THE US destinations

rom beneath a distinctly Meet horse races, or zip-lining Bluegrass has its roots in the Fsouthern, slow drawl I make 170 feet over the treetops at an area and it’s not hard to find a out the words “this is where me 800-acre amusement park. Kentucky has a whole venue playing it, but this isn’t and Cassius used to sleep”. In fact, beyond KFC and the quite New Orleans or Nashville. Rahman Ali, younger brother Derby, I knew almost nothing lot more going for it In the day the city is calm, its of three-time world boxing about this mideastern state, than Colonel Sanders’ life focused around Main Street, champion , is which meant that finding the buckets or where 10 visit-worthy museums showing us around their 1940s unexpected came to define my – including the Muhammad Ali childhood home-turned-museum whole trip. And it didn’t take me Jim Beam’s bourbon Centre ($9 for adults) – offer up in Louisville, Kentucky, and I can’t long to realise that Kentucky had cultural treasures. quite believe it’s happening. a whole lot more going for it than Bourbon is the real lifeblood Derby Hearing tales from a man Colonel Sanders and his 12-piece of the city, though, which is From horses and steamers who’d grown up with arguably buckets, or Jim Beam and his perhaps unsurprising given that the world’s greatest-ever boxer bourbon (not that whiskey was 95% of the world’s produce is to bourbon and bluegrass, – and at a time when civil rights left untouched – we sampled nine once-gritty neighbourhoods made in the state. I can’t say were little more than fantasy in a day). like ‘NuLu’ have been revitalised I’m a bourbon connoisseur – a Laura French gets a – wasn’t exactly something I’d into modern hipster havens, sentiment my facial expressions kick out of Kentucky envisaged when I’d set out on my w LOUISVILLE and where the skyscrapers of may have given away – but three trip to Kentucky. Among the state’s biggest Downtown vibrate with the distilleries in a day certainly went But then neither was venturing treasures, of course, is Louisville. beat of live music gigs from some way to converting me. @laurafrench121 through the earth into the world’s Set on the , it’s a the Vegas-style entertainment The Jim Beam distillery here days longest cave, winning at the Fall diverse, cosmopolitan city where complex Fourth Street Live! is huge, with informative

56 travelweekly.co.uk 15 December 2016 15 December 2016 travelweekly.co.uk 57 THE US KENTUCKY destinations

right: Evan Williams Bourbon Experience

far right: Mammoth Cave

below: BB Riverboats, Ohio River

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guides offering plenty of historic Frozen Niagara Tour, which costs $15. sample insight, but for a more intimate nps.gov/maca product experience, suggest the family-owned Our senses awakened Evan Williams ($12 for an hour’s tour). w LEXINGTON As the first commercial distillery to to the cave’s sounds of Of course, Kentucky wouldn’t be have opened in Kentucky, it has a dripping water and the Kentucky without its horse heritage. America As You long history, and downstairs there’s smell of damp, earthy air The Kentucky Derby sees more than Like It offers a a real‑life speakeasy which opened 150,000 visitors from across the world week in Kentucky during the days of prohibition, when flock to Louisville’s from £1,240 the bourbon and farming industries every year – next year’s race is on including car hire took a severe battering. May 6 – but it’s not the only time or and flights evanwilliams.com to peer down from the ceiling. Ducking place clients can see the races. Over at in February. every two seconds to avoid a collision, Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington we americaas w MAMMOTH CAVE I was grateful for the lights – until our were lucky enough to catch the first youlikeit.com But the big surprise was to be found guide switched them off and we were day of the Fall Meet, which takes place farther south in the calmer, smaller city plunged into the pitch black, senses for three weeks every October, with its USAirtours of Bowling Green, where I found myself awakened to the sounds of dripping Spring Meet taking place in June. offers an eight- exploring the underground Mammoth water and the smell of damp, earthy air. If clients are looking for an authentic, night Kentucky Cave, a Unesco World Heritage Site Despite all that, Mammoth Cave all-American experience, this is it – & and National Park whose labyrinth of is a memorable experience that’s think groups of preppy college kids itinerary dark, limestone chambers stretches well worth recommending. There are and well-heeled families tucking into from £1,419 over 400 miles. several tour options, ranging from the hotdogs, burgoo stew and bourbon including flights, Here the rocks look like a cluster of six-hour Wild Cave Tour for adventure cocktails, while cheering on their accommodation frozen cacti, and monster faces seem seekers to the simpler one-hour horses with the type of enthusiasm and car rental. usairtours.co.uk

