For a city of its size, Lexington offers an extensive and varied arts calendar. The city's many groups include a professional orchestra, the Lexington Philharmonic, and numerous theater groups. The Actors Guild of Lexington has a long history of providing compelling contemporary theatre. Both Lexington Ballet and Ballet Theatre of Lexington offer full seasons of dance. Lexington Children's Theatre, Kentucky's official state children's theatre, has been staging productions since 1938. Touring groups present Broadway dramas and musicals at the beautifully restored Lexington Opera House. In summer months, Shakespeare in the Park presents free outdoor performances at the Arboretum. Call 859-257-4929 for upcoming performance dates.

Jazz and Blues
Local atmosphere, historic charm and good food make Cheapside Bar & Grill a Lexington downtown favorite, but it's the live rhythm and blues that keeps Cheapside packed on the weekends. Live jazz and blues also add to the eclectic atmosphere at Nadine's restaurant in Palomar Center. The Coach House is a great place to sit down and spend a relaxing evening listening to some of the best jazz in town. The house trio performs each weekend with an array of exceptional guest entertainers.

College Crowd
Crowds are always pulling into South Hill Station, a retail center at the corner of Upper and Bolivar streets, adjacent to the University of Kentucky campus. This former tobacco warehouse has been turned into a great place to have fun, especially for teens and twentysomethings. There are nightclubs, a compact disc store, a tanning salon, a coffee shop, restaurants, and the ever-popular laser tag. World famous Two Keys Tavern is another favorite with Transylvania and University of Kentucky students.  You'll find Two Keys and many other pubs, restaurants and shops on South Limestone at the edge of the UK campus.

Comedy
Ranked the #1 comedy club in the region by the Professional Comedian's Association, Comedy Off Broadway at The Mall at Lexington Green is a guaranteed good time. No kidding! Every Tuesday night, "Laughtrack Live" at Two Keys Tavern brings headliners and talented newcomers to the stage. Sit back and laugh or try out your own routine.

Concerts
In the mood for some good rock-n-roll or a lively concert of any size? Rupp Arena seats 23,000 and hosts top country, pop and rock acts throughout the year.   For smaller concerts A1A Sandbar & Grill downtown has an energetic atmosphere and features a variety of artists and entertainers every week.  For quality music of all kinds--local, regional and national-- visit Lexington's new live music venue on Main Street: The Dame. The new baseball stadium, Applebee's Park, is proving to be a popular outdoor concert venue.

Country & Western
The Cadillac Ranch  on Palumbo Drive features line dance and two-step lessons every Tuesday night. Live music starts at 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturdays. Or, you can grab your hat and boots and head out to Austin City Saloon in Woodhill, Lexington's original country bar and home of John Michael Montgomery.

Festivals
Where better to listen to Bluegrass music than in the Bluegrass Region? The Festival of the Bluegrass, held annually at the Kentucky Horse Park Campgrounds, is the largest of its kind in the world. Each June, top Bluegrass performers come home to Kentucky to perform for an international audience. Other favorite festivals include: Danville's Great American Brass Band Festival, Berea Crafts Festivals, Shakespeare in the Park, Ballet Under the Stars, Mayfest, Picnic with the Pops, Woodland Arts Fair and the Woodland Jubilee.

Horse Racing
Keeneland is a combination Thoroughbred race course and sales company located six miles west of Lexington in the heart of Kentucky's famed Bluegrass Region. Keeneland provides superior year-round training facilities and annually conducts race meetings of the highest caliber in April and October. Thoroughbred sales are held five times yearly with two-year olds selling in April, yearlings selling in July and September, breeding stock in November, and horses of all ages in January. Keeneland strives to maintain Thoroughbred racing's finest traditions while promoting the industry through three lines of business: sales, live racing and simulcast racing.

Oldies
Or should we say "classics"? The dance floor at Blue Moon heats up to 50s be-bop, 60s shag, 70s disco, and 80s hip-hop. The Blue Moon gives new meaning to the idea of "sweatin' to the oldies" and is popular with the college students as well as the middle-aged.

