In Photos: Chrisman Mill Winery
There are lots of wineries around Kentucky, which shocks those who aren't really familiar with the area. Did you know that America's first commercial winery was started in Jessamine County, Kentucky in 1798?
For sentimental reasons (I got married there), Chrisman Mill Winery is one of my favorites. It's just outside Lexington and produces some pretty good wine. My favorite is Ensemble. They also have AMAZING food. If you're ever around town during their Tuscan Dinners, you must go (and take me with you).
The Rest of the State
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| Image via KentuckyRoads.com |
It has become a bit of a joke among me and my friends. How far does it actually take to drive Paducah from Louisville? 5 hours, right? 5 and a half?
NO. It does not.
Driving west for five and half hours will land you somewhere in the Ozarks, not Paducah. It's about a three hour drive if you don't stop. Four if you drive slow and stop A LOT.
But this isn't post isn't sponsored by Google Maps. It's sponsored by the Western Kentucky Appreciation Society and I'm the dang President. I'm stinking tired of being forgotten, mocked, and downright ignored.
Don't get me wrong. Louisville is lovely. I lived in Lexington for four years and it will always hold a special place in my heart. The rolling green hills and horse farms of Central Kentucky are truly beautiful but they are not the entirety of what Kentucky has to offer.
Even eastern Kentucky gets a certain amount of specialized press. Sure, it's not exactly positive all the time but they have that whole Appalachian thing going. No one will ever deny that the mountains of eastern Kentucky aren't some of the most beautiful in the nation or that the culture is distinctive and intriguing.
But hello! There is a whole other section of the state with some things to offer.
For example, when the Kentucky Bucket List came out only EIGHT items on the list come from Western Kentucky. EIGHT. No mention of Land between the Lakes? Seriously? What about the National Quilt Museum in Paducah? Or Col. Bill Newsom's Aged Country Ham in Princeton? Patti's 1880s Settlement? I mean those things are WORLD famous.
I realize I'm starting to sound a bit like Jan Brady but I promise you I'm not the only one. We western Kentuckians get really tired of being treated like the red-headed stepchildren (which as a redheaded stepchild myself I REALLY resent) of the state. Dinner parties are rife with complaints about the state meetings always held in Louisville or the glassy eyed stares returned when someone suggests Paducah as a convention site.
Well, I'm here to tell you western Kentucky is fantastic. We might not be as showy as some other parts of the state but WE are the birthplace of Bill Monroe and bluegrass music and WE have the best damn barbecue in the entire state - nay, NATION - AND we've got Bubbleland. So, there.
But don't take my word for it, take a trip down the Western Kentucky Parkway and find out for yourself sometime!
The Battle on Broadway
Two colleges located nearly within walking distance of each other in a notoriously basketball-mad state. An elite private school and the state's flagship research university. One projected to be its conference champion. One projected to win it all. Meeting early in the season to revive an old rivalry.
It may sound like I'm describing a Duke-UNC game, but it's actually far closer to home for many Kentuckians. Unlike the kind of powerhouse conference competition those prickly ACC folks would bring us, tonight's match-up is an exhibition game between a driving force in college basketball and a small Division III program.
Now, as y'all know,Transy is my undergraduate alma mater, and I earned a graduate degree at UK. I was thrilled last spring when word started to leak out that the hundred year gap since the schools' last meeting would finally draw to a close. There would be a fantastic reminder that the University of Kentucky itself was once part of Transy. There would be shout-outs to the fact that legendary UK Athletic Director C.M. Newton got his start at TU. There would even be reminders that the two teams, in the very infancy of the sport of basketball, played fourteen times, started a series of games which has remained tied since 1911. And, there was the potential for some fantastic press and fundraising for the Transy athletic department.
I don't expect tonight's game to be much of a nailbiter. Transylvania boasts a solid team this year, but UK's roster claims six McDonald's All-Americans. Anthony Davis promises to be unstoppable, no matter who he's up against. But, tonight is bound to be one of those "can't miss" Lexington moments, one in which the city's collective love of basketball meets the rich history of its colleges.
Lexington is the epicenter of college basketball -- a place where a mere exhibition game is elevated to poetic heights rather than serving as a fancy practice session. I can't wait to celebrate my schools, my favorite sport, and my very favorite city tonight.
I hope to see y'all at the game!
(Over at The Kentucky Girls today, I address a burning question: What Should I Wear to the Game?)
All photos via Transylvania University. |
| Coach Cal at the UK-Transy Kickoff Dinner. |
Lexington is the epicenter of college basketball -- a place where a mere exhibition game is elevated to poetic heights rather than serving as a fancy practice session. I can't wait to celebrate my schools, my favorite sport, and my very favorite city tonight.
I hope to see y'all at the game!
(Over at The Kentucky Girls today, I address a burning question: What Should I Wear to the Game?)
Ale 8?
I had never really heard of Ale-8 (formally ale-8-1) growing up in Central Kentucky. Maybe I heard it mentioned here and there, but I never really knew of its cult-like following.
I moved to Lexington, Kentucky to attend college and was instantly made aware of Ale-8. What was this mystery drink? Was it an alcoholic beverage? Was it some strange concoction of potions? I had no idea!