United flies to the US from five UK airports, with connections to Louisville, Lexington and Cincinnati. Flights from Heathrow to Lexington start at £760. united.com

15 December 2016 travelweekly.co.uk 59 destinations KENTUCKY THE US

left: Runnymede Farm

right: Gangster tour, Newport

you’ll struggle to find outside the US. I placed a few bets and Where to stay found myself a lucky winner. I placed a few bets Admittedly, it was only $10, but Galt House Hotel, Louisville amid the festival vibes and under and was a lucky With 1,000 rooms set across 25 floors, the Galt House is huge, offering a glaring blue sky, I was buzzing. winner. Admittedly, several on-site bars, shops, salons and restaurants, all decked out with Those who want to delve a it was only $10, elegant wooden interiors. From $149 per night. bit deeper into the equine life but I was buzzing galthouse.com should visit nearby Runnymede Farm. Set among verdant fields Hyatt Place, Bowling Green and idyllic, gently rolling hills, it’s A smart, business-oriented hotel set a few miles from the local a century-old, family-run farm attractions, this makes a good base for a quick stopover in Bowling where chief executive Brutus on the Ohio border, across the Green. From $90 a night. Clay speaks with passion about Ohio River from Cincinnati, lies bowlinggreen.place.hyatt.com the horses he and his family have Newport, the original ‘Sin City’. raised, which include Undrafted, Until the 1960s this was the Griffin Gate Marriott Resort & Spa, Lexington the winner of last year’s Ascot gambling capital of America, Set on a golf course in the heart of Lexington’s verdant hills, this is Golden Jubilee Stakes. where Hollywood stars such as ideally located for exploring the city’s attractions and offers excellent It’s clear that raising and riding Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and amenities for luxury travellers. From $169 per night. horses means serious business Marilyn Monroe came to party marriott.com here. When we visited the Old and perform in its seedy clubs. Friends horse farm nearby, It was a place where anything Hotel Covington, Covington owner Michael Blowen recalled went, an ‘open city’ that had Recommend this 114-room boutique hotel to higher-end clients; the the arrival of race-winning risen to fame during the years of decor is beautiful and the service, like the rooms, is excellent. It opened horse Silver Charm as “the most prohibition, when it was ruled by only in September so it’s still a secret to outsiders. From $179 per night. memorable day of [his] life”, and criminals and bootleggers such hotelcovington.com the nearby Kentucky Horse Park as George Remus, said to be the – which offers demonstrations, inspiration for The Great Gatsby. carriage rides, guided trails and This shadowy history is unveiled more – draws in more than a on the Newport Gangster Tour million visitors a year. ($20 for two hours). There’s life beyond the horses, americanlegacytours.com though. Lexington itself is a It was a surprising highlight y h vibrant, lively city with a music of the whole trip, as was the p a and nightlife scene to rival larger Dixieland Jazz Brunch Cruise, r og t

Louisville’s, and we enjoyed which runs every Sunday ($42). ho p

bopping along to local bands at Cruising down the Ohio River ins

the outdoor festival that takes provided an idyllic, relaxing end i gg h place every Thursday from early to our Kentucky adventure, with ris h

April to mid-October. swinging music, a huge buffet of c B; V C

southern food and serene views e i ll w NEWPORT – and I even got to meet the v uis

As all this suggests, Kentucky captain for a selfie. Now if that’s lo is no one-trick pony (excuse not the life, I don’t know what is. Hotel Covington

the pun), and up in the north bbriverboats.com PICTURES:

60 travelweekly.co.uk 15 December 2016