Lexington, Kentucky isn’t all about horses and basketball
Have you been to a UK tailgate?
If you’ve ever thought of Lexington, Kentucky, that thought was most likely related to horses, or basketball. Don’t get me wrong, those things are really cool, but they don’t play a huge role in the life of an average Lexingtonian. Lexington is actually a really unique city with a great music and arts scene.
We probably have the best coffee in America
This may seem like a random place to start for a mid sized, central Kentucky city, but Lexington actually has some pretty cool coffee spots. My friends always spent a lot of time hanging out at Third Street Stuff, an artsy, local coffee shop with a “hipster” vibe; we all mourn the loss of its quirky store, but celebrate the seating that replaced it.
There’s also of course Common Grounds, hovering somewhere between a hub for local artists and musicians and the place where UK kids who are too cool for Starbucks hang out – it’s a great spot full of locally produced art. I would highly recommend trying a frozen snickers drink, way better than a Frap. Your waistline will be sad but your heart will thank you.
We’re relatively urban while still being beautiful
While Lexington is definitely more city than country livin’, we do have our fair share of the beauty that Kentucky has to offer. The arboretum is right by UK’s campus, and is a great place to take a walk, or play frisbee, or do literally anything; it’s huge. I lived ten minutes away and went with my boyfriend almost every Sunday. Also, The Gorge isn’t actually in Lexington, but it’s definitely a favored activity of Lexingtonians. When you live an hour away from some of the best hiking in The United States, frequent weekend trips ensue.
Our food is across-the-board excellent
There is a totally across the board array of excellent, unique local restaurants in Lex. Sav’s Grill(and chill!) is awesome West African cuisine, and of course ice cream(try the spicy flavors). The owner is a community figure, and if you go in and don’t chat with him you’re doing it wrong. Durango’s, a mildly sketchy and weirdly dark Mexican restaurant is renowned for its excellent queso and less than reliable ID checking. You know you were a Spanish Immersion or Henry Clay kid of Lexington if it was the move for senior skip day and other semi official events of that sort. Although it’s not exactly local, basically everyone in Lexington has spent a gazillion hours sitting outside at Graeter’s, whether on a first date, or with a giant squad as is typical of the teens of Lex. It is absolutely the only acceptable ice cream in town, and for sure deserves a mention; the rest of the country doesn’t know what they’re missing Black Raspberry Chip wise. There are tons of other great restaurants in Lexington, basically too many to list, but growing up here you could rest assured you would never have a lack of delicious cheap places to eat.
Our festivals are to die for
Lexington has some very cool themed festivals throughout the year that everyone is familiar with. Oktoberfest(randomly in September) is hosted, ironically, by Christ the King. Everyone’s parents get too drunk and let their kids hang out in sketchy parks and it’s always a good time. The Woodland Arts Fair is a fun place to walk around and look at stuff you can’t afford, and Crave is a fun place to walk around and eat stuff that will inevitably add up to 4,000 calories.
Our music scene is truly great
Again, it seems random, but Lexington has an awesome music scene, especially for teens. Big Hair HQ, a relatively new all ages music club hosts super awesome teen bands like Johnny Conqueroo, Pulse, and Little Chap. Dancing, Ale 8, and the familiarity of the people on stage playing amazing music make it a crazy good time. Common Grounds, that coffee shop I mentioned before also has an open mic night every Monday. It gets extremely packed sometimes but it’s really fun to watch aspiring(or retired) local musicians get their groove on. Thursday Night Live used to be really cool, but it has more recently become kind of a hang out for thirty somethings looking to hook up, so maybe pass.
The KY Theatre just deserves its own category
The Kentucky Theatre is such a cool Lexington staple it deserves its own category. It’s right in the middle of town, on Main Street. It has Wednesday classics all summer, from Indiana Jones to Breakfast at Tiffany’s; and its Cherry Coke is unrivaled (they use the real syrup).
All of our high schools are great for different reasons
Every high school in Lexington has some magnet program that you have to apply to or enter a lottery for. Henry Clay has The Academy, BSHS has Spanish Immersion(aka the best one, but disclaimer I’m a grad), Dunbar has MSTC, Tate’s Creek has baccalaureate, and Lafayette has pre-engineering and SCAPA. Each of those schools also has a general population of non magnet kids; then there’s STEAM, which is a school you have to apply to get into in general. This is where the geeky/cool hipster kids with parents who used to be hippies go. As far as private schools Lexington Catholic is just completely an enigma that I have never been able to comprehend, there are like a total of six kids at Sayre, and I’ve actually met someone who goes to LCA one time.
Our doughnuts are too good to be included in the ‘food’ category
This probably could have been included in food, but really who doesn’t think doughnuts deserve their own category? Also Lexington has too many AWESOME doughnut places to include it in food. First off, Spalding’s. Spalding’s is the place all the coolest kids in middle school brought their birthday treats from. It meant your dad was willing to get up at the unholy hour of 5:30 in the morning and wait in line so your class thought you were the queen of Morton. They are gone stupidly fast, so you have to get up that early to get them. Also, they are worth it. Second only to Spalding’s you have North Lime. It proclaims itself to be “coffee and doughnuts” but no one gives a crap about the coffee. The doughnuts are square shaped and in weird delicious flavors and the tip jar debate of the day is always intriguing. Also, it’s on the way to Bryan Station and Steam, so if you find yourself in that neck of the woods for high school it’s the place to be when you’re trying to intentionally be late to homeroom/advisory. Last but not least, Magee’s. The Long John’s are literally the best thing that has ever happened to baked goods. They are even worth the grumpiness the elderly woman behind the counter will inevitably express to you when you buy them.
Our parks are gorgeous
Somehow a few parks in Lexington have come to serve random and yet very specific purposes. Woodland Park is where you go to be artsy and play ukulele or whatever you need to do along those lines. Ecton is somehow so cute during the day and so incredibly sketchy at night. Ashland is basically just used as the kids from that area’s backyard, and if you live anywhere downtown and have never climbed the wall to get into the garden then I don’t know what you were doing with your childhood/adolescence.
The University of Kentucky keeps things lively
The University of Kentucky; can’t live with em, can’t live without em. I’m just kidding UK’s fine; except the traffic and the plethora of entitled frat bros. You basically can’t grow up in Lex without sucking and not be a UK fan. A picture of me sobbing after we lost the national championship a couple years ago is still circulating on twitter. Also, without UK, we would have no tailgates; and where would Lexington teens be without tailgates?
Overall, Lexington was a quirky, entertaining place to grow up. I miss it everyday and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.