I decided one day to purchase Ale-8 at the Kroger on Euclid Avenue (that Kroger could probably have its own blog post). I learned from several people that you can't drink Ale-8 from cans, you must drink it from the old school long neck bottles.
At this point I was expecting it to taste like butterflies, rainbows, and gold all bottled up! I took my first sip and waited for the magic to happen. Meh. I remember thinking, "is this what people are so obsessed with?" Personally, I just wasn't a fan.
So what is the mystery drink that so many Kentuckians are obsessed with? Ale-8 was formulated and invented in Winchester, Kentucky by G.L. Wainscott in 1926. It is a form of gingerale, but made with more caffeine and less calories. Perhaps the caffeine aspect is why so many people love it?
Ale-8 definitely has a cult-like following in Kentucky, especially around Lexington. I can remember seeing a facebook group as a college Junior that was titled, "Ale-8 PLEASE HOOK TO MY VEINS".
Ale-8 is mixed with one of the several Kentucky Bourbons to make a signature drink, "The Kentucky Cocktail". Perhaps I could get down with that.
So tell me, have you all tried Ale-8? Did you like it?
The Commonwealth's Spookiest College
Transylvania. Is that a vampire college?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA
Ok, now we've got that out of the way. Lexington's Transylvania University -- the two hundred thirty-one year-old private liberal arts college nestled in the oldest part of downtown -- is the alma mater of actor Ned Beatty , Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, and author James Lane Allen. It's also where Sarah and I both earned our undergraduate degrees.
Transylvania University was founded in 1780. Kentucky was still part of Virginia, and Bram Stoker's legendary vampire novel wouldn't be written for another one hundred seventeen years. Transylvania Seminary, as its earliest Boyle County incarnation was known, took its name from the short-lived Transylvania Colony. Both the colony and the Romanian region derived their names from the Latin for "across the woods."
When I was selecting a college, I chose Transy for its small class size and its remarkably high acceptance rates to professional schools. As a Transy student, I was less than amused by all the vampire crap. Puns and cheesy jokes have never really been my thing. The only problem is that the college itself has embraced its spooky ties. Transylvania -- the one on North Broadway -- does Halloween remarkably well.
The Curse plays a big role in Transy's connection to the macabre. Professor Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, who taught at Transy from 1819-26, was widely regarded as both a genius and a trouble-maker. Teaching Italian and French as well as his field of expertise, Botany, Rafinesque was responsible for the discovery of thousands of genera of plants and hundreds of Native American sites. He even briefly served as the University's librarian. By all accounts, though, he was an erratic and arrogant lecturer. He seldom showed up for class, and he argued with his colleagues constantly. And he may or may not have had a fling with the University President's wife. When he was finally let go from the University faculty in 1826, the last words he uttered were "Damn thee and thy school as I place a curse upon you."
Now, my twenty year-old self may not have wanted to admit it, but that's some creepy stuff. Even creepier is the fact that Rafinesque was originally buried in a pauper's grave, but a century later, his remains were moved to the basement of Old Morrison, Transylvania's administration building. That's right. You meet with the Dean and register for classes right over a tomb. As if meeting with the Dean and registering for classes aren't already scary enough.
Over the years, Transy has played up the Rafinesque stuff quite a bit. Every year, a group of Freshmen are selected to spend the night in Raf's Tomb. Even the campus grill is cleverly known as the Rafskeller. (Best hangover food ever, y'all. Or so I've been told...)
When your college shares a name with the ancestral home of the vampires and just happens to be cursed , then I suppose it's only natural that you go ahead and turn Halloween into an event. Sarah reminded me of the annual costume contest in the Transy cafeteria, as seen in the photo at right. This year, Transylvania is taking it one step further, hosting a Pumpkin Mania event this weekend in which an anticipated 1,000 Jack-o'-lanterns will illuminate the steps of Old Morrison.
I guess Transylvania's history is a little bit spooky, given the tombs and curses. And, it'll certainly have the Halloween spirit going when Pumpkin Mania lights up Gratz Park. Still, as an alumna whose interest in the school spans nearly two decades, I've never once seen a vampire there.
When I was selecting a college, I chose Transy for its small class size and its remarkably high acceptance rates to professional schools. As a Transy student, I was less than amused by all the vampire crap. Puns and cheesy jokes have never really been my thing. The only problem is that the college itself has embraced its spooky ties. Transylvania -- the one on North Broadway -- does Halloween remarkably well.
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| A professor is legit buried in here, y'all. |
Over the years, Transy has played up the Rafinesque stuff quite a bit. Every year, a group of Freshmen are selected to spend the night in Raf's Tomb. Even the campus grill is cleverly known as the Rafskeller. (Best hangover food ever, y'all. Or so I've been told...)
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| Transy Kids take Halloween seriously. |
I guess Transylvania's history is a little bit spooky, given the tombs and curses. And, it'll certainly have the Halloween spirit going when Pumpkin Mania lights up Gratz Park. Still, as an alumna whose interest in the school spans nearly two decades, I've never once seen a vampire there.