Late April visit to Louisville and Lexington

My wife and I will be driving down from Chicago to visit Louisville and Lexington for the first time in late April. Lots of bourbon tours, horses, galleries, and antiquing. If anyone has comments on my dining plans, they would be welcomed.

We arrive Saturday afternoon, April 18, which is the day of Thunder Over Louisville fireworks show. Is it worth seeing the show and if so, do you need to be near the action, or are there other places to watch them from? No time is listed anywhere, so not sure what to do for dinner on Saturday. Thought we would go to some galleries and antique shops in the afternoon. Some dinner options were Hillbilly Tea, Garage Bar, or Eiderdown, but not sure if they will be too far from Waterfront Park or too early for dinner before or too late after.

Sunday, possibly brunch at The Silver Dollar and in the evening, we have reservations at Proof on Main.

Monday is a bourbon tour day and thought we would stop for lunch at Old Talbott Tavern and dinner at The Mayan Café.

Tuesday dinner is at Milkwood.

Wednesday is another bourbon day. Lunch at Wallace Station and dinner at 610 Magnolia.

Since we have many excellent Mexican restaurants in Chicago, should we swap one of my Saturday options for Mayan Café?

Any favorite spots for cocktails? I have Meta, Bourbon’s Bistro, St. Charles Exchange, and Down One on my list.

Thursday and Friday are in Lexington. Dinner options are Country Club, Holly Hill Inn, Heirloom, Coles 735 Main, and Alfalfa.

Kentucky has been on my list of places to visit forever, but it never worked out. I am really looking forward to this trip and will report back after our visit.

Al,
I'm a professir and I'm giving you a 98% on your homework assignment. You made exciting selections. You'll have a blast.

As for Mayan Cafe, I say "heck yeah."
I look forward to your post-voyage assessment.

Sounds like a pretty good plan. I'd add Bistro 1860 and Seviche to your dining options. The basement bar at Decca is worth a stop for a cocktail and it is very close to Mayan Cafe, which is really not Mexican.

Also Sergio's, Against the Grain, NABC, and Apocalypse if you are into beer.

The airshow and fireworks are worth it. There are numerous bars and restaurants that are walkable from the waterfront.

Your choices in Louisville sound excellent, you certainly did your homework. There obviously are many other great places that you could go to but with the limited time you have certainly made some good choices. I wouldn't bother with Mayan Café especially since you have great Mexican in Chicago. The Thunder airshow starts around 3 o'clock and goes until the fireworks begin at 9:30, the Air Force Thunderbirds are going to be the premier event this year. The schedule of what planes are flying when will be published about a week prior to the show. Downtown is a complete mess for traffic and people on Thunder especially if the weather is nice when they will be over 500,000 people downtown! It's definitely something you don't want to miss however if you've never seen it!

[Robin Garr]

Concurring with the crowd, you've done your work. A-plus! That said, Seviche really needs to be on your list, and Decca and/or Rye also deserve consideration. I might actually choose either over Proof on any given day, although merely having the opportunity to experience 21c Hotel via Proof might weigh in the balance. Bistro 1860 is also a strong contender, as are many, many more. But I keep coming back to Seviche. Do not miss Seviche.

To answer one of your questions, Garage Bar and Hillbilly Tea are easily walkable from Waterfront Park; Eidertown, no. It's in Germantown, not that far from downtown, but probably a couple of miles to hike.

Do be aware of the vast crowd that will be at Thunder. Getting out will be total, utter gridlock. A plan to hang around NuLu or downtown late would probably make a great deal of sense.

Live racing at Churchill Downs starts April 25th.

Personally, if it were me (especially coming from Chicago on the day of Thunder) I would set up shop on the Indiana side of the river, at least for that day/night. New Albany (for example) has some great places to dine and some of the bars/restaurants in Jeffersonville offer "Thunder" specials which (for a modest fee) provide a real actual seat/stool to sit on during the show, as well as free and/or reduced price drink and appetizer specials (haven't done this recently, so I'm not sure exactly who is doing what this year)...The added bonus is that on the Indiana side you won't have to deal with the traffic nightmare that is Louisville after Thunder. (Note: compounding traffic issues this year is the major road construction going on in downtown Louisville)

I thought going to Churchill on opening day may be crazy. We will go for a tour and the museum earlier in the week. We are planning to go to Keeneland on Thursday.

Thanks everyone for all of the input.

Seviche is a must. Holly Hill Inn is wonderful, give yourselves time to meander around Midway. For that matter, you might to veer off I 64 and visit Science Hill in Shelbyville for galleries.
NO to Talbott Tavern. Ate there 2 years ago, they served canned vegetables. It was horrible. Trip Advisor rates it 16th in Bardstown. Try the Chapeze House or the Harrison Smith house.
Be sure to write a review!

As a previous post stated, traffic on Thunder is crazy. I-65 literally becomes a parking lot for the fireworks themselves. Make sure to be across the Ohio River long before nightfall!

http://irishacresgallery.com/

I'm not into antiques but I loved walking around this place. The restaurant in the basement is pretty good and decorated like no other restaurant I've ever seen.

http://irishacresgallery.com/the-glitz-3/

http://irishacresgallery.com/

I'm not into antiques but I loved walking around this place. The restaurant in the basement is pretty good and decorated like no other restaurant I've ever seen.

http://irishacresgallery.com/the-glitz-3/

Concur with this, if you're spending time around Lexington and the area - largest antique place within several hundred miles, and fun restaurant! Also, just getting there you will drive past some of the finest and prettiest horse farms imaginable.

Also concur ANYPLACE but Talbot Tavern . . . it's fun historically, and neat to walk around, but don't recommend eating there.

(Personally, I'm not into Hillbilly Tea, but I recognize I'm in a minority - I'd definitely sub that for Seviche, or if you're in that area with Rye).

Where are you staying? That can be a determining factor on Thunder Day. Traffic will be worse than going to Schaumburg in rush hour (one of our biggest mistakes while in Chicago). Indiana is a good place to view and several restaurants on both sides of the river are taking reservations for that day. Another option is Slugger Field. They usually have a ball game scheduled and patrons can stay for the fireworks. Parking is at a premium downtown and public transportation is not all that, though TARC puts on several special routes from outlying parking areas for Thunder.

To tell the truth, I refuse to go downtown for Thunder anymore. We can see the high fireworks from our house and watch the rest of it on TV. I just don't like the crowds anymore.

Don't listen to anyone telling you to skip the Mayan Café.

It's wonderful.

And it ain't Mexican.


Also -- Churchill Downs on Opening Night is no big hassle at all.

If you can find time for Wagner's Pharmacy, check it out. It is adjacent to the track, so you can certainly kill two birds with one stone. This place has been around for almost 100 years and is the very fabric of what Churchill Downs was and is...there are suits and hot walkers, owners and trainers, and probably someone that will tell you about a surefire bet for the afternoon racing. It is the backside at it's best. The food is ok, but it is the atmosphere and people watching that makes this place so endearing. This place is history and at least worthy of a quick visit.

www.wagnerspharmacy.com