Rock
At A1A Sandbar & Grill on Main Street the live reggae, beach and rock music is perfect for shaking a leg or starting up a game of sand volleyball. High on Rose is a laid-back rock and roll bar with live bands located at the corner of......hmmm....High and Rose.

Theaters
A restored 1920s movie showplace, the Kentucky Theatre is where Lexingtonians go to see off-beat, foreign and classic films. The theater also provides an intimate concert setting, and has hosted such performers as Arlo Guthrie, Leon Redbone and Warren Zevon. For the latest hits, look up Movies 10 or Regal Cinemas. Surround sound and plush reclining chairs make these movie theaters local favorites.

L&N Wine Bar & Bistro
L&N Wine Bar and Bistro, the city's first full wine bar since The Winery closed back in the '80s, has captured my attention, and my affection, since the day it opened last November.

I've delayed giving it a formal rating until the arrival of its long-awaited 54-unit Cruvinet wine-bar dispenser. But as it turned out, co-proprietor and wine guy Len Stevens did so well without it that L&N had already jumped out close to the lead among Louisville restaurant wine programs even before this fancy equipment that holds and protects wines at "cellar" temperature under inert-gas pressure was finally installed on the L&N's back bar.

With a full slate of more than 50 well-chosen wines available by the bottle, full glass or 2-ounce tasting glass, this establishment has become a mecca for local "wine geeks." But it's not just about the wine: L&N scores for food as well as drink. High-quality fare and an unmatched wine program, in a relaxing, comfortable old-house setting with first-rate service to match, this still-new spot earns my "A" rating at the top of four-star country.

With experienced and competent kitchen, bar and service staff and a menu that ranges from an upscale rendition of meatloaf and macaroni-and-cheese through a "vegetarian Wellington" to steak Bordelaise (entrees range from $10.95 to $19.95 and sandwiches from $7.25 to $7.95), this opening adds another drumbeat to the culinary excitement that's been going on in town this autumn with the opening of Limestone and the reopening of 610 Magnolia.

Expect a strong focus on "interesting" wines at L&N but don't expect a snobbish attitude, Stevens pledges. Serious wine fanciers will find plenty to keep them busy with a frequently changing selection of wines, and plenty of wine education (and wine trivia) will be available for those who like it. But those who just want to sip wine without taking a college course on the subject will be just as welcome as the "wine geeks." And there's plenty of options for those who don't wine at all, from a full bar, an impressive selection of artisanal and import beers and Zephyr Cove's old infused vodka cocktails ladled out from tall, colorful glass cylinders on the bar, as well as non-alcoholic beverages of course.

Stevens, a serious wine expert, has chosen a wine list with something to please just about everyone, with generous 6-ounce glasses generally listed at $10 or less for a glass, and 3-ounce tasting pours available for those who want to put together "flights" of several wines for side-by-side comparison. Service is in luxurious Austrian Riedel glasses in assorted shapes and sizes designed to show off specific wine types and grape varieties.

The list is likely to change often as unusual and artisanal items come and go, and there will always be a broader selection of bottles than the Cruvinet can hold for by-the-glass service. The initial list contains about 70 wines, ranging in price from $19 a bottle (for numerous items including Vega Sindoa 2001 Chardonnay and Basa Rueda 2002 Sauvignon Blanc from Spain and the Folie a Deux red blend from California) to $55 (for the top-end still wine on the list, Ancien Steiner Mountain 1999 Sonoma Mountain Pinot Noir. The most expensive wine on the list is a Champagne but not the ubiquitous Dom Perigon; Stevens has come up with a more interesting rarity, Heidsieck Monopole Diamant Blue ($110). By-the-glass prices range from $5 to $15 for a 6-ounce glass (most are under $10) and $1.75 to $15 for a 3-ounce tasting glass (most are under $7).

