Posts Tagged With: Cliffside restaurant Frankfort KY

Lexington, KY. April 21

Kentucky Capitol Building in Frankfort KY

Our morning started with bright sunrise and crisp air as we watched the horses being walked in the pastures of our horse farm Airbnb. We puttered around for a bit before driving over to Frankfort, KY. Frankfort is the state capital, a town of 27,000, an hour’s drive west of Lexington, and the county seat. However, since Kentucky has 120 counties,(only exceeded by Georgia and Texas) practically any town of significance in Kentucky must be a county seat. As a state capital, it is the fifth smallest.

Interior view of KY Capitol

We were here to see the Kentucky Capitol building, continuing our pattern of visiting capitols whenever possible. The building was sort of open, one could go in and walk the corridors and the rotunda but the chambers and offices were closed (it was Saturday). The building is large and impressive, located on a hill looking down towards the other state buildings across the Kentucky River. The use of granite and marble is effective in presenting an air of majesty and permanence. It is more open and bright than the Tennessee state capitol.

Artwork decorating the top of the rotunda columns depicting major elements of KY history, such as mining, music, horse racing, etc

Only five major statues were apparent(Lincoln, Clay, Barclay, Davis, and Ephraim McDowell-a pioneer in frontier surgery.) There are two murals, one at each of the East and West wings depicting significant events in Daniel Boone’s time in Kentucky. The four corner columns in the Rotunda have small murals at top of the columns. Portraits of Justices lined many walls. This was the first state capitol in which we noticed a chapel in the building, although it too was locked today. In all it was impressive and open, although not beautiful in the sense of dramatic artwork like Missouri or Kansas.

Outside, the capitol has a well-known floral clock and trees in bloom. The flower beds were still empty though. As I took a few exterior photos, I talked to a guy who had just finished an eight mile run. We talked retirement and although he was in his early 60s, his wife is 11 years younger which is complicating his, and her, retirement years. He did recommend a local spot for lunch, the Cliffside, a small diner “where all of the locals go”.

The Cliffside in Frankfort KY

The Cliffside was busy, the six booths were taken but there were four of 12 counter stools available. Our server was the grandson of the owner, and his sister and mom and aunt work there. His niece and her two kids stopped by also. Chris ordered the Hot Brown, a Kentucky specialty we had been reading about. (Ham and turkey on toast points with melted cheese topping with bacon and a tomato.)

I ordered the meat loaf special and when the food came, we dug in. I was surprised my meatloaf came as a sandwich. Well, it was not my meal, I got someone else’s order, the Cliffside burger. The mistake was the talk of the small group of us for the rest of the meal. The Cliffside tasted great; and the guy to Chris’s left, whose Cliffside I got, was content to wait for his. Another customer came in and sat between Chris and the other guy and by the end of our meal, he had given Chris the recommendation for where we should have dinner back in Lexington tonight. The Ramsey restaurant has four locations, one near our lodging. Turns out we both had their veggie plate, four vegetables picked from 23 options.

Continuing the food theme, we made a stop at Rebecca Ruth Chocolate. It seemed a typical tourist chocolate shop, we stopped in and bought a few mint juleps. Rebecca Ruth claims to be the first to invent bourbon balls back in 1936. Turns out the business goes back to 1919, started by two young subsitute school marms. They quit to protest the low wages and went together into making candy, combining their first names into the business name (Ruth Hanley and Rebecca Gooch). The hundred year history has many hard knocks that they overcame, such as the Depression, one husband’s death, fire, bank loan refusals because there was no man to make decisions for the business, etc. The business is owned today by Ruth’s grandson.

A little time to kill before our planned last stop of the day led us to the Capital City Museum. There is a state history museum in Frankfort but we did not believe we had sufficient time to view it. The Capital City Museum covered the history of Frankfort on two floors of an old building, and it was free. Chris thought it was well laid out and enjoyed it, I was so-so.

Bottom: One of the many warehouses on the grounds of Buffalo Trace Distillery. Top: Just one aisle of one floor of the warehouse pictured.

Our final stop of the day was the Buffalo Trace Distillery. Here the tour was free and so were the samples; better than Jack Daniels down in Tennessee. The distillery goes back 200 years and is the oldest continuously operating distillery in America. Lest you wonder about its claim to be continuously operating due to Prohibition, the distillery received one of the few permits to make “medicinal” whiskey during Prohibition. One could only obtain medicinal whiskey from a pharmacy with a doctor’s prescription. Most of their bourbon is hand bottled and they claim to have more distillery awards in the last ten years than any other distillery in the world.

We did not see the bourbon being made but got into the warehouse and bottling facility. One could get high just sniffing the aromas in the warehouse. Our guide explained the aging process in virgin oak casks, and how much whiskey is lost by evaporation, especially for the bourbons aged ten years or more. Most of the 20 liquors distilled here I had not heard of except for Ancient Age. Other brands included Sazerac Rye 18 years old, George T. Stagg, Eagle Rare 17 years old, William Larue Weller, Blanton’s Single Barrel, and Rock Hill Farms. They even make experimental bourbons, the Master Distiller varies the recipe and aging to produce new optional liquors. Chris and I tried small sips of two options, neither one was able to make me become a drinker.

Kentucky Hot Brown on top, veggie plates at Ramseys bottom

Our two routes to and from Frankfort were through horse country. Horse farms and horses were continuously present. We stopped at our lodging to start this blog before returning to Ramsey’s for dinner. The Cliffside lunch had been filling and there was no rush to have dinner.

Ed and Chris. April 22. Just a few days left on this journey

Epilogue: Snippets on life in America from Chris
Day 37: We visited another state capitol building today. It was a beautiful in Frankfort, KY. I have no doubt that many hard-working people enter the building to do the right thing for a particular group. Everyone one of us can have a voice in our government. It saddens me that the largest political party in America is not Republican or Democrat but the non-voter.