Yet another travel advice thread

Quite unexpectedly, I'm going to be in Lexington, Ky., at the end of February. With one day to spend, am I better off trying to visit the horse park or a distillery tour? What's worth eating? What else should I see?

 

Old Pogue is hard to get.

 

Will you have a car? If so, just drive through the Versailles area and stop at the Woodford distillery. It's the most quaint I've found, and the area is beautiful. There's also a bar kitty corner from the Marriott downtown called Bluegrass Tavern that has more than 400 Bourbons.

 

Haven't traveled domestically in a while, but now looking to spend a vacation withing driving distance of north Miami without staying there (Zika). Would ideally like a place with some things to do, but we're not going to do the big Disney parks (too expensive considering the size of my family). Is Orlando the way to go anyway? Fort Lauderdale? What's the best way to buy plane tickets, Kayak?

 

Go to Sarasota. Compact airport, plenty to do there, no crowds, tons of restaurants, and you can get to north Miami just as fast via I-75 through the Everglades.

 

Thought I'd recap this in case anyone does a search in the future for Lexington travel tips.

Great trip. Too short, but great.

• The Kentucky Music Hall of Fame just off I-75 in Renfro Valley (about an hour south) is pretty cheap ($7) but not all that great. Disorganized, and more devoted to the people they could get memorabilia from than a true cross section.
• Lexington itself has a neat looking downtown. Got a tip from a Facebook friend for an Italian place a few blocks from Rupp called Joe Bologna, housed in a former synagogue. The breadstick hung off my plate and would have covered half the length of another one it was so long. Quality fresh pizza ingredients and Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale may be my new favorite.
• Rupp was an insane experience for someone who's used to half-empty arenas with modest energy. Even though Vandy is a bubble team at best, the place was 95 percent full for a 9 pm weeknight tip. I knew about the bleacher seats and brought a cushion, thank God, but still felt worn out by the end of the game. First time I remember being at a game and unable to hear the whistle. Don't know if that had more to do with the crowd or being so high in the nosebleeds.
• Went to an all-night diner near campus called Tolly Ho. Great atmosphere, so so burger. The breakfast offerings looked more interesting. Wish I'd gone that way.
• After a hot brown (and amazing chess pie) for lunch back downtown at Stella's Kentucky Deli, I decided to take advice from @three_bags_full and go to Versailles for the Woodford Reserve tour. And because I wanted to see some of the countryside, I decided to avoid the parkway and followed Old Frankfort Pike west out of town. Oh my Lord. What a gorgeous, amazing drive. Five minutes west of New Circle Road and I'm driving through B-roll footage for Kentucky Derby day, past million-dollar horse farms with stone and black-wood fences that cost more than any car I've owned. There was a little country church just past the Woodford Co. line that itself was an architectural marvel. I pulled over to snap pictures. It looked like the descriptions of Ireland I've heard where the rolling hills are impossibly green. Then I got back in the car and the the little farm signs started popping up like a racing roll call. Oh look, there's Three Chimneys. Say, that's Godolphin over there. Just surreal. Words and pictures don't do it justice.