We enjoyed a variety of appetizers and main courses that offer a good overview of where the kitchen is going: Roasted garlic tomato soup ($3.95 for a bowl) was creamy and rich, full of the robust flavors of garlic and garden tomatoes, topped with a dollop of dark-green pesto. Blue crab and corn chowder ($4.95) was thick and sweet, full of corn and plenty of crab. A daily special, veal stew, was perfect autumnal comfort food, loads of tender bits of veal swimming in a thick, clear soup laced with red wine and sweet, caramelized tomato.

Shared appetizers included Gruyere puffs ($4.95) apparently based on Burgundian gougeres, light, hot pastries bearing the intense flavor and aroma of Gruyere cheese, served on a pool of glistening, clear sweet onion marmalade, and scallops and gnocchi ($8.95), three oversize diver scallops, perfectly seared without being overcooked, served with four tender gnocchi sauced with a bit of marinara-style charred-tomato sauce. I'm going back soon to try duck beignets ($7.25) with apricot chutney, an incredibly appealing item that wasn't available on practice night thanks to a fryer problem.

Main courses were all ready for prime time: A home-smoked pork chop ($15.95) was tender and smoky, topped with a fruity compote of figs and apples. The steak Bordelaise ($19.95) appeared to be part of a filet cut crosswise into thick medallions, cooked to a perfect medium-rare. Tuna Humphries ($19.95) might have been the hit of the evening, a perfect slab of tuna properly seared on the outside, sushi-rare at the center, tender as melted butter, with a dab of risotto on the side. The tongue-in-cheek Blue Plate Special ($10.95) featured two generous blocks of meat loaf, beefy and tender - I thought it was perfect, although it was on the sweet side for my wife's liking - with a delicious take on macaroni and cheese made with elbow macaroni but quality sharp white Cheddar in place of the traditional Velveeta.

Dinners were garnished with crisp, thin and barely cooked green beans and, except as noted, well-fashioned mashed potatoes. Tender, fresh Mr. Ed's baguettes and whipped butter also came with the meal.

Desserts included an oversize chocolate fondue (apparently to be a signature item) with strawberries, pound cake, bananas and apple wedges for dipping, and generous portions of dark, intense chocolate ice cream and tangy blood-orange sherbet.

Stevens says he hopes to offer "casual, midrange but quality dining with excellent service and a world-class beverage program in an atmosphere that lends itself to comfort. We want people to look at us and say, 'Hey, we can come here every week for dinner, not just for my birthday.'"

It's a tall order ... but they're making it come true the old-fashioned way

The Thoroughbred Center 
3380 Paris Pike
Lexington , KY 40511 
(859) 293-1853

At this working Thoroughbred training facility, visitors can go behind the scenes to learn about a normal working day in the lives of Thoroughbreds and those who train and care for them

American Saddlebred Museum
4093 Iron Works Pike
Lexington , KY 40511
(859) 259-2746

This privately owned museum located on the grounds of the Kentucky Horse Park  is a colorful and contemporary showcase of the American Saddlebred, Kentucky's native breed of horse.

ArtsPlace
161   North Mill Street
Lexington , KY 40507
(859) 255-2951

ArtsPlace is a multi-purpose arts center which houses a gallery showcasing the works of Central Kentucky artists, and is also the site of free music and dance performances. 

Aviation Museum of Kentucky
4316 Hangar Drive
Lexington , KY
(859) 231-1219

This museum features restored historic aircraft, aviation artifacts and equipment, interactive displays and a gift shop. 

The Hunt-Morgan House
201 North Mill Street
Lexington , KY 40508
(859) 253-0362 or (859) 233-3290

Built in 1814 by John Wesley Hunt, one of Lexington 's most prominent citizens of the time, this Federal-style house is a living museum representing the days when Lexington was known as the " Athens of the West" for its highly cultured lifestyle.

Keeneland
4201 Versailles Road
P.O. Box 1690
Lexington, KY 40588

Keeneland was established as a model race track to perpetuate and improve the sport, and to provide a course that is intended to serve as a symbol of the fine traditions of Thoroughbred racing. The philosophy and principals which have characterized Keeneland throughout its history remain unchanged.