?? Or Merrick Inn? www.themerrickinn.com
6. Drinks/pub?
7. Afterparty at 4 pts?

SATURDAY

1. Morning visit to an Icelandic horse farm, run by a high school friend of mine and her daughter. Between LEX and Louisville. See training, babies, etc. http://www.lettleikiicelandics.com
2. Keeneland. 1:05 pm. Many people go for 2-3 hours, but there are about 9 races, 30 minutes apart.
3. Evening potluck reception at parents of toomanybooks and makersmark, within New Circle Rd. on the east side of town, maybe 20 minutes from Keeneland. Arrive 4:00-5:00 pm., stay as long as you like. Please bring a bottle of wine, some beer, a dessert, chips/guac, etc. I am thinking I will get hot dogs/burgers and we can grill.
4. Or go out to dinner. Various possibilities.
5. Drinks?
6. Afterparty at 4 Pts?

SUNDAY

1. Brunch at Stella's (see below). Probably 8:45 am.
2. Keeneland 1 pm?. LEX is across the street. Depart directly.
3. And/or another bourbon tour?.

OVERVIEW

For those not familiar, what we have done in the past is:

1. Go to Keeneland (one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world) (http://www.keeneland.com) including breakfast on the backstretch
2. Hit a couple nice restaurants during the weekend
3. Consume some adult beverages, perhaps at Country Boy (http://countryboybrewing.com) or the Beer Trappe (http://www.thebeertrappe.com/)
4. Visit a horse farm or two
5. Tour one or more bourbon distilleries on the KY Bourbon Trail (http://kybourbontrail.com), including the newer Craft Bourbon Trail. "Smithsonian" magazine has listed the KY Bourbon trail as a Top Ten tourist activity in the US.
6. Have a Saturday eve potluck party/reception at my (and makersmark's) parents' house.
7. Dinner somewhere like Billy's BBQ (http://www.billysbarbq.com/) or City Barbecue (http://www.citybbq.com).

Or maybe somewhere else for a KY specialty like a Hot Brown. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Brown) A plate with toast, sliced turkey, sometimes sliced country ham, Mornay sauce, sometimes cheddar cheese sauce, a couple strips of bacon, some sliced tomato, a bit of Parmesan/Romano cheese, baked in the oven. A "heart-attack-on-a-plate." Fantastic, one of the world's best comfort foods.
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Sandw...wnSandwich.jpg
8. Try other KY specialties, such as beer cheese (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_cheese_(spread). Others are discussed here: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_Kentucky)
9. We always have Sunday brunch at Stella's (www.stellaskentuckydeli.com), for real southern fare including Bourbon Ball Coffee, genuine southern biscuits and gravy, locally fresh-ground grits with cheese, etc.
10. Some folks go to Keeneland again, with LEX conveniently across the street for a last-second departure.

AIRLINES SERVING LEX: http://www.bluegrassairport.com/airlines.html

If you cannot get award space or a good fare into LEX, keep trying. At least on AA, it opens up often.

There is an airline club at LEX, with access for the following:

AA Admirals Club
DL Sky Club
UA Red Carpet Club
"Day Passes," presumably Priority Pass (?) and maybe for anyone

Other airports to consider (all easy access via interstate, ~3 hours max):

SDF, CMH, CVG, DAY, CRW, IND

Lexington is very easy to get around, but you'll need to have a car or share with someone. Taxis/Uber are available, but expensive and time-consuming to wait for. The airport tends to be a bit expensive to fly into/out of, but Avios redemptions work well for cities like ORD, ATL, DAL, CLT, or wherever you can get a nonstop flight. Or you can fly into one of the alternate airports given above and rent a car; some beautiful scenery along the way. Happy to maintain a list of possible carpools in this thread. bk3day scored a nice UA bump out of LEX a couple years ago.

Party Central is the SPG 4 Points, a category 2 Starwood hotel on the north side of town.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/fourpo...ropertyID=1263

Low redemptions (3K-4K a night), near I-64/I-75 intersection, and a Waffle House across the street for those 1:30 am munchies. There is redemption availability and the lowest price per room is $149 plus tax (prepaid, non-refundable) at the moment (mid-late July). I have done a 10K redemption for Thurs/Fri/Sat.

Other nearby options that come to mind (within a mile or so) are Embassy Suites, Fairfield Inn, LaQuinta, Knights Inn, Marriott Griffin Gate (I think the only LEX "resort" on Hotwire/Priceline), Quality Inn, and Clarion.

Youtube channel for Lexington, with some nice material: Bourbon news from the Lexington "Herald-Leader": http://www.kentucky.com/1354/

Please post if you are definite, maybe, or can't but want to consider another time.

ATTENDING/Likely/Interested

goodeats21
GRALISTAIR
Herb687
HPN-HRL
mattp1987
Pinky
Sweet Willie
toomanybooks

MAYBE

dedehans

CANNOT MAKE IT, or unlikely

CMK10
ElmhurstNick

I'm interested for sure!

I will be there Saturday and Sunday morning! Looking forward to it!

I knew you guys would be among the first!

As I'd mentioned in the other thread, I'll be flying to Seattle on October 2nd as that's the Alaska inaugural from RDU-SEA so I can't make it :(

I'll shoot for next April.

I'm interested... Just spent a weekend riding just outside LEX and would like to go back (although I'd like to ride again while there).

Noted in diary - missed the one just gone due to family reasons - I must make this one.

Horse & Bourbon? Do the DO activities involving feeding bourbon to horses or riding horses while drinking bourbon? Or maybe just looking and horses and tasting/drinking bourbon, perhaps at distilleries?

Those could be exciting new ways to kick these DOs up a notch, especially since we can't view live horse sex in the fall as we did at one spring DO.

Some thoroughbred trainers mix a little bit of beer/ale/stout into their horses' feed, so perhaps there is precedent for feeding bourbon to horses.

Live (voluntary, natural) horse sex, male horse prostitution (stud fees), mare immobilization and rape (breeding), or artificial insemination? Inquiring minds want to know.

I'm probably going to miss this one, as I'm already double-booked for that weekend. But I will keep it on my calendar in case things start to change.

Maybe....

Well, maybe the 3rd time will be the charm.

I have tried 2 times in the past to make this DO, and both times work has reared its ugly head and interfered.

Put me down as attending and I will keep my fingers crossed...or maybe more appropriate to get a lucky horseshoe? :D

Yum! Hot Brown. Road Kill and bubbling Velveeta. Maximum calories with minimum nutrition. Includes all four major food groups: Bacon, potatoes, bread and Velveeta.

Thankfully the hot browns I've had (Brown Hotel & Ramsey's) did NOT have velveeta, ugh.

As bad as Philadelphia cheesesteaks coming with CheezWhiz.:td: