Richmond, KY
 

Wow I'm starting a thread! lol

What does anyone know about Richmond, KY? Is anyone from there? Live there? Family there? What is there to do? What is the drive like to other major cities? Lexington/Cincinnati/Knoxville? What other cities are nearby? Theme parks? etc.

It's exactly halfway between Dallas, GA and Woodhaven, MI, which makes it the perfect spot to "meet in the middle"...lol. I've been there a couple times to meet up with a special friend. Home of Eastern Kentucky University. From Cincy, it's about an hour and a half, pretty close to Lexington. It's near Berea, KY which has Berea College, an interesting place to visit because they have a great restaurant and sell goods that the students make to help pay for their education. Very cool.

Acres of Land Winery is there. There seemed to be a decent strip of restaurants near EKU. Other than that, I don't know a lot. It's not a bad drive from Detroit or Atlanta though (5.5 hours either way).

There is a GC member that lives there. I will PM her for you.

My mother and father went to school there in the late 30s. :-) Its very close to Lexington. Closest theme park is King's Island in Cincy. That's very doable .. about 1.5 hours. When we lived in Lexington, we'd get season passes and go about once a month.

I live in Lexington, but attended school at Eastern Kentucky University there, advise the Theta chapter at EKU, and am founding president of the Richmond, KY Alumnae Chapter for Theta.


Honestly, in Richmond itself there is not much to do under the age of 21, since they have since changed to law making all bars 21 and over. There is a decent winery on the outskirts of Richmond, Acres of Land if you enjoy that sort of thing. If you are willing to drive about an extra 15 minutes south of Richmond, you will come to Berea which has a large arts & crafts community that is open year round.

YOu can usually get to Lexington from Richmond in about 20 minutes but your time will depend on where in Lexington you are wanting to go and what time of day you plan to go. Lexington has lots of shopping & eating. Ofcourse the University of Kentucky is in Lexington, so there is seasonal UK basketball & football. Rupp Arena/Lexington Center is right downtown and this is where major concerts/events take place. Lexington also has a couple of it's own wineries and some wineries in Nicholasville, KY (10 minutes away). There are several bars/clubs downtown Lexington, but you have to be 21 to get in and Lexington has a city wide smoking ban. There are horse farm tours all the time in and around Lexington. There is the Red Mile Race Track which handles harness racing and Keeneland Racetrack which is thoroughbred racing (and quite the hang out to see and be seen during the Spring & Fall meets). If you like sports bars/pubs with great food & atmosphere I highly recommend Shamrock's Irish Bar & Grill off Richmond Rd. in the Patchen Square. They have the best burgers & veggie burgers in town, great place to watch sports, throw darts, live music on Friday & Saturday nights, and they have a large outdoor seasonal patio. They also have trivia sometimes during the week. Lexington also has a year round ice skating rink and the only one in the area.

As far as theme parks, there is Kentucky Kingdom which is in Louisville (approximately 90 minutes from Richmond) but I dont recommend it at all. Louisville also has a small zoo, and USUALLY all major concerts will come through "The Ville." Almost all attractions in LOuisville are fairly easy to get to as they are usually in venues that are right off all of the major highways. Eating is just as good in The Ville but the shopping is better.

If you are in to bourbon, or just like taking tours, I would highly recommend to you the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. This will include all major Kentucky Bourbon factories/companies between Lexington & Louisville and includes: Woodford Reserve, Wild Turkey, Four Roses, Ancient Age, & Maker's Mark (and maybe one or two others). They do give you one free shot of their bourbon at the end of each tour. I would recommend doing this though in late spring/early summer when everything is green and pretty.

Richmond is about 90 minutes to 2 hours away from Knoxville, TN.

The best theme park that is the closest would be Kings Island. This is on the outskirts of Northern Cincinatti, OH. They also have their own waterpark that is decent for a half a day. The Beach waterpark is nearby Kings Island as is Great Wolf Lodge which is a year round indoor waterpark/resort. Cincinatti also has a decent zoo and lots of other things to do in the area. Kings Island is probably about 2 hours away from Richmond, maybe 2.5 hours. Getting there depends on traffic in northern Kentucky and in the Cincinatti area.

Hope this helps!

IMO, I like Richmond. I haven't lived there, so I can't speak from a resident's POV, but I've enjoyed all my visits there. One of its best attributes is its proximity to so many interesting places. Berea, Lake Cumberland, Lexington and Louisville, for instance.

