SITTING WEST of downtown Louisville, Shelbyville is watched over by a statue of Squire Boone, Daniel’s kid brother, who established the first European settlement in what would become Shelby County. Now the county seat, its downtown was taken over by the cast and crew of the 2023 film about the life of author Flannery O’Connor, Wildcat, set in the 1950s. But Hollywood embellishment is superfluous. Shelby Main Street, the town’s central district, is Americana to the core, with long-standing antique and collectible shops, a clarinet purveyor, and old-time eateries.
Dating to 1902, the Bell House Restaurant serves the best take on a local staple, the Hot Brown. Happy with your cheesy, bacon-turkey-tomato sando? Ring the fire bell out front. A bust of Kentucky’s famed poultry-peddling colonel presides over the dining room of the Claudia Sanders Dinner House, named for the colonel’s wife. The couple lived in the building across the parking lot. Visit on a Sunday for a fried chicken buffet. Down the road in Simpsonville, locals pack Weathered Oak Farms for the homemade sourdough cinnamon rolls.
Aside from stick-to-your-ribs comestibles worth texting home about, a big draw is the bevy of distinctive bourbon distilleries. Chief among them is Jeptha Creed Distillery, a woman-owned family operation that boasts a “ground to glass” methodology, the alcohol version of farm-to-table. In season, you’ll see fields of heirloom corn behind barns housing aging barrels, furnished with easy chairs for tasting events. Lovers of the high-rye brand that heralded the modern whiskey boom will want to stop at Bulleit Distilling Co. for a tour or a workshop that lets you paint or pour a candle as you sip.
If You Go:
SHOP: The Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass include Cole Haan, Keen, and Tory Burch.
RELAX: Little Mount Lavender infuses the locally grown herb in salad dressing, cobbler, and more.
HORSE SENSE: Book a tour of Kismet Farms to learn how saddlebreds differ from thoroughbreds and get up close to world-class specimens.
