Episode 47
I’m Tom Hailey and this is Bluegrass Region Voices and Views.
Let’s explore the Distillery District on Manchester Street in Lexington, Kentucky.
These 25-acres were the home of the James E. Pepper Distillery from 1879 to the 1950’s. The distillery building was abandoned in1958 and deteriorating until 2008 when a group of entrepreneurs began bringing it back to life. And they have.
Today there are at least 24 reasons to visit this area from early morning to late at night.
I enjoy getting out and about in the morning and being home in the evening, so let’s plan to begin with a coffee break, then a distillery tour, lunch, and ice cream.
Coming from downtown Lexington, we’ll turn onto Manchester Street off Oliver Lewis Way. We’ll pass the Manchester Music Hall, the 903 Venues and the The Manchester hotel.
We’ll drive one half mile, and then turn left into the parking area between the U-Haul lot and the distillery rickhouse which is building 1170. Look for the large five-story brick building with concrete columns and the huge mural of a person with a respirator and a spray can behind bars and police tape that says Do Not Feed. This was painted in 2014 by the famous French Artist known by the letters MTO.
It’s about 9:00 am and the lot and sidewalks are not crowded. Yet. We’ll walk through the rickhouse passageway past District 7 Social and turn right and go into Brevede Coffee. I’ll have an Americano and a scone.
After our coffee break, we’ll walk the area getting a feel for what’s here. Most of the restaurants don’t open until 11:00 am so it won’t be very crowded.
At 11:00 am we’ll be experiencing a distillery tour. We need to decide between the Barrell House Tours and Tastings experience or the James E. Pepper Distillery Tour. We’ll study their websites before arriving, decide, and sign up online. We’ll be there by 10:45 and look around the gift shop while we wait for the one-hour tour to begin. Next trip we’ll tour the other one.
Now we have a decision to make about lunch. There are nine or ten restaurants, but some don’t open until 4:00 pm or later. Today we’ll check out Desperados. I’ll choose a couple of their disrupted tacos. We’ll sit outside behind the building along Elkhorn Branch Creek.
After lunch we’ll go to Crank & Boom Ice Cream. I’ll have the Bourbon and Honey flavor. We’ll go upstairs and sit in the Vault Room unless it’s been booked for an event.
After lunch walk we’ll around and into each of the other establishments, get a feel for the atmosphere, look at the menu, and begin to plan our next visit.
We’ll conclude by looking around The Relic. This is an eclectic store with a diverse selection from Kentucky themed decorations to furniture and oriental rugs. Their website says “RELIC is a public warehouse of vintage, rustic, reclaimed “stuff.” This is where I buy my Kentucky themed socks. I have a link to their website in my show notes. It’s well done and includes details about their inventory.
Someday we’ll attend a music event at The Burl, check out the Burl Arcade, and drive back up Manchester Street and visit the Manchester Music Hall and the shops, event spaces, and restaurants in Venue 903.
Thanks for joining me.
LINKS:
The Lexington Distillery District Website
Barrell House Distillery Tours
James E. Pepper Distillery Tours
1170 Manchester Street