Is Kentucky Kingdom still open? I thought it closed for good after that poor girl got her foot severed. If it is still open, I second ThetaPrincess' recommendation to stay away from it.

I seem to remember something about it closing now that you mention it. It did stay open for a little bit I think after that incident happened. All of the rides and everything is still there though or at least was a couple of months ago when hubby and I went to Freedom Hall to attend a gun show (Kentucky Kingdom is literally right beside it). My opinion still stands, if it is still open by chance stay away, far far away!

I had forgotten about Lake Cumberland and the other areas around here for hiking, canoeing, boating, and dirt biking! My husband and the boys go dirt biking quite a bit during the summer. We dont own a boat, but we do own a canoe and like to do that on the lake and big creeks around here when weather permits. The gorge used to be an outstanding place to hike, but I think a lot of it burned in a forest fire recently, so I'm not quite sure how great of a hike it is anymore. We also have Natural Bridge State Park fairly close by. Raven Run is close to Lexington and a great place for hiking. I stopped hiking after the snake incident a few years back so that's about all the information I can give on that! :)

THings in Richmond are better than they were as far as things to do, but I still go to Lexington for things, entertainment, shopping, baseball. The Spring Race Meet at Keeneland is in April, the Fall Meet is October. Keeneland is a big deal in some circles.

I grew up in the town, attended EKU, and my mother still lives there.

The Phi Mu chapter at EKU closed about 20 years ago.

PM if you have any questions.

I also graduated from EKU many years ago. My nephew just graduated in Dec. He says there is not much in Richmond as far as entertainment goes. I have always thought it was a beautiful town and the surrounding area is some of the prettiest around. But as everyone else has said you will have to go to Lexington for your fun, shopping, eating out etc.

Ask and ye shall receive...

Thank you so much for the info. It's been very helpful. I live in a (much larger) city that seems like Richmond (drive out it at least 20 minutes to do something or see someone) so I'm used to it. I just needed to hear some perspectives.

I was aware Phi Mu is gone.
I'm well over 21, hate smoking, and live where it's banned in everywhere but bars and clubs. :D

Phi Mu is gone in Richmond, but I hear they have a thriving chapter down the road in Lexington at Transylvania University. They are also colonizing at UK this fall I believe. I think there are some other Phi Mu chapters in the area as well (within an hour's drive). I would assume they have quite a few alumnae in the area if you are interested in looking them up.

I'm well over 21, hate smoking, and live where it's banned in everywhere but bars and clubs. :D[/QUOTE]

Smoking is banned in any indoor areas. In the summer the City of Richmond puts on free concerts a park in town. It is a good way to spend a Tuesday night.

My sister lives on a golf course between Lexington and Richmond and like her, you'll probably find yourself gravitating toasted Lexington. I didn't love lex myself (i went to law school there) but the larger artsier Louisville was more my scene before heading to NY. It depends what yourelooking for. Lex is beautiful and the people very nice, the social circles are amazing and you'll did 65 year old equine nephrologists smoking pot with 23 year old gay art students and 40 year old oil Heiresses who'd rather design dresses for the boutique on high street (forget it's name) than tend to thei rich person obligations. At the same time, for outsiders, it's a tough place to breakthrough and make friends. They tore down the core of the music scene but it you're a basketball fan, it's aplenty!!!

All around a good city and better than many

there's a Castle in Lexington where you can stay. Post Castle

Keeneland is right down the road from it. it opens the Spring meet April 3rd. you could get a drink, bet on some ponies, tailgate, etc.

if you turn on one of those country roads by Keeneland you'll see some really nice country. head north-ish towards a tiny town called Midway. check out some horse farms, see what the sheik is doing, and some beautiful old stone walls.

it's postcard pretty up there.

Used to live there. It is a growing small town about 30 minutes form Lexington, which the 2nd largest city in KY and home to the U of Ky on a huge campus. Lexington itself has a lot going on (no theme parks, but much else - lots of bars and beautiful gals). Eastern KY U. is in Richmond - not as big, but still Division 1. Can't tell you anything about the college scene. Go to Lexington. Richmond has White Hall and Boonesborough, both historic sites. If you in Lexington in April or October, go to Keeneland, one of the most beuatiful horse tracks in the USA and loaded with gorgeous coeds.