FOR A UNIQUE fall weekend, head to Kentucky. The first stop is the Augusta Distillery for a River Proof Barrel Tasting Experience. Pull bourbon with a whiskey thief—a tool of master distillers—right from the cask, a memorable introduction to the Bluegrass State’s native pour.
Entering downtown Cynthiana, you’re greeted by a pair of 12-foot skeletons, the first of more than 1,000. Take one home—each is named—at the Skeleton Adoption Agency. The World’s Largest Walking Dead Mural at South Walnut and East Pike streets honors series creator Robert Kirkman, who hails from Cynthiana.
The real chills begin at dusk. The lantern led Cynthiana Ghost Walk starts with an in-depth visit to the notoriously haunted 1871 Rohs Opera House, “home” to several specters, most famously the Lady in White. Stops include a cell in the Old Jail and the home where the “innocent though persecuted” Margaret Goudy shuffled off her mortal coil. (Her grave is on the History and Headstones Tour.)
Then there’s Lawrenceburg, by many accounts a Bigfoot hotbed. Francine Sloan, owner of Rising Sons Home Farm Winery (502-600-0224), hosts Bigfoot hunter clubs at the scenic property dotted with Sasquatch lawn silhouettes that make you look twice. The convivial Sloan presides over tastings of five wines paired with chocolate and her homemade Paw-Paw Bourbon Jam. Be sure to ask for the backstory on Wild Wilbur’s Hog Heaven, a Concord red.
The bustling Heavens to Betsy! Bakery & Deli (502-859-9291) is on the ground floor of the Anderson Hotel, featured on Paranormal Lockdown. Although the hotel closed in the 1980s, it’s said to host 13 ghostly guests. The only thing haunting your dreams, though, will be the bakery’s silky peanut butter pie.
If You Go:
SLURP The Anderson County Burgoo Festival fills Lawrenceburg with the smoky aroma of multi-meat stew October 16–18. Hit the tent of Burgoo master Jesse Sanford.
BROWSE Every shelf, cabinet, and wall holds a souvenir with a story at Fibonacci Antiques (502-503-1932) in Cynthiana.
GRAB A BITE Try the fried green tomatoes at Biancke’s Restaurant, serving comfort grub in Cynthiana for 132 years.
