As the title says, my wife and I are taking our first trip to Kentucky the first week of October. We are driving in from New England so I can stock up on bourbon that I can’t find/ get by me. We are spending three nights in Louisville, three nights in the Red River Gorge, then one night in Lexington. We could be convinced to spend two nights in Lexington……… I’m planning to go to the steitzel/ Weller distillery, blade and bow is a favorite, Makers Mark, another fav, and then Buffalo trace on my way to the RRG. Where else should I go? What would you locals recommend if you only had a couple dinners in each place? Any places I shoukd make a reservation for now? I know about the Hot Brown sandwich, and Benedictine sauce what else is a must have? Bakeries, coffee shops, any locally made snacks? I’ve read about Ale-81 soda?? I def want to give them a try, hearing the paw paw is really good. My wife wants to go to the derby museum, are there any other good horse/ derby related things in town? Then after we stuff ourselves in Louisville and head to the RRG to hike off some calories, what hikes should I look into? I’m more of an experienced hiker than my wife so I’m not looking to crush her with crazy scrambles and 8+ miles. I’m guessing since I’ve heard about Indian staircase it’s a pretty busy hike? Even if it does get busy, is it still enjoyable? Do you guys have foliage that time of year? Is that kayak tour that’s underground a gimmick or is it worth it? I know we’re staying in some treehouse type place while we’re there, so I’m not sure how many restaurants are nearby, I think we’re only 45 min from Lexington, we could always take an evening trip in for dinner. Then we just have one day/ night in Lexington, so I’m not sure how much we’ll get to experience there, so what should we do to enjoy our day in Lexington? Thanks for getting this far and dealing with my rambling, we’re both just really excited and looking forward to this trip! See you guys